Mexicans use program to flee violence, when they can afford it

Mexico's elite have been known to frequent Houston for shopping or to visit a doctor, some buying Galleria-area condominiums for convenience. But more wealthy Mexicans now are viewing Houston as their investment destination and new home.

The government's E2 visa requires someone who moves to the U.S. to invest at least $150,000 in a new or existing company. The number of Mexicans toting the E class of business visas, the vast majority of which are E2, more than doubled to 16,411 in 2008 from 7,903 in 2005 — the last year figures were available.

Mexican entrepreneur Eduardo Parra moved to Houston eight years ago after avoiding being kidnapped. He is applying for an E2 visa so he can continue his business operations here.

“Partially, I was looking for peace and tranquility,” said Parra, the owner of CP Machinery USA, a Kingwood offshoot of the Mexico City company he also owns. “We lived in a nice area in Mexico, but my wife would say ‘Don't let the boys play outside because they will be robbed.'?”

Experts said the rush of Mexicans applying for the visa is in part because of the growing violence south of the border against everyone — not just the wealthy.

“Five years ago it used to be the very, very wealthy. Now, the hoodlums are attacking anybody who looks like they have money,” said Sarah Monty, an attorney with Houston's Monty Partners.

Those who can afford the minimum $150,000 investment and a mortgage are spending an average of $350,000 on a home in The Woodlands, Katy or West Houston, among other communities, said Uptown Real Estate Group agent Javier Fernandez.

Businesses like Uptown are catering to the growing population of wealthy Mexicans fleeing their homeland.

The state of Texas' office in Mexico City routinely holds seminars about investing in the Lone Star State with real estate agents, immigration attorneys and bankers providing tips to potential investors about how to buy a house, build a business and get a visa.

Earlier this month, a seminar in Mexico City attracted so many curious business owners that some were turned away because the room was filled, said John Sexton, CEO of Houston's Oasis Bank. Last year, Oasis opened an office in The Woodlands to sell mortgages to Mexicans moving there. Later this year, it will convert that office into a full-service branch.

Houston has long had strong ties with Mexican business owners.

“We saw Mexican investors come all the time. But they were not interested in making a life here,” said Silvia Graves of the Houston law firm Graves & Graves.

Now they want to know about the private schools, taxes and — most importantly — visas.

They're applying for the E2 visa partly because it can be renewed indefinitely. However, it doesn't give immigrants a path to citizenship, a point that some foreign investors are lobbying to change. The visa requires businesses to be profitable.With many small businesses struggling, that's difficult. If a business isn't making much money, authorities can refuse to renew the E2 visa and the investor must return home.

“I've invested all this money. I have all these people who work for me. I'd like to stay, and we can't,” said Nina Mold, a Briton and owner of hair salon Top Performance in Naples, Fla.

She's also one of the leaders of the E2 reform organization that wants investors with a five-year track record in the U.S. to qualify for residency.

Some Mexican investors whose Houston-area businesses failed have returned home, said Fernandez, the real estate agent.

“There are some success stories, but not all of them,” he said. “They don't know how to run a business here. Things are done here differently.”

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