Working with Chinese EB-5 Visa Investors:
Since I began my work in the EB-5 Visa industry, I have
mainly worked with Eastern European and Latin American investors. Recently, I had the opportunity to assist and
investor from mainland China. This
proved to be a real learning experience.
Thankfully the Regional Center that we worked with has a
full staff of professionals who speak fluent Mandarin, so the language barrier
was not an issue. That was a bright spot
in this case. The source of funds for
the investment came from the sale or real estate in Hong Kong. The sale took place rather recently, so we did
not encounter any issues in regard to purchase and sale contracts and or funds
switching hands.
The fun started when we had to show the origin of the source
of funds which were used to purchase the recently sold property. Not surprisingly, the property was purchased
as a result of the sale of a previous property.
The transition took place in 2009.
Further, the Regional Center requested that we show how property # 2 was
acquired. Drum roll: It was yet the sale
of another property in 2004.
One thing about real estate transactions in mainland China
from the early to mid-2000s is that there are very few documents to support
them. Cash was and mainly is still king
in that part of the world.
Also, if a
bank was used to facilitate the transaction, there is a large chance that the
bank is no longer operating and all documentation is gone and no longer
available to evidence the transaction.
Luckily for this case, the investor did keep good records
and was able to present the sale and purchase contracts or all three transactions. These documents were not easy to come by, but
in the end were presented to USCIS for review.
In China the sales contract is also the evidence of tax payment on a
property, which in this case satisfied another requirement for USCIS.
Next came the transfer of funds. By law in China, only $50k USD may be transferred
out of the country in a single year.
Thus, an EB-5 investor must split up the $500k USD between friends and
family who then make the transfers individually to the investors Regional
Center of choice. I was amazed by the
level or resistance from the Chinese banking authorities when it came to this
part of the process. It took several
weeks and multiple attempts from various friends and family members of the
investor to complete the numerous wire transfers.
In the end, the biggest thing I learned about working with
Chinese investors is to be ready to expect the unexpected and be prepared to quickly
find solutions. I look forward to the next challenge!
eb5investgreencard.com
