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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

SEC names and shames some attorneys who illegally took commissions for referring EB-5 visa investors to regional centers

I've been saying publicly for about 8 years now that regional centers routinely violate securities laws and commit securities fraud, and now we see the SEC acting yet again to discipline and fine attorneys who ILLEGALLY received commissions from regional centers to refer unsuspecting EB-5 visa investors to invest in their business. The SEC's press release can be seen at http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-274.html

This just goes to show that not only do unscrupulous attorneys engage in a conflict of interest when representing EB-5 visa investors, but also clearly proves that even today, regional centers continue to violate securities laws by illegally paying commissions to get EB-5 visa investors. Due to the fact that regional centers divert the EB-5 visa investor's funds to make illegal commission payments, the business is underfunded, and

EB-5 visa investors now know and understand that Genuine Direct investment businesses are the safest option for EB-5 visa investors in every single respect. 

Here are some of the critical reasons that EB-5 visa investors should ALWAYS choose Genuine Direct Investment Businesses and avoid regional centers:
1.      In a Genuine Direct Investment Business, it is quite unusual to encounter fraud or conflict of interest. This alone is THE biggest reason why EB-5 visa investors usually experience capital loss if they opt for regional centers or unsafe Direct Investments (such as Twistee Treats or Voodoo or Marcos Pizza), while those who opt for Genuine Direct Investment Businesses usually NEVER experience capital loss. 
2.      EB-5 visa investors who choose Genuine Direct Investment Businesses usually earn annual ROI of 15% to 40%, while those who select regional centers usually earn 0-2% annual ROI. 
3.      Genuine Direct Investment Businesses offer easy exit strategies to EB-5 visa investors while those who invest in regional centers experience TERRIBLE exit strategies. 
4.      Regional Centers usually commit securities fraud and securities law violations while this is usually unheard of in Genuine Direct Investment Businesses. 
5.      EB-5 visa investors usually get capital gains if they invest in a Genuine Direct Investment Business and almost NEVER get capital gains if they invest in a regional center. 
6.      EB-5 visa investors in Genuine Direct Investment Businesses usually see faster processing and approval of their petitions, while it takes much longer for EB-5 visa investors to get their immigrant visa through regional centers.  
7.      EB-5 visa investors in Genuine Direct Investment Businesses have a higher chance of getting their permanent green card, while those who opt for regional centers have a lower chance of getting their green card.
The ONLY safe, fast and usually profitable way to get an EB-5 visa is through investment in a GENUINE Direct Investment Business. An even faster and easier way to get a PERMANENT green card is to apply for the L1A visa and then the EB-1C visa.

Many immigration attorneys and so-called due diligence "experts" fail to disclose important facts to investors. One such set of facts is that it takes 3 years to get a temporary green card and an additional 30+ months to get a permanent green card in EB-5 visa category, while investors can get a permanent green card in less than 2 years with EB-1C category visas.
The advantages of EB-1C over EB-5 visas are as follows:

1) Very little chance of fraud, compared to rampant fraud seen in regional centers in the EB-5 visa program.

2) Significantly lower investment amount. In EB-5 visa, a minimum investment of $500,000 is needed, whereas I've had clients get approved with even $350,000 investment in EB-1C visa category.

3) There is total flexibility about location: EB-1C visa investors face no restrictions about location, whereas EB-5 visa investors see significant location based restrictions if they invest only $500,000, and investors have to invest minimum $1 Million to avoid location based restrictions.

4) The EB-5 visa program has onerous proof of fund requirements, whereas the fund documentation requirements are definitely not as stringent in EB-1C visa program.

5) The job creation requirements are a lot more onerous in EB-5 visa, and I've seen that creating even 4 jobs suffices for an EB-1C visa.

6) Unlike the EB-5 visa program, there is no conditional green card in EB-1C visa program.

7) The time to get a permanent green card under EB-1 visa program ranges from 1-2 years, whereas it takes almost 5 years to get a permanent green card under EB-5 visa category. Business owners & executives can immediately move to the US on L1A visa, and get their green card in hand within a matter of months, whereas EB-5 visa holders have to wait for about two years to just get a temporary green card.

Keeping the above factors in mind, most investors are now choosing to go with EB-1C visa as it is a lot cheaper, faster, safer and easier to get compared to the EB-5 visa.

If you are a business owner or high net worth individual interested in migrating to the US, please hire our team. We offer a turnkey solution and have a solid track record of success, as we believe in delivering results and not excuses to our clients. That is why we have a 100% fee refund guarantee while our competitors usually don't offer such a guarantee.

Yours truly,
Mohammed Shaikh, MBA (Accounting), CFE, Licensed Business & RE Broker (CA & FL)
Online:  http://www.smartbusinessbroker.com Phone: +1 407 535 0616

Friday, November 27, 2015

Why is the EB-1 visa now the best option for EB-5 visa investors? Should EB-5 visa investors wait over 3 years for a temporary green card when they can get a permanent green card in as little as 1.5 years under EB-1C category?

Recently released USCIS numbers clearly prove that a very high percentage of EB-5 visa investors who chose to invest in regional centers did not get their permanent green cards due to widespread fraud. The sad and shocking story is that none of the regional center marketers ever disclose these materially factual statistics to EB-5 visa investors when soliciting their investments.

In the US (and most other jurisdictions), failure to disclose material facts to investors qualifies as securities fraud, and yet we see regional centers commit securities fraud quite openly against EB-5 visa investors.
I-526




Year
Applied
Approved
Denied
Pending
2010
1953
1369
165
1125
2011
3805
1571
372
3347
2012
6041
3677
957
5018
2013
6346
3699
943
7131
2014
10923
4925
1169
12453
2015
14373
8756
1051
17367





I-829




Year
Applied
Approved
Denied
Pending
2012
712
736
60
1013
2013
1217
844
44
1345
2014
2516
1603
178
2075
2015
2767
1067
11
4049

Unscrupulous immigration attorneys, Regional center promoters and marketers deliberately conceal the important fact from investors that it is expected that EB-5 visa investors will take at least 2-3 years to get a temporary green card under EB-5 visa category, and an additional 2.5 years to get a permanent green card. In this period, the investor faces an unnecessary delay that can be easily bypassed simply by using the EB-1C visa option, with which investors can get a permanent green card in as little as a year and a half to two years.

Some of the advantages of EB-1C are as follows:

1) Very little chance of fraud, compared to rampant fraud seen in regional centers in the EB-5 visa program.

2) Significantly lower investment amount. In EB-5 visa, a minimum investment of $500,000 is needed, whereas I've had clients get approved with even $350,000 investment in EB-1C visa category.

3) There is total flexibility about location: EB-1C visa investors face no restrictions about location, whereas EB-5 visa investors see significant location based restrictions if they invest only $500,000, and investors have to invest minimum $1 Million to avoid location based restrictions.

4) The EB-5 visa program has onerous proof of fund requirements, whereas the fund documentation requirements are definitely not as stringent in EB-1C visa program.

5) The job creation requirements are a lot more onerous in EB-5 visa, and I've seen that creating even 4 jobs suffices for an EB-1C visa.

6) Unlike the EB-5 visa program, there is no conditional green card in EB-1C visa program.

7) The time to get a permanent green card under EB-1 visa program ranges from 1.5 to 2 years, whereas it takes almost 5 years to get a permanent green card under EB-5 visa category. Business owners & executives can immediately move to the US on L1A visa, and get their green card in hand within a matter of months, whereas EB-5 visa holders have to wait for about two years to just get a temporary green card.

Keeping the above factors in mind, most investors are now choosing to go with EB-1C visa as it is a lot cheaper, faster, safer and easier to get compared to the EB-5 visa.

If you are a business owner or high net worth individual interested in migrating to the US, please hire our team. We offer a turnkey solution and have a solid track record of success, as we believe in delivering results and not excuses to our clients. That is why we have a 100% fee refund guarantee and freedom from fraud guarantee, while our competitors usually don't offer such guarantees.

Mohammed Shaikh, MBA (Accounting), CFE, Licensed Business & RE Broker (CA & FL)
Online:  http://www.smartbusinessbroker.com Phone: +1 407 535 0616