i just heard this - buy a 500K home in the US and....
 

you get immediate permanent resident status?

whaaaaat? nothing done in this country by our legislators surprises me anymore. someone post links please...i gotta see this

Maybe with a good representative you could get the same result for one third of that price? As much as I love travelling through the US and meeting Americans - the friendliest, most outgoing people on the planet - I do not think I would move there right now.

Vegas is very tempting, though.

i've seen ads where if you have that amount net worth you can live in the us. never heard anything about a house though.

that's why i posted here - was half listening to the radio and thought i heard this on the news. i may have missed part of the story.

makes sense though, US housing market needs buyers badly, as long as the government does a background check to make sure a person isn't a terrorist or criminal.

found it - it's real, well it will be if the bill passes.

Bill Would Give U.S. Visas to Foreign Home Buyers ? WSJ.com.

The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.

The provision is part of a larger package of immigration measures, co-authored by Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), designed to spur more foreign investment in the U.S.

Foreigners have accounted for a growing share of home purchases in South Florida, Southern California, Arizona and other hard-hit markets. Chinese and Canadian buyers, among others, are taking advantage not only of big declines in U.S. home prices and reduced competition from Americans but also of favorable foreign exchange rates.

To fuel this demand, the proposed measure would offer visas to any foreigner making a cash investment of at least $500,000 on residential real-estate?a single-family house, condo or townhouse. Applicants can spend the entire amount on one house or spend as little as $250,000 on a residence and invest the rest in other residential real estate, which can be rented out.

crazy, but i think its been possible for a while, but before it was if you invested half million into certain areas of high unemployment... the housing thing i believe is new

GREEN CARD THROUGH INVESTMENT

you could buy entire neighborhoods in detroit for that much. when people would visit you there it would be like meeting kurtz from apocalypse now.

I was thinking that - I would love to buy a suburb and turn it into a porn prodruction capital. But I'm Canadian and - frankly - Americans (and their God) kinda scares me...

Plus the renovation costs... Oy, Jeepers!

This sounds more like a Canadian immigration policy. Thats why Vancouver is mostly Chinese now.

Everybody, quit coming to Vegas. It sucks here. Stay away.

There is no money in Vegas.

And stay out of San Antonio as well. Dont even go to Texas, period.

what other countries offer something similar?

I buy the home in Florida

was just reading in Macleans magazine the top five most welcoming US cities for canadians were:

1) Cleveland
2) Las Vegas
3) Portland
4) Tulsa
5) San Antonio

weird ...

Too late, house closed in Vegas a year ago. Party at ur pad? I'll bring the bitches and beer.

spending $500k does seem a lot better than getting married which could likely cost you much much more :1orglaugh

I only like three or four canadians, and own property in two of those cities. Your stats are wrong.

I have heard this w/ another foreigner who got perm residence in roughly 1 year. Must have bought a house

Many countries have similar policies.

In the UK, you don't need to buy a house if you are an immigrant - you get GIVEN a free house.

cheaper than doing it for Montenegro passport :D they are asking half mil EUR in investments!

i'm kind of amazed this hasn't been done long ago - what country wouldn't want somebody who can bring in 500K, it's not just the 500K in real estate, it's all the money that person(s) will be spending plus taxes. should drop it to 250K.

people who have 500K cash to invest in a US home are on average going to be middle aged to senior citizen, a high % of them will have some pre-existing medical condition - they wouldn't be able to get health insurance would they?

Exactly, a very pragmatic move.

You could always get a permanent residence if you invested 200k and later 500 k, this also included creating a certain number of jobs if I remember well.

I've thought immigrants want to go to US to earn the money. Why the hell would somebody who has $500K (actually much more) move to US? :1orglaugh

well i thought of that considering the current economic and cultural situation going on in the US.

Canadians would do it for the warm weather, lower cost of living, lower taxes, more house for the dollar than in any major Canadian city, depending on what your business interests are more business opportunities. Tons of Canadians already do it, this bill would just make it a lot less complicated for many people.

I drive thru Detroit at least once a week and you aren't wrong. I think you could even by a tall building downtown for 500k with the amount of them that are laying empty.

Isn't the Deal Between US/Canada like that in the EU?

I thought Canadians could already live in the US if they wanted to?

For example, I have an EU passport, so I could live in France, Holland, Spain, Italy wherever.

When I went from Canada to the US last year, even though I am a Canadian Permenant Resident, I had to get a 90 day visa for the US, and the guy in the Immigration place said, if you get Canadian Citizenship you won't have to do it.

there are a few visa programs like this

if you invest 500k in a business in the us you can get the same visa

:thumbsup:thumbsup

Wow that would be great, I already own a few homes in Arizona and have others in the pipeline!

I'm not looking to move down anytime soon but having that option would be fantastic!

You hit the nail right on the head here, there are so many reasons to move south of the border except for all the baby boomers and their health care needs.

Plus you get a blowjob from the realtor association! The ads those idiots run are funny

you dont even have to spend 500k, you just get a mortgage from the bank with zero downpayment

Probably more that would rather offer then wouldn't, immigrates that have at least $500k in cash to spend are the type of people any country would want! :pimp

Sorry young Jedi but must be cash, from the bill "offer visas to any foreigner making a cash investment of at least $500,000" :thumbsup

Selling off the shit they fucked up, sounds reasonable

Kind a fucked that I was born in Los Angeles County, Grew up here, yet when I went to Amsterdam, more people spoke English,( not their first language ) than do in LA.

Vegas is still not at the bottom :(
sucks how bad it is there

mexico si si

I think they should have to capture one illegal to allow themselves to stay.
Like a bounty hunter. Bring in one illegal, show you got $100k then you are free to stay

how does one bring $500,000 in cash into the country?

WHAT???? Someone call the White House, we are trying to be like Canada.

The bill has not passed and wont make much difference anyway. the people that can afford a 500k Home in the US already have a visa if they want one.

plus the US gets to collect taxes on any greencard holder no matter where they live (wordwide) or where the income is produced.

they cross at the border and have illegal aliens carry in drug bags

Exactly why I can't see why anyone who has 500K would want to come to the US...

15% of Americans claim NO RELIGION and out of those 2% are atheists.

Dont hate us all, millions of us have no god.

It's not that simple.

It's actually cleverly designed to 1) get high net worth individuals to PROP UP real estate prices in the US 2) get them to waive foreign earn income exclusion 3) prevent them from competing with americans for jobs

If enough international people sign up for this, you get a NET ECONOMIC POSITIVE for the US and more taxes.

Still, I doubt many would sign up for this since the economic opportunity is in China or wherever they are from and the law is really geared for people willing to pretty much completely uproot

Or a football stadium: http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/20...old-for-583000

yay yaay, i m going to USA.

they allow broke people ?
:P
USA USA USA