VOA慢速英語:Wealthy Foreigners Buy Their Way to US Citizenship

05 September, 2013

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

What do these four things have in common: a proposed wind farm in the American state of Washington, a gold mine in Idaho, a new casino in Las Vegas and ski resort expansions in Vermont. They're all investment vehicles for wealthy foreigners seeking green cards to live in the United States.

Under American law, foreigners can get such recess if they invest at least 500,000 dollars to create at least 10 jobs in the country. Here is an example of how the program works.

A few years ago, Jordan Gagner and his wife needed to move from their home in Canada to a drier climate, like Arizona. At first, the possibility of moving south of the border permanently seemed unlikely.

"Being a self-employed wealth manager and a teacher, those are two occupations that are not on the top 10 lists of visas being given to foreigners to come down to the U.S."

But then he heard about the immigrant investor visa. He and several other foreign investors offered $500,000 each to build an assisted living center in Bellingham, Washington. Mr Gagner was credited with creating lots of jobs during the recession and his whole family received green cards.

Immigration lawyer David Andersson organized the deal.

"If you have a solid investment and there may be a benefit which exceeds mere return, such as the ability to move your family to America, then an investor may consider a lower return than, for example, a bank."

Mr Andersson has led the way in an industry he says is growing quickly. Companies that bringing together investors and possible borrowers are officially known as "EB-5 regional centers." The name comes from the part of the immigration law that set up the immigrant investor visa.

Some Americans have expressed concerns about the program. Landowner Harland Radomske first heard about it when a group of wealthy Koreans were invited to invest in a wind farm on land next to his property. He feared a wind farm would reduce the value of his ranch, and there was more.

"We have all of this controversy going over immigration, the borders of Mexico, and all of that, issues before the Congress and Senate and so on. And now we find out unbeknownst, if you're a rich foreigner, you can buy your way to citizenship."

The wind project developers refused many requests to tell the side of the story. Yet, even with the despite over immigration, the foreign investor program has a lot of support in Congress. There is also a move to make the program permanent.

And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語經(jīng)濟報道。

What do these four things have in common: a proposed wind farm in the American state of Washington, a gold mine in Idaho, a new casino in Las Vegas and ski resort expansions in Vermont. They're all investment vehicles for wealthy foreigners seeking green cards to live in the United States.

這四件事有什么共同點：美國華盛頓州擬建的風力發(fā)電場，愛達荷州的金礦，拉斯維加斯的一家新賭場和佛蒙特州滑雪勝地的擴張。它們都是外國富人謀求到美國生活的投資工具。

Under American law, foreigners can get such recess if they invest at least 500,000 dollars to create at least 10 jobs in the country. Here is an example of how the program works.

根據(jù)美國法律，外國人在美國投資50萬美元并創(chuàng)造至少10個就業(yè)崗位，就能在美國居留。以下就是該計劃如何運作的一個例子。

A few years ago, Jordan Gagner and his wife needed to move from their home in Canada to a drier climate, like Arizona. At first, the possibility of moving south of the border permanently seemed unlikely.

幾年前，喬丹·岡納(Jordan Gagner)和他的妻子需要從加拿大搬到一個少雨的地方，像亞利桑那州(注：該州位于美國南方邊境)。起初，永久性搬到美國南方邊境的可能性似乎不大。

"Being a self-employed wealth manager and a teacher, those are two occupations that are not on the top 10 lists of visas being given to foreigners to come down to the U.S."

他說，“作為一名個體理財經(jīng)理和教師，這兩個職業(yè)都不在提供給外國人來美簽證前10名的名單上。”

But then he heard about the immigrant investor visa. He and several other foreign investors offered $500,000 each to build an assisted living center in Bellingham, Washington. Mr Gagner was credited with creating lots of jobs during the recession and his whole family received green cards.

但隨后他聽說了投資移民簽證。他和一些外國投資者每人投了50萬美元，在華盛頓州貝靈漢市建立了一家養(yǎng)老院。岡納先生由于在經(jīng)濟衰退期間創(chuàng)造了大量就業(yè)機會獲得好評，他全家都獲得了美國綠卡。

Immigration lawyer David Andersson organized the deal.

移民律師大衛(wèi)·安德森(David Andersson)經(jīng)手了這起案子。

"If you have a solid investment and there may be a benefit which exceeds mere return, such as the ability to move your family to America, then an investor may consider a lower return than, for example, a bank."

他說，如果你有一項可靠的投資，收益有可能超過單純的回報，例如有能力全家移民到美國。那么投資者可能會考慮低于銀行的回報。”

Mr Andersson has led the way in an industry he says is growing quickly. Companies that bringing together investors and possible borrowers are officially known as "EB-5 regional centers." The name comes from the part of the immigration law that send up the immigrant investor visa.

安德森先生在他所言的一個正迅猛增長的行業(yè)里遙遙領先。為投資者和潛在借款人牽線搭橋的公司被稱為投資移民區(qū)域項目中心(EB-5 regional centers)。這個名字來源于發(fā)出投資移民簽證的移民法的某部分內容。

Some Americans have expressed concerns about the program. Landowner Harland Radomske first heard about it when a group of wealthy Koreans were invited to invest in a wind farm on land next to his property. He feared a wind farm would reduce the value of his ranch, and there was more.

一些美國人已經(jīng)對該計劃表達了擔憂。農(nóng)場主哈蘭德·羅德姆斯克(Harland Radomske)初次聽到該計劃時，是一群韓國富人被邀請投資鄰近他農(nóng)場的一處陸上風力發(fā)電場。他擔心風力發(fā)電場會使他家農(nóng)場貶值，當然還不止這些。

"We have all of this controversy going over immigration, the borders of Mexico, and all of that issues before the Congress and Senate and so on. And now we find out unbeknownst, if you're a rich foreigner, you can buy your way to citizenship."

他說，“我們就移民、墨西哥邊境等問題鬧到了美國國會和參議院。而現(xiàn)在我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果你是外國富人，你就能買到美國國籍。”

The wind project developers refused many requests to tell the side of the story. Yet, even with the disputes over immigration, the foreign investor program has a lot of support in Congress. There is also a move to make the program permanent.

風電項目開發(fā)商拒絕了講述這件事另一面的很多要求。然而，即使移民爭議不斷，外國投資者計劃在國會卻獲得了廣泛支持。并且還有活動要使該計劃永久化。