Starting or buying a Direct Investment Business is the fastest & safest way to get an EB-5 visa. How can EB-5 visa seekers avoid being cheated by regional center & partnership promoters & franchisors?

This is a brief list of facts that explains why Direct Investment Businesses are the only safe option for EB-5 visa seekers, and how EB-5 visa seekers can avoid fraud and get their EB-5 visa quickly, safely, and usually profitably.

1) Approval speed: USCIS statistics show that most EB-5 petitions filed by regional centers are being delayed for over a year due to regulators investigating regional centers for fraud. In contrast, it now takes less than half the time to get approval of an EB-5 visa petition filed on the basis of a Direct Investment Business.
2) Fraud: Regional Centers engage in securities fraud and conflict of interest, and this problem is usually absent in Direct Investment Businesses.
3) Operating profits: It is usually easy to earn hefty profits with Direct Investment Businesses, while it is hard to get more than 1% annual profit in Regional Centers.
4) Capital loss is very common when investing in regional centers, and capital gains are common when investing in Direct Investment Businesses.
5) Exit Strategies are very easy when investing in Direct Investment Businesses and very hard when investing in regional centers.

How to avoid being defrauded by regional centers?
Ask the regional center's promoters to give a notarized affidavit affirming that they've fully disclosed ALL material facts and are fully complying with securities laws in the US and abroad.

How to avoid fraud in Direct Investment Businesses?

1. Do NOT invest in a franchise that has less than 300 operating units or is not on an approved list of SBA qualifying businesses franchises with Chase, Citi or Bank of America. For example, safe fast food franchises are KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, 5 Guys, etc. Unsafe examples of fast food franchises would be Elevation Burger, Marco's Pizza, Quiznos, etc.

2. Do NOT invest in a partnership. The same issues that make regional centers an unwise choice are also issues that make Partnerships an unwise choice.

The ONLY safe and easy way to get your EB-5 visa is by owning and controlling your own business. We've helped 48 investors get EB-5 visas since 2004, and we'll be glad to help you too.

For further information, please visit our website http://www.smartbusinessbroker.com


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

Avoiding EB-5 visa fraud: Why is a Direct Investment Business a better option than regional centers for EB-5 visa investors?

Direct Investment Business refers to businesses owned and controlled 100% by a single EB-5 visa seeker. Partnerships do NOT count as Direct Investment Businesses in the true sense of the word, and are just regional centers in disguise, and should be avoided like the plague by EB-5 visa seekers, as they usually result in unfavourable outcomes for EB-5 visa investors.

This is an objective comparison demonstrating the reasons why Direct Investment Businesses are a significantly safer and better option for EB-5 visa seekers:

1. Processing times: EB-5 visa petitions in Direct Investment Businesses are usually approved in less than half the time taken for approval of an EB-5 visa petition in a regional center. This can be easily verified by following the posts in online forums or even filing a FOIA request with USCIS.

2. Exit Strategies: EB-5 visa seekers have an easy exit strategy with Direct Investment Businesses as they own and control the business from day one, and can sell their business upon approval of their I-829 if they choose to do so. In contrast, regional centers lock up EB-5 visa investor’s funds for 5-9 years.

3. Approval rates: regional centers have a low overall approval rate, and due to ongoing federal investigations into their criminal activities, they are expected to see even higher rates of denial. In contrast, Direct Investment Businesses have higher approval rates, and as a matter of fact, all of my clients have been approved since 2004.

4. Fraud: Partnerships and regional centers usually commit securities fraud by failing to disclose material facts and violate securities laws by illegally marketing and selling securities in the US and abroad. In contrast, this problem is usually not encountered in Direct Investment Businesses.

5. Conflict of interest: Partnerships and regional centers usually engage in conflict of interest by obtaining goods and services from related parties at inflated prices instead of procuring them in a competitive fashion, as well as by hiring related parties such as friends and families at inflated salaries instead of competitively hiring qualified employees at market rates.

6. Return on Equity: Those who invest in regional centers usually don’t get annual dividends (ROE), and some investors do get 1% annual dividend (ROE). In contrast, it is quite common for an EB-5 visa investor to get annual dividends in excess of 22% if they invest in good businesses such as fast food (for e.g. Subway, KFC, 5 Guys, Baja Fresh, Cici’s Pizza, etc.) or Auto Parts Stores or Family entertainment centers, etc. In dollar terms, a $500,000 investment usually yields annual ROE of $5000 at most to those who opt for regional centers, while the same investment usually usually yields annual ROE in excess of $110,000 when invested in a Direct Investment Business with the guidance and advice of an experienced Business Broker.

7. Capital Loss: It is highly likely that EB-5 visa seekers who invest in a regional center will experience capital loss, and it is quite unlikely that those who invest in a Direct Investment Business will experience a capital loss.

8. Fee refund guarantee: We offer an unconditional fee refund guarantee if our client’s petition is denied due to our fault, while regional centers and partnerships refuse to offer this guarantee.

If you’d like to get your EB-5 visa in a safe, expedited and usually profitable manner, please visit our website http://www.smartbusinessbroker.com for further details.

You may also contact us by email at info at smartbusinessbroker.com or by phone at 407 535 0616.

Yours truly
Mohammed Shaikh, MBA, CFE, Licensed Business & RE Broker (CA & FL)
Online: http://www.smartbusinessbroker.com

EB-5 visas and franchises: All franchises aren't created the same, and neither are all Business Advisors.

Now that regional centers are effectively blocked from the EB-5 visa market, a lot of shady characters are offering franchises to EB-5 visa seekers as a route to getting EB-5 visa through Direct Investment Business Category.

EB-5 visa seekers should remember that a Papa John's or Dominos franchise may be great for Pizzerias, while Marco's Pizza may be a risky investment due to an unproven model and customer preferences. Similarly, a McDonalds or 5 Guys franchise may be great for burgers, but Elevation Burgers may actually be quite risky for reasons stated above. A final example would be Subways being a great option while Quiznos not being so great. Quite often, unscrupulous franchise brokers may try to solicit EB-5 visa seekers to invest in a business with a risky business model, in order to earn commissions from the franchisor at the expense of the EB-5 visa seeker.

An easy way to find out if a franchise is a good option or not, is to ask a lender bank if they will finance that franchise. If the lender says no, then the EB-5 visa seeker should avoid the franchise. Another easy way to find out is to ask the franchisor to provide audited financial statements from 10 of the closest franchisees to see what was the annual NOI per store, and in case the stores are making losses or very little profit, the EB-5 visa seekers should avoid the franchise. EB-5 visa seekers should also ask Franchise brokers and promoters to disclose in a notarised affidavit the commissions they will receive from all sources, in order to make an informed decision on whether to invest or not in a particular franchise. Finally, EB-5 visa seekers should seek the help of reputed and experienced Business Advisors who offer a written guarantee of freedom from conflict of interest to their clients, to help EB-5 visa seekers make an informed decision.

All business brokers and advisors are not alike either. The unethical ones promote risky, third rate franchises to EB-5 visa seekers, while we've helped our clients buy / start only reputable franchises such as 5 guys, McDonalds, KFC, Subway, etc., due to which our clients have never had to face operating losses or capital loss, while those who invest in dubious franchises are usually encounter capital losses and operating losses. Our competitors usually don't offer written guarantees of full disclosure and freedom from conflict of interest, while we do so confidently and proudly. Our competitors don't have 9 years of Business Brokerage and Advisory experience helping investors buy / start businesses to qualify for the EB-5 visa, while since 2004, we've helped 48 investors get their EB-5 visa approvals so far.

We offer a full fee refund guarantee in case our client's EB-5 visa petition is denied due to our fault. We also offer a written guarantee of full disclosure and freedom from conflict of interest, and none of our clients has suffered operating losses or capital losses. For more information, please call or visit our website http://www.smartbusinessbroker.com

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

EB-5 visa fraud: Should EB-5 visa seekers pay the price for the negligence and fraudulent conduct of immigration attorneys and visa consultants?

Anshoo Sethi's ACCC, Del Monte, New Orleans, South Dakota, etc. are recent examples of regional centers where EB-5 visa seekers invested funds only after being told by immigration attorneys and visa consultants that they (the attorneys and consultants) had done due diligence on the regional centers, and that the regional centers were safe to invest in. These attorneys and consultants had actually charged fees to provide professional advice and do due diligence.

What is clear is that the due diligence was in fact grossly inadequate and certainly unprofessional, and in most cases the advice rendered by these consultants can be easily termed negligent and fraudulent.

Here are the reasons that the advice rendered by these consultants and attorneys is negligent and incompetent:

1) They failed to advise EB-5 visa seekers that these regional centers were illegally offering and selling securities overseas.
2) They failed to advise EB-5 visa seekers that these regional centers were engaging in conflict of interest.
3) They failed to advise EB-5 visa seekers that these regional centers were committing securities fraud by failing to fully and truthfully disclosing all material facts.
4) They failed to advise EB-5 visa seekers that approval times for regional centers were far longer than those for Direct Investment Businesses.
5) They failed to advise EB-5 visa seekers if they received any remuneration from regional centers, and if so, how much?

Now that we've established HOW the attorneys and consultants were grossly negligent at the very best, and probably engaged in fraudulent conduct, EB-5 visa seekers should ask 1 simple question:
  
Should EB-5 visa seekers pay the price for the negligence and fraudulent conduct of these immigration attorneys and visa consultants, or are they entitled to a full refund of their fees and damages for the loss of time and money suffered by EB-5 visa seekers due to the faulty due diligence and misleading advice furnished to them?

EB-5 visa seekers should remember that regional centers are engaged in securities fraud, securities law violations and conflict of interest, and they squander the EB-5 visa seekers' funds instead of fully deploying them in a business to generate income.

EB-5 visa seekers  should remember that the safest, easiest and fastest way to get their EB-5 visa is through Direct Investment Businesses, and we've helped 48 investors successfully obtain their EB-5 visas, with a track record of 100% approval, and none of our clients have suffered capital losses or earned NOI less than 15% annually.

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