'Startup visa' is one term for it, 'buy-a-visa' is another.
I'm not sure that it's necessarily a bad idea; someone with vision and money may be able to contribute a lot to the economy. But handing them a visa for cash and a couple of years of supplying jobs feels very transactional. It says, "you can come here as long as you earn lots of money," not, "you can come here as long as you contribute lots to the economy."
A big part of the rationale for immigration restriction is that poor immigrants will strain the social services. Unfair as it may be, "you can come here as long as you earn lots of money" actually makes some sense.
There's a similar visa in South Korea, the D-8 visa, which requires you to invest 50M Won (roughly 50,000 USD), either in some business or to open another business, and some people have gotten frustrated that some have just invested for the visa and never done anything further as the government doesn't track beyond the initial investment. In this, and in the US case, the government should track to make sure it's not being abused by people who just have a lot of money and want to live in the country.
"people who just have a lot of money and want to live in the country"
What exactly is big problem with this?
Not speaking about becoming tax-resident of Monaco or similar, but your example or an EU country where you can open LLC and set up your own business and sort out residency paperwork in couple of years, for about that sum (5-figure USD/EUR) at the end benefits to the country budget and society.
Speaking from personal experience, and let me tell you we make sure we perform 100% of what government expects from us and pay everything that's due.
Also, in case of IT and startups, I feel it creates "cleaner" work environment and more positive and prospective work force than some other businesses (real-estate, natural resources, etc.)
Could you then go on to actually run a small business, out of a garage/workshop somewhere less expensive/in danger of incineration than Seoul, like Busan or Jeonju or Gwangju? It's kind of expensive to live in the US, and they have all these regulations and crap around some useful chemicals like hypophosphorous acid.
I'm not sure that it's necessarily a bad idea; someone with vision and money may be able to contribute a lot to the economy. But handing them a visa for cash and a couple of years of supplying jobs feels very transactional. It says, "you can come here as long as you earn lots of money," not, "you can come here as long as you contribute lots to the economy."