Kushner’s sister Nicole Meyer was in China looking to raise funds from investors for a Kushner Companies’ development in Jersey City through the U. S. government’s EB-5 visa program, which provides a path toward obtaining green cards.
BEIJING—The sister of U. S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been in China courting individual investors with a much-criticized federal visa program that provides a path toward obtaining U. S. green cards.
Kushner’s sister Nicole Meyer promoted 1 Journal Square, a Kushner Companies’ development in Jersey City, at an event Sunday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai, according to participants.
The pitch seeks to raise funds from Chinese investors through the U. S. government’s EB-5 visa program, which allows permanent U. S. residency for those who finance projects that create a certain amount of jobs.
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The event was organized by Beijing-based immigration services company QWOS and Kushner Companies, according to an advertisement on the Chinese company’s website, which says the project is seeking $150 million (U. S.) from 300 EB-5 investors.
Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump, stepped down as chief executive of the Kushner Companies in January and has sold stakes in several properties to help allay concerns about conflict of interest. His family’s promotional efforts in China come amid widespread criticism of the EB-5 visa program, which has grown popular among wealthy foreigners seeking to move to the U. S. but faces allegations of fraud and misuse.
Critics say many of the investments purportedly aimed at assisting poor areas of the U. S. have instead wound up going to projects in more affluent neighbourhoods, while many programs have been badly hit by fraud scandals. U. S. lawmakers have been weighing proposed changes to the program, which would likely affect companies such as Kushner Cos. should it want to raise funds from such investors.
