EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 2 Issue 2 | Page 47

Connection

Linda He is the woman at the helm of Wailian Overseas Consulting Group , one of the most well known migration agencies in China . She spoke with us from China about what a migration agency does , how to market an EB-5 project in China , and the agency ’ s due diligence process .
EB5 Investors Magazine : What is your professional background and how did you get involved in EB-5 ?
Linda He : I was helping my family and friends ’ children pursue educational opportunities studying abroad and soon realized that there was a large demand to help Chinese citizens pursue immigration opportunities worldwide . Soon after , I started looking at different immigration programs from countries around the world . I studied the Australian program , the New Zealand program , and then the U . S . program . I quickly discovered the U . S . EB-5 program and became very interested in learning all of its requirements . At that time , almost no professional in China was specializing in U . S . EB-5 work and the program was mostly unknown to the general Chinese population .
I believed that the EB-5 program offered great promise , so we started doing advertising in local Chinese newspapers . Wailian was the first company to do big sections of advertising in the newspaper . At the time people were doing very little clips in newspapers , maybe 1 / 16th of a page , but we started with big advertisements , and the response from the public was overwhelming .
EB5 Investors : For people who are not familiar with migration agents , what does a migration agency do and why is it important to EB-5 ?
He : The goal of a migration agency is to find and match investors to the EB-5 projects . The general step-by-step process is to first find or be approached by a project , conduct initial review of whether the project is a fit for the company ( meaning a safe project in the definition of the migration agency ), if yes , then the agency conducts its due diligence , and finally markets to the general public and finds EB-5 investors .
In China , in order to promote EB-5 , the entity or company must be licensed by the Chinese government and because of that , all of the agents must be licensed . Accordingly , the government has strict requirements for the immigration program , such as the number of employees , their training ( employees must have knowledge in areas such as finance , law and different aspects to be an expert on the investment project ), and the structure of the company . It is very important for an agent to be licensed in order to promote EB-5 opportunities in China .
EB5 Investors : You mentioned taking out advertisements to gain entry into the market , but what sort of work went into becoming a leader in the industry ?
He : At Wailian , we focus on four key points : the first is the professionalism of our employees . We stress the importance of being familiar with the immigration laws and the importance of staying up-to-date regarding any proposed changes . Ever since its founding , Wailian has been committed to acting in a strictly professional and ethical manner . Second , we have assembled a team of leading professionals from around the globe : attorneys , accountants , financial analysts , etc . to assist us in providing service to our clients . We are very proud of the team we have assembled and believe that they are some of the leading experts in the EB-5 industry . Third is our track record . We have been doing this work for a very long time and have experience with immigration programs from around the world , including Canada , Singapore and other countries .
Because we started our business just as the need for immigration services started to develop in China , we have been fortunate to assist our clients in a wide range of immigration services on a global basis . Lastly , it is the trust that we have gained from our clients . Our track record is our best source for new business . One example of that is how we process our documents . We have an in-house document processing team — so that we can always process client documents quickly and efficiently . That makes our clients very happy with the services they receive from us , and as a result they keep referring new clients to our company .
EB5 Investors : Describe your staff . How many employees do you have and what is their professional background ?
He : Currently our company has over 300 employees globally and it is still growing . The employees all have very different professional backgrounds , including law , business management , finance , you name it . Also , many of our employees have a background of having either studied , or worked in a foreign country .
Our company also does something very different from most companies in the industry , we not only train our sales consultants , or something we call immigration consultants , who directly deal with the clients , but we also provide training and support to all our staff on current business models on the projects that we sell . So we are constantly providing training and support . So many of our employees have full confidence in the company . As a result , we have a very large percentage of employees who have been with the company since its start .
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