EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 2 Issue 2 | Page 50

Continued from page 46
The plan for our next conference in 2015 is to enhance the experience by inviting even more professional companies to join together and to provide an even bigger platform for everyone involved . For the past few years we have been holding the event in Shanghai , so our plan for 2015 is to present conferences in the northern and southern parts of China as well . China is very big , and each city or province is culturally different , and the foundation of the immigration process can be very different . So if it was interesting and worthwhile to come to China for one event , now they can attend three events and meet even more people .
What regions do you work in outside of Shanghai ? We have sales offices in most of the tier 1 and 2 cities in China , these cover northern and southern China .
How many projects do you take on at a time ? We like to keep around three to four , giving the investors some choices yet still meeting the goals of the projects .
How many investors have you placed with projects ? Our company has placed over 1,000 investors overall .
Can projects contact you directly ? If so , how ? Email us at ceo @ wailianvisa . com .
EB5 Investors : How do you choose what projects to represent , and what is your due diligence process before you decide to sell a project to investors ?
He : As you already know , there are hundreds of projects out there and many in very different industries , industries like hospitals , utility companies , manufacturing , real estate , all kinds of projects . What we look at is , first of all , the developer ’ s background , and the feasibility of the project — will the project be able to survive the potential risks . So we look at the project as a whole and not just one single variable . Another factor that we examine is the immigration law — does the project qualify under the immigration law ? Are all the elements of the project legal under the immigration laws ? We don ’ t want to do anything that is illegal or that may jeopardize the green card status of the investors .
In terms of how we conduct our due diligence process , we actually have our own lawyers and independent third-party entities that assist us . We can ’ t be experts in all the different areas , so we hire professionals in specific areas to assist us with the due diligence process .
EB5 Investors : How do you match investors with the projects ; how do you help investors choose which project will be best for them ?
He : It really depends on the clients , because each client may have their own preference because of their different business background or experience that they have . For example , people who are in the manufacturing sector may be more interested in a manufacturing EB-5 project , because they will be more knowledgeable about that project . Because we have maintained a very successful track record and people trust us , we always share our thoughts on why we have selected a certain project , why we like the project and decided to promote it , and what we think are the benefits or advantages of the project . We always share our thoughts with the client and the client can analyze our input and make their own decision according to all of the information .
EB5 Investors : What qualities make a project more marketable to the investors ? Some people may choose a project based on their background , but what are some general qualities — position in the capital stack , location , industry ?
He : All of those points you mentioned are important , but none are singularly important . For instance , the location of the project is important but not a critical factor . To date , we have done projects in very well known cities in the United States , but we ’ ve also done projects that are situated in very rural areas of the United States , including small cities that even some Americans haven ’ t heard of . Same with the size of the project — it matters , but again it ’ s not a critical factor because we have sold very large-scale projects and some very , very small-scale projects . As to the capital stack that you mentioned earlier , that is also very important , as it may be a direct factor to the success of the project , for instance if a certain source of the funding is already in place or if it still uncertain . The feasibility of the business model is very important in determining whether the project will succeed , as opposed to doing something that you know the market will not react well to . So , you really have to look at the picture as a whole — but for each project we typically focus on one highlight point to make it happen .
EB5 Investors : Describe your underwriting process , what work do you do with investors to make sure that they are eligible for the program before you sell them a project ?
He : The U . S immigration law for EB-5 has made it very clear that an investor only needs to have a clean source of funds of at least half a million dollars , so that is the most important factor of the eligibility requirement . So when we do underwrite the investor , we first determine that they have the funds available and that it is a clean source of funds that can be documented simply and easily understood .
What is more difficult for the clients is for them to learn about U . S . immigration law to understand what is legal and doable and also for them to understand the project and see if it will be a good match for them . But the underwriting process for the investor is not that difficult , because the EB-5 program doesn ’ t make it difficult for the investors .
EB5 Investors : What sets Wailian apart from other agencies and what are your long-term goals as an agency ?
He : What makes us different is our experience , our dedication to being constantly up-to-date regarding immigration law , the network of esteemed professionals that we have assembled and , most importantly , our dedication to our clients . We rarely look at what other agents are doing , and instead focus on how we can continually improve our service to our clients . We want to spend more time focusing on how to improve as a company and how we can find better projects for our investors .

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