The number of people from other countries -- especially China -- who want to invest in the United States in exchange for a permanent resident visa reached its highest level in 2015. The program is known as EB-5 or Employment-Based Fifth Initiative. It was created in 1990 during the presidency of George W. Bush and supported by both major political parties. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services says the program gives permanent resident status to those who invest at least $1,000,000 in a new project “that will create or preserve at least ten full-time jobs in the United States” within about two years. The agency says a foreign citizen needs to invest just “$500,000 if the (project) is in a targeted employment area,” which includes some rural areas and areas with high joblessness. Critics of the program say much of the investment takes place in wealthy cities.