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Each year, many families from around the world make the decision to immigrate to the United States through the EB-5 visa program. Through a qualified $900,000 investment, an investor and their family are able to participate in an expeditious path to permanent residency in the United States. The investment must create 10 full-time jobs for American workers, and does not require that the investor run a business or live in a specific state, unlike other visa categories.
The families participating in the EB-5 program choose to immigrate for many reasons, but usually have one thing in common: they are immigrating for the chance at a better life. Many focus on future opportunities for their children while others choose to immigrate for a prosperous business environment.
Regardless of the specific reason behind pursuing EB-5, all investors evaluate the risks associated with achieving their goals, the biggest of which is not the financial risk (though that is incredibly important), rather it is the immigration risk of being unable to immigrate (and permanently remain) in the United States.
With over twenty years of experience and over 5,800 families putting their trust in us, CMB Regional Centers has always understood that there are three goals of each EB-5 participant and their family. Not only are these three goals of utmost importance, they also must be kept in order to ensure the highest likelihood of success.
Top three EB-5 Investor goals
These goals are: first, obtaining permanent residency in the United States; second, ensuring that their investment is secure and that they will receive their money back at the end of the process; and third, receiving some modest return on their investment. If these goals are not prioritized in the appropriate order, an investor and their family will likely increase the risk of failing in the most important goal, their immigration pursuit, even if they succeed elsewhere.
When evaluating new investments, diversification is always a component in one’s decision in addition to one’s appetite for risk-vs-returns. CMB believes that EB-5 is an investment and your return on the investment amount is your green card. If you are looking to make an investment that will lead to significant returns, there are much better options outside of investing in EB=5 immigration.
We believe an EB-5 investment and an investment to achieve significant returns need to be two separate investments because of how different the goals of each investment are, if combined into one investment, the objectives compete and work against the other.
The true return on your EB-5 investment is the permanent green card and the opportunities presented by living in the United States, whether that be education for children, university for yourself or children, personal freedoms that are unique to people in the U.S., security, job opportunities, retirement, improved climate, and so many more things. Each investor has their own reason to come to the United States, but each comes with a hope that life here is an improvement from life where they are leaving.
As an investor considers an EB-5 opportunity, they must make certain that the goals of each party in the investment are clearly understood, and ensure that the goals of the regional center program align with their goals. This is why CMB has always offered a debt-based relationship (as opposed to an equity structure) with each target project and developer, which ensures that our goals as a company align with the goals of our investors.
Not only does CMB offer debt-based investments, but we ensure that our investment opportunities are not vertically integrated, where the regional center and developer share common ownership and common interests.
In a vertically integrated structure, the developer and the regional center have their interests aligned, and (should something go wrong) the investor has to stand in opposition to both parties. In the CMB model the conflict of interest does not exist, the regional center is a fiduciary for the investors and will fight on the side of the investor and their family to ensure that the project moves forward, creates jobs, and returns their capital.
Ensuring that the regional center’s goals align with yours is a significant part of your due diligence, but it cannot end there. The same due diligence you perform on the regional center must be also be performed on the project and developer, your attorney, any agency or third-party promoter of the project, broker dealer, and any other parties assisting in the decision making process. CMB has always suggested that our clients ask everyone involved hard questions and make them prove the answer.
One of the best questions in ensuring that goals are aligned is determining how each party receive compensation. Recognizing that compensation is essential in order to continue serving the client does not mean turning a blind eye to the structure and amount of that compensation.
Investment opportunities exist in the market where the attorney, marketing agency, and due diligence firms are all being paid outrageous fees by the developer or the regional center. Who do those parties actually care about?
What is their involvement after you subscribe and they are paid a fee? Who do those parties actually work for? If something goes wrong, whose side will they be on?
CMB has based our entire business around the idea that each one of our investors is part of the CMB family. CMB has been a family business and we take great pride in getting to know our clients on a personal and professional level.
This means caring for our investors and structuring our deals based on our investor’s goals. It also means being available for our investors throughout the years-long process of investing and immigrating to the United States and finding quality developers and projects that meet and exceed the requirements of the EB-5 program.
Whether you are just beginning the process of vetting the EB-5 program, or you are ready to invest as soon as you find the right opportunity, let a trusted professional help you in this process. At CMB Regional Centers we are ready and able to help, and we look forward to working with you throughout the process.
If you would like to learn more about the EB-5 Investor Visa, job creation requirements, jobs created, or CMB’s current EB-5 offerings, please contact us here to schedule a free initial consultation with a CMB Investor Relations Manager. They can assist you toward your goal of becoming a lawful permanent resident. Get started soon to get on your way of becoming a conditional resident!
CMB EB-5 Regional Centers – EB-5 Immigration services
CMB engages Prevail Capital, LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC, to be the administrative placement agent for all CMB EB-5 partnerships.
