Continued from page 85
The Chinese development groups benefit by achieving portfolio diversification
in the United States at a time when the Chinese real estate market has softened.
Similarly, the U.S.-based developers gain access to cheaper capital often higher in the
capital stack, and a strong local partner to market EB-5 investments in China at a
time when the EB-5 marketplace has become more competitive.
Green
Energy
Will Power
Your Green Card
“From an immigration compliance standpoint, which is
of most critical importance to the EB-5 investor, there
is little difference between investing in an EB-5 project
developed by an American real estate company versus
one developed by a Chinese real estate developer”
From an immigration compliance standpoint, which is of most critical importance
to the EB-5 investor, there is little difference between investing in an EB-5 project
developed by an American real estate company versus one developed by a Chinese
real estate developer: the visa program requirements for earning a permanent green
card - and ferreting out fraud - remain exactly the same. United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) neither expressly nor implicitly precludes a
foreign-owned company from participating in the EB-5 program, nor should they.
After all, the heart of the EB-5 program is job creation in the United States for
American workers. The amount of jobs created by an EB-5 project is the first element
both EB-5 investors and developers must ascertain when determining project viability
under the Immigrant Investor Program. If the requisite jobs per investor are created,
then it is questionable whether a debate should even ensue about the suitability of
international developers owning or operating U.S. EB-5 development projects: at the
end of the day, all of the jobs resulting from a project are American ones.
If anything, additional players on the EB-5 project field could be beneficial in
the competition they generate. A greater variety of projects in the EB-5 marketplace
would continue to improve the quality of projects available to investors, increasing
the likelihood of successful project completion and adding value into the communities that they are intended to benefit. Projects that fail to create the requisite jobs or
repay their investors are obviously harmful to the integrity of the program.
The reality is that for U.S. real es tate developers, international interest is not a new
trend. Canada is the top international investor in the U.S. real estate market.3 Just
as many U.S. developers are incorporating EB-5 financing into their project capital
stack, it is not surprising that international developers are doing the same. And most
significantly, their contributions will still result in the creation of American jobs, along
with billions of dollars in foreign investment stimulating the U.S. economy – beyond
merely the jobs created by the EB-5 projects themselves. Far from being a cause of
concern, international developers investing money and developing U.S.-based projects is a vote of confidence in the United States. As Senator Patrick Leahy noted, “[a]t
a time when so much American investment is incentivized off shore, isn’t it nice to see
a government program [EB-5] that brings foreign investment onshore?”4
★
Mahajan, Saurabh, and Surabhi Sheth. Chinese Investment in U.S. Real
Estate. Rep: Deloitte Development, Web.
4
Remarks of Senator Patrick Leahy at Jay Peak. Patrick Leahy. U.S.
Senate, 27 Sept. 2012.
Web. .
3
For more information on
how green energy can
power your green card,
please contact us at:
Laguilar@americanrcg.com
Victor Shum
86
Victor Shum is the president of the Advantage America EB-5 Group,
which operates the Advantage America California Regional Center and
Advantage America New York Regional Center. He was
formerly a partner at the law firm of Jeffer Mangels Butler
and Mitchell LLP in San Francisco, where he served as
the co-chair of the investment capital law group and was
a member of the global hospitality practice and Chinese
investment group.
EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE