美国两名参议员本周四准备提起一项跨党派议案，为在美国购买总价50万美元以上住房的外国人发放居留签证，以提振美国萎靡不振的住房市场。
The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.
The provision is part of a larger package of immigration measures, co-authored by Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), designed to spur more foreign investment in the U.S.
Foreigners have accounted for a growing share of home purchases in South Florida, Southern California, Arizona and other hard-hit markets. Chinese and Canadian buyers,among others, are taking advantage not only of big declines in U.S. home prices and reduced competition from Americans but also of favorable foreign exchange rates.
To fuel this demand, the proposed measure would offer visas to any foreigner making a cash investment of at least $500,000 on residential real-estate—a single-family house, condo or townhouse. Applicants can spend the entire amount on one house or spend as little as $250,000 on a residence and invest the rest in other residential real estate, which can be rented out.
"This is a way to create more demand without costing the federal government a nickel," Sen. Schumer said in an interview.
Foreigners immigrating to the U.S. with the new visa wouldn't be able to work here unless they obtained a regular work visa through the normal process. They'd be allowed to bring a spouse and any children under the age of 18 but they wouldn't be able to stay in the country legally on the new visa once they sold their properties.
The provision would create visas that are separate from current programs so as to not displace anyone waiting for other visas. There would be no cap on the home-buyer visa program.
Over the past year, Canadians accounted for one quarter of foreign home buyers, and buyers from China, Mexico, Great Britain, and India accounted for another quarter,according to the National Association of Realtors.
The idea has some high-profile supporters, including Warren Buffett, who this summerfloated the idea of encouraging more "rich immigrants" to buy homes.
Vocabulary:
reel: 倒退，退缩
shore up: support by placing against something solid or rigid（支持）
single-family house: 独立屋，独户住房
condo：各户有独立产权的公寓(大楼)
townhouse: 美国市内二层楼或三层楼多栋联建住宅
float: 提出，建议
美国两名参议员本周四准备提起一项跨党派议案，为在美国购买总价50万美元以上住房的外国人发放居留签证，以提振美国萎靡不振的住房市场。
上述规定是一系列移民措施的一部分，由纽约民主党人查尔斯•舒默和犹他州共和党人迈克•李共同起草，旨在鼓励外国投资。
在南佛罗里达州、南加利福尼亚州、亚利桑那州、以及其他房产重灾区的购房者中，外国买家所占比例越来越大。由于美国房价跌幅较深，国内购房者减少，以及有利的汇率，中国和加拿大等国的购房者极占优势。
为鼓励上述需求，议案提议向使用现金投资购买50万美元以上住宅房产的外国人发放居留签证，包括独户住房、单元公寓屋、和联排别墅。申请人既可把全部50万美元用于购买一套住宅，也可先花25万美元购买一套，然后用剩下的钱再买一套用于出租。
舒默在采访中说：“这样一来，联邦政府不花一个子儿，就能刺激更多需求。”
持此类新签证进入美国的外国人，除非通过正常程序获得常规工作签证，否则不能在美国就业。申请人可带一名配偶和年龄低于18岁的孩子赴美，但如果卖掉在美国的房产，就无法在美国继续合法居留。
新的居留签证将独立于现行美国签证项目，不会影响到等待其他签证的申请人，同时也没有人数限制。
据全美房地产经纪人协会统计，过去一年间，加拿大买家占外国购房者的四分之一，来自中国、墨西哥、英国和印度的买家总共也占到四分之一。
该设想已赢得一些著名人士的支持，包括沃伦•巴菲特。巴菲特今年夏天曾呼吁鼓励更多“富裕移民”来美国买房。
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