[leecho0]

Wealthy foreigners already do buy their way into the States through the EB-5 visa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-5_visa

The startup visa seeks to change the EB-5 visa to include people who aren't wealthy, but would also create jobs in the US by starting viable companies.

[mechanical_fish]

This is an interesting link. I always wondered how much money I would need to buy my way into permanent residency in any country in the world. (I am assuming that the USA is among the most difficult -- those with expertise, please correct me if I'm wrong.) It's one of those useful benchmarks for how rich "rich" is.

The price is high, but not astoundingly high, if I'm reading this right. You need $500k in capital that you're willing to invest in "certain qualified investments or regional centers with high unemployment rates". You don't even necessarily have to lose the $500k, or even lose anything. You just need the capital.

[ajaimk]

Then it might interest you that Panama requires only proof that you made $500/month to get a retirement visa

[borism]

Interesting, but as I understand it this $500 is supposed to be your real pension, not some other form of income, thus requiring most of visitors of HN to wait some half a century until retirement in Panama :)

[ajaimk]

The alternative is to buy a house for $200,000