US Green Card Rule Change: Green card allows one to stay permanently in the US. After getting the US Green Card, it becomes easier to travel in the country. However, every year only a limited number of foreigners are issued green cards in the US.
Highlights
- Green card is a very important document in America.
- Through Green card, foreigners get a chance to stay permanently.
- Many rules have to be followed to get a Green card.
US Green Card Process: Getting a green card in America is a very challenging task, but if you have money then you will not face much difficulty. The reason for this is that a special program is run in the US to give green cards. This is called the EB-5 (Investment-based Green Card) program. In recent times, some people have taken wrong advantage of this program, due to which the US government has now become alert and has taken a big decision regarding this.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has updated its policy manual for the EB-5 (Investment-Based Green Card) program. This has been done to protect ‘good faith’ investors. The EB-5 program is known as a program to obtain a green card through investment. This program is very popular among Indians. Indians living on H-1B visas resort to this program to quickly obtain permanent residency in America.
Green card not received even after investing
In fact, applicants for employment-based green cards have to wait for several decades. For this reason, people with high net worth get green cards in America through the EB-5 program. But many such cases have come to light where investors, despite investing a substantial amount, have not only lost their investment money but have also lost the hopes of getting a green card. Regional centers that issue green cards have been given notice for not giving the investment money to the integrity fund.
There have been many such cases reported where regional centers have not deposited money in the integrity fund, due to which investors have lost money. In view of all these things, now the US government is going to issue guidelines regarding ‘good faith’ investors. Let us tell you that under the EB-5 program, investors are given a green card on investing 8 lakh dollars or about 10 lakh dollars. The purpose of this program is to create employment for American citizens in rural or backward areas of America.
What steps has the government taken regarding the Green Card?
The ‘EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, 2022‘ introduces measures to increase transparency and compliance. This is to protect bona fide investors who wish to obtain a green card by following the rules of the EB-5 program. The government wants that no investor should lose the opportunity to obtain a green card due to irregularities of regional centers or agents.
USCIS’s policy update is protecting investors. It says that if the US government closes down the regional center or the company in which the investment was made is removed from the EB-5 program, then also the investor will be considered eligible for a green card in such a situation. In this way, those Indians will also benefit who become victims of fraud in the name of green card.
Also, USCIS has clarified that if an investor knew that the agent was committing fraud, due to which he was dismissed from the visa program, he can no longer take advantage under section 203 (B) (5) (M) of the ‘Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)‘. He will not be given any exemption even if he knew that the agent was committing fraud, but still no complaint was made.