INCREASED EB-5
MARKETING IN INDIA
With the dramatic decrease in EB-5 investors from China due
to visa retrogression, regional centers have in recent years
been increasing their marketing efforts in India. But the Indian
market is not likely to be as productive as the China market.
The China market was in many ways an ideal marketplace for
regional centers seeking investors. Due to social conventions
and language challenges, Chinese investors sought advice
principally, if not solely, from the local migration agent,
whom they could see and understand (and yell at if things
went wrong). They rarely conducted their own independent
research of an EB-5 project or engaged the services of a
financial advisor when making investment decisions.
"...marketing by EB-5
promoters in India has
already increased the
awareness of the benefits
of the EB-5 visa..."
This allowed the Chinese agents to commoditize and aggregate
investors for sale to regional centers in blocks of 10, 20, 30 and
more investors. The Indian agent market is much different. It is
far less extensive than the Chinese network of agents. The Indian
agents have a significantly lower level of market penetration of
the potential investor population when compared to the China or
Vietnam models.
In addition, potential investors have the advantages of English
fluency and unrestricted internet access, giving them far better
ability to conduct independent research and to communicate
directly with regional centers. This independence in the target
class of potential investors makes it all but impossible for
even the largest Indian emigration agency to deliver investors
in bulk, making investor acquisition more time-consuming and
more expensive for the regional centers.
Still, marketing by EB-5 promoters in India has already
increased the awareness of the benefits of the EB-5 visa,
and the resulting rise of primary demand is leading to ever
increasing numbers of EB-5 investors in India from which all in
the EB-5 industry may profit.
his own due diligence on EB-5 projects, the Indian investor is
often a tough sell.
This rising tide of investors can be expected to contribute to a
more meritocratic EB-5 marketplace of projects, with weaker
projects falling by the wayside. It also makes fraud less likely
in the EB-5 arena. Can anyone imagine 292 Indians signing up
for a project run by a 29-year-old sponsor peddling fabricated
documents, as we saw in the infamous project for a hotel and
convention center development near Chicago’s airport? It
won’t happen.
JOHN ROTH
John Roth is an immigration attorney who
holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania. In 2010, Roth obtained
a securities license and created the firm EB-5
Analytics to provide immigrant investors with
independent, impartial advice on EB-5 project selection. His firm
conducts ongoing research to identify and evaluate EB-5 projects with
the lowest risk of green card denial or loss of principal. EB-5 Analytics
presents reports on the top projects to clients and answers questions
until the client selects the most suitable project.
IMPLICATIONS FOR EB-5 INDUSTRY
Some 59 percent of Indian EB-2 and EB-3 applicants are
working in a computer-related field. Most of the rest are from
other learned and skilled professions: doctors, nurses and
skilled technicians.
These skilled workers tend to be very analytical, are used to
working in teams and rely on specialists to complete their
work. Whether working with a financial advisor or conducting
Sources:
1
“Trump may deport thousands of Indian H-1B visa holders as they wait for green cards”, Quartz
India, Ananya Bhattacharya | January 3, 2018
2
See, e.g., Green Card Wait Time is 108.6 years for EB-2 Indians By Rahul Reddy Attorney at Law
2/8/18 (http://www.rnlawgroup.com/immigration-news/584-green-card-wait-time-is-108-6-years-
for-eb-2-indians), and , generally, https://www.gcreforms.org/key-issues/
3
“The myth of real estate profits”, The Times of India: Business, Dhirendra Kumar| May 8, 2017
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