Upbeat about India's potential, the United States Immigration Fund (USIF), the largest EB-5 fund raiser in the world, has announced the launch of its country based operations. USIF has funded 24 projects worth 15 billion US dollars in development, and USD 3.2 billion in EB-5 funds through 6,400 investors.
It believes that India will be a significant country for EB-5 investors, given the overall demographics of 1.3 billion people, with a large middle and upper-class who are highly educated and sophisticated.
The USIF provides opportunities for foreign investors and their families to obtain permanent US residency through the EB-5 Visa programme.
India, which has a very similar demographic makeup as China, represents one of the largest countries applying through channels of the United States Immigration.
The USIF believes it has the ability to be as productive a market as in China.
"We have experienced extraordinary growth and change here at US Immigration Fund, thanks largely to our continued commitment to strong partnerships with world-renowned developers, international immigration agents, attorneys and recognizing the trust of our investor above all else," said Nicholas Mastroianni II, chiefexecutive officer and president of USIF, while talking to reporters here yesterday.
Mr Andrew Graves, Business Development director, who is leading the effort in India, said, "Over the last eight years, the usage of EB-5 visas from native Chinese citizens has grown more than 2000 per cent. We believe with the proper education and marketing channels India could become the next largest user of the Employment-basedFifth Preference (EB-5) category in just one year.