By Max Raskin & Jasmine Zhao
The number of foreigners who have purchased green cards by investing in the U.S. has exploded in the last decade.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows approved applications for the EB-5 visa increased to 3,677 in 2012 from 69 in 2002, according to data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. This visa gives foreigners permanent resident status if they show they’ll spur 10 jobs for every $500,000 spent in a rural or high-unemployment area and for every $1 million elsewhere. The total number of immigrant visas grew 24 percent to 482,300 from 389,157 during the same period.
