The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ EB-5 Investor Visa Program has been around since 1990, but has attracted more attention in recent years as cities and states are using it to spur economic development during these recessionary times. It’s a program that essentially allows foreigners to get green cards for themselves and their families if they invest at least $500,00 to create U.S. jobs through regional centers.
Tampa City Council member Yvonne Yolie Capin has researched how other U.S. cities are working on/have already created EB-5 regional centers. On Thursday, Sept. 6, she proposed that the council create a task force to study the idea of Tampa implementing a regional center.
The idea floated around earlier this year as a way to fund a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays, and Capin laid out her ideas in a recent op-ed in the Tampa Tribune
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2012.
