India Ranked 5th Amongst EB-5 Visa Recipients in 2010
By Iman Omar
Due to a strong rupee and falling dollar, Indian entrepreneurs have shown a growing interest in investing in the United States. According to recent data released by the U.S. Department of State, 62 Indian investors were issued an EB-5 visa in the Fiscal Year 2010. This brings India up to the No. 5 spot in the list of Top 10 Countries Issued EB-5 Visas in FY2010, making up 3.3% of the total. Previously, it ranked in at No. 7, with 1.7% of the total number of EB-5 visas issued in FY2009.
While Indian investments in U.S. real estate have taken off in recent years because of the collapse of the property bubble, Indian investors have long been one of the driving forces behind immigrant-founded companies in the U.S. particularly in the fields of software development, technology and engineering. A 2007 study conducted by Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering states, Indians have founded more engineering and technology companies in the U.S. in the past decade than immigrants from the U.K., China, Taiwan and Japan combined. Of all immigrant-founded companies, 26% have Indian founders.
As part of efforts to aid legitimate travel to the U.S. and strengthen economic ties between the two countries, the U.S. Embassy and all Consulates General in India have begun accepting visa applications from across the country, without any restrictions in regards to the applicant’s city of residence. Additionally, consular districts have been reorganized as follows:
Embassy Delhi: Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bhutan;
Consulate Mumbai: Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Diu and Daman, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli;
Consulate Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh, Orissa;
Consulate Chennai: Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands;
Consulate Kolkata: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal.
The U.S. Ambassador to India, Timothy J. Roemer, said he believes these changes will help provide even better support to Indian visa applicants, as well as to U.S. citizens, and businesses all over India.
References:
U.S. Department of State http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY10AnnualReport-TableV-PartIII.pdf
America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Part I (January 4, 2007). Duke Science, Technology & Innovation Paper No. 23 http://ssrn.com/abstract=990152
Embassy of the United States in New Delhi http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/pr111810.html