economies is that what goes up, must come down. While China
still generates the bulk of EB-5 investors, the medium to longterm impact of China’s current stock market woes remains to be
seen. The current situation has potential to slow export and overall
economic growth, lead to a potential collapse in the value of the
Yuan (China has implemented numerous restrictions to prevent a
collapse in the Yuan, which have the collateral impact of making
it more difficult for EB-5 investors to transfer their funds out of
the country), and change the political environment. The climate is
ripe for the ever-looming specter of a real estate market crash, and
a subsequent banking system collapse would have drastic effects
on the Chinese EB-5 market. The time for diversification in EB-5
is now, and the need for it is more critical than ever.
During this same four and a half year period, from 2011 –
2015, Vietnam rose from a single-digit
producer to second place behind China
in the league table of EB-5 investors.5
And this stunning expansion in
Vietnamese EB-5 investors occurred
during a period of a debt-driven banking
crisis, rapid inflation and slowing
economic growth. Imagine how the
volume out of Vietnam will grow once
the banking sector mess is cleaned up,
once inflation is reduced and the country
returns to its long-term growth trajectory
(Vietnam has favorable population
demographics, while 35+ years of the
one-child policy have China facing a
demographic crater6). Chasing rainbows
in Vietnam? More like chasing the next
growth market in EB-5. So what are the
factors that have lead a country that is
still desperately poor overall (let’s not
forget that China is actually still a very poor country itself7) to
become a major EB-5 heavyweight almost overnight?
EB-5 has been on the radar of wealthy Vietnamese since
2003, but the program was not well understood and the market
needed EB-5 professionals to provide education.8 Now, the term
“Investment Immigration USA” appears frequently on local
newspapers such as Tuoi Tre, Tien Phong, VNExpress.vn and TV
channels, such as VTC8. Over the past few years, the significant
increase in demand for EB-5 visas is proven by the number of
consulting companies that have rapidly formed to catch up with
market demand.
What Makes the EB-5 Program Attractive to
Vietnamese Investors?
• American dream for Vietnamese people.
•
Green card for spouse and children.
•
No age, education, professional working experience
requirements.
•
Compared to other investment immigration programs, such
as those in Australia and Canada, the EB-5 program is favorable for Vietnamese investors in terms of short processing
times, a lower amount of investment, return on investment
and no priority date.
The Vietnamese are generally well disposed to the United
States. Most people who live in the Southern part of the
country (the most dynamic region of Vietnam) have at least one
family member or friend living in the United States, a legacy
of waves of refugees fleeing the country. The waves occurred
predominately at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and in
the wake of China’s invasion of Vietnam in 1979, which led to
the Vietnamese government expelling ethnic Chinese citizens
from the country in retaliation.9 A natural affinity for the United
States and belief (right or wrong) that
the Vietnamese have an understanding of life in America, based on the
information provided by friends and
family, means that EB-5 is really the only
game in town when it comes to investor
migration from Vietnam.
A tendency to think of EB-5 as
the culmination of people’s dreams and
aspirations pervades the EB-5 industry.
The mindset is that people become rich
in their home country, then leave it soon
thereafter to satisfy a lifelong desire to
live in the United States. While this is
undoubtedly true for some people, the
reality is that EB-5 is an industry that
thrives on other people’s disasters, fears,
political and economic instability and
general paranoia about things going
wrong very quickly in an investor’s home
country. A cursory look at some of the traditional top-ten sources
of EB-5 investors illustrates this point:
1) China, where political, legal and economic instability make
having an exit strategy imperative for the wealthy;
2) Taiwan, which lives with the fear of forcible reunification
with Mainland China;
3) South Korea, which lives with the ever-present threat of a
nuclear-armed North Korea;
4) Venezuela, suffering under 15 years of Chavezism;
5) Iran, laboring under theocratic rule and economic
sanctions; and
6) Mexico, on the verge of becoming a failed narco-state.
Vietnam is no different in this regard. While Vietnam did
enjoy a period of rapid economic growth in the wake of economic
liberalization (doi moi) beginning in the late 1980’s, the country
still suffers from the dead hand of one-party totalitarian rule. The
same political and economic dynamics that make EB-5 popular
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