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A bill signed into law last week by US President Barack Obama will allow wealthy Irish people to get green cards to live in the United States in second homes provided they invest in projects that will provide 10 jobs in a high unemployment area.

The little-known programme, known as EB-5 regional centre programme, is a highly beneficial permanent residence option for the wealthy individual, according to Ron Klasko, who is chairman of the EB-5 committee of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association.

The programme requires an investment of at least $500,000 (€336,000) in a high unemployment or rural area in a commercial enterprise that will employ 10 full-time US workers. The investor has to be able to document that the funds are legal, but does not have to be involved in day-to-day management.

Under the law, the permanent home obtained by the Irish investor is conditional for two years and can be made permanent upon satisfying the US Customs and Immigration Service at the end of the two years that the investment proceeds have not been withdrawn, and that the jobs have been created.

“What are the chances of a wealthy Irish national being able to spend his retirement years in the US? Surprisingly the chances may be very good using a vehicle entitled Regional Centre EB-5,” Mr Klasko’s website says.

“Although many people, especially from Asia, have found the $500,000 price tag to be a small price to pay for the US green card visa, for the ability to retire in the US and for the ability to have their children educated in the US, the programme has received a lot less publicity in Ireland.”

His company, Klasko, Rulon, Stock and Seltzer, with offices in New York and Philadelphia specialising in immigration law, said the visa programme allows the Irish retiree to work or not work as he pleases, to live anywhere he wants to in the US, to travel in and out of the country as frequently as he wishes, and to get green card visa for his spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21.

He must invest a specified amount of money, $500,000 to $1m, in a US government-approved regional centre and the investment must be for a period of at least five years.

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The FY 2010 DHS Spending Bill, which passed the Senate on a 79-19 vote on October 27, includes an immigration measure that allows a spouse, child and other family members to receive a green card visa when their priority date is reached, even when the petitioner dies.

FY 2010 DHS Spending Bill puts an end to the “Widow’s Penalty.” According to the New York Times, the Widow’s Penalty is “the government’s practice of annulling foreigners’ applications for permanent residency when their American spouses die before the marriage is two years old.”

According to AILA Info Net, the new law “includes statutory authority for USCIS to complete processing of permanent residence applications for surviving spouses and other relatives of immigration sponsors who die during the adjudication process (section 568).”

In an interview with the Asian Journal, Immigration Attorney Robert Reeves explained that before the signing of the bill, the death of a petitioner or principal benefi ciary usually results in an automatic revocation of the immigrant visa petition.

“This is fantastic news,” said Reeves, whose fi rm has been lobbying Congress to pass this bill. “This is an incredible benefi t for those who have previously fi led humanitarian reinstatement. Now, we can fi le them for permanent resident status. This will benefi t thousands of immigrants.”

The new law does not only allow widows/widowers to submit petitions for permanent residency after their spouse’s death, it also covers all family-based petitions, “including petitions for unmarried children of US citizens under 21, family-preference categories who have approved or pending petitions which include the spouse and unmarried children of permanent residents, unmarried children over the age of 21 of US citizens, married children of US citizens, siblings of US citizens and the derivative children of this group,” says Atty. Reeves and Atty. Joseph Elias in their regular column article in the Asian Journal (see Community Journal section, p.C1 for more information.)

“Derivative beneficiaries of pending or approved employment- based immigrant visa petitions are also covered by the new law which include the spouse and unmarried children under age 21 of an individual who was sponsored under the employment-based category,” the article also stated.

According to Reeves, before the new law was approved, if the petitioner dies before the petition is approved or permanent resident status is granted, the spouse or child would be unable to obtain permanent resident status.

However, the new law does not apply to surviving family members residing outside of the US, added Reeves.

“Unfortunately, if they are not living in the United States right now they would have to file the traditional humanitarian reinstatement which is very difficult,” added Reeves. “The immigration services grants only a very few of them.”

The root of the law began in 1970 when the court ruled that a husband’s death stripped the wife of her position as spouse, meaning she no longer qualified for a green card visa. A 1990 law then narrowed that ruling’s scope, saying a widow married to a US citizen for at least two years can file a petition for a residency permit on her own behalf, according to the Associated Press.

The new law was championed by Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. Bill Nelso.

[source: Asian Journal]