Risky dreams

Even if they can afford it, not everyone is so sure that they can realize their American dream.

The US$500,000 investment is only enough to pay for 10 workers' salaries for one year.

"I need to keep their jobs for at least two years before my family can get the green card," said Liu Jie, a businesswoman in Beijing whose biggest concern about choosing an EB-5 regional center program is whether she can get her permanent green card.

To succeed, her investment needs to secure 10 jobs for locals in a region with a high unemployment rate for at least two years before her conditional green card can become a permanent green card. And the business has to be profitable so that she can get her money back after five years.

In the promotions and brochures, immigration consultants, lawyers and representatives from regional centers carefully paint a rosy picture to their clients, most of whom are unfamiliar with US investment. They avoid talking about any risk or any negatives.

"Regional centers tend to oversimplify the process of investment immigration," Fang said. "And immigration agencies in the Chinese mainland are also new to the investment immigration themselves."

Some consultants at the sessions like to say that the risk is minimal because the program is backed by the US government, but Fang warns that this statement is an exaggeration. The US government does not guarantee the safety of the investment, he said.

Those wishing to join the EB-5 program will need minimum assets of at least 10 million yuan (US$1.48 million) Zhao Jiangcheng, an immigration consultant of Beijing Worldway Immigration Service Co., told the prospective clients who were hesitating.

"The worst-case scenario is that even if the investment fails, your life will not be affected severely," he said.

Most of the investors are quite wealthy and $500,000 represents only a small portion of their wealth. Liu Jie, for example, said she would sell a few apartments to pay for her part of the investment immigration program.

Many of her friends went to study in the United States in the 1990s and stayed there after graduation. One of her friends is a research fellow in the United States, "but I don't want to stay in the lab every day like her," Liu said.

When the real estate prices began to drop slowly in Beijing, she decided to give up her American dream.

"I don't know what to do there," she said.

For Cao Zhenghe, who is determined to make an investment for a green card, the American dream is a bit different. He doesn't want his son to be an American citizen because a green card would be better for family business in the future.

"What if he came back to do business in China? I can't help him get a Chinese green card if he became an American."

Cao is trying to find Chinese people who succeeded in getting their permanent green cards and got their investment back after five years, but so far, he has been unable to find them.

He would love a piece of America for his family and for his business, but wants to be smart about venturing into this.

"It's a big investment for the family after all," he said. "It needs to be considered carefully."