Key part of US residency program for investors set to expire

WASHINGTON (AP) — A program that has allowed wealthy foreign investors to obtain U.S. residency, and has long been the subject of complaints that it amounts to the wholesale selling of American citizenship, may be coming to a sputtering end.

Congressional authorization for a key part of the immigrant investor program was set to expire Wednesday with dim prospects for renewal following the failure of a Senate bill that would have addressed long-standing concerns about inadequate regulation.

The bipartisan bill would have created new regulations on a part of the program that makes up the bulk of visa applications and allows money from overseas investors to be pooled into funds to finance large projects around the U.S., often high-end real estate.

That effort failed last week when GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham objected to the bill and prevented it from moving through the Senate by unanimous consent, angering the two senior Republican and Democratic lawmakers who authored the legislation.

“A narrow subset of big money and corrupt interests has now shown that they would rather kill the program altogether than have to accept integrity programs designed to clamp down on their bad behavior,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who authored the bill with Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, said on the Senate floor after the objection from Graham.

Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said the South Carolina Republican needed more time despite the looming deadline. “He would like to negotiate a long-term compromise with all parties that allows for the program to be successful while improving program integrity.”

Despite the bipartisan sponsorship of the bill, the prospects for it being revived, or restoring the authorization without the changes, are uncertain. Lawmakers are wary of the overall program and...