Select Highlights of the Interview with Mike from Canada
EB-5 Investor in the EB5AN ONE Tampa Urban EB-5 Project
- “I connected with Jordan and other members of [the EB5AN] team, and I got to tell you, everyone was on the same page in terms of responsiveness, in terms of goals, in terms of just getting us the proper data and coaching us through it, and I was really, really impressed.”
- “If you have the opportunity to meet [a potential immigration attorney] face to face, I am a strong believer that that’s probably your number one way to see if someone’s going to have your back and someone’s going to answer the phone when you need them.”
- “The ONE Tampa project, I like the fact that it was 47% sold at that point that I was evaluating… I just felt after evaluating it had the highest probability of getting built, getting done, and returning my investment.”
Full Interview with Mike from Canada
EB-5 Investor in the EB5AN ONE Tampa Urban EB-5 Project
Transcript of the Interview with Mike from Canada
My Background as an EB-5 Investor
So, Mike, thank you again for taking a few minutes. Maybe to start, could you tell us a little bit about your background and kind of why you decided to explore EB-5 as an option to move to the U.S.?
As far as a personal background, I grew up in Montreal. I actually studied in the U.S. I did my MBA at the University of Rochester and later on went to the Harvard Business School. And my experience was I went through every single visa there is. I went through the H-1, F-1, TN. If it was out there, I probably had it at some point.
And I don’t know that there was the option for the EB-5. There was the option to get sponsored by a company, but I was always very entrepreneurial. and I didn’t want to be held down to a company. So eventually came back to Canada.
To circle back, my son is studying in the States. His dream is to be in the States, and I just want to make life a little bit easier for him. We came across the EB-5, which is, in our estimate, one of the speediest ways to get a Green Card, and that’s really where we came to the EB-5.
Finding an EB-5 Immigration Attorney
Got it, got it. So you had kind of familiarized yourself with prior, other visas, and EB-5 kind of ended up being the best fit just given the long-term longevity and wanting to stay in the U.S. without restrictions for your son.
How I Selected the ONE Tampa Urban EB-5 Project
So once you’ve kind of decided “all right, we want to do EB-5, that’s going to be the best option,“ what was your experience like researching potential attorneys who could help with your application?
And at the end of the day, I interviewed probably four or five lawyers, and it all came down to the number of applications that they had gone through, their success rate, and really how well we meshed. Would they be around during times of trouble? So I have a little test where I call them unexpectedly or I send an email and I evaluate how quick their response is and how accurate their response is.
At the end of the day, you take a risk no matter what, but I’m quite pleased so far with the work that’s been done with the law firm that we picked.
Summary: My Advice for Other EB-5 Investors
Gotcha. Okay. And which company did you end up going with? And tell us kind of what that process was like kind of step-by-step in terms of piecing the application together.
And there’s no question that there is a lot of documents required. I don’t know if it’s a lot of documents required. I think it’s just they want to cover all bases, and they want to make sure that questions are answered before they’re even asked.
And I think that’s where you see … I would be a little bit concerned if you’ve chosen an attorney and they get your paperwork and they say right away, “Okay, it’s good. You don’t need to send me anything else.” So yes, it’s a little bit aggravating when they keep asking for stuff, but at the end of the day, they just want the application to go through smoothly.
Understood. And once you had hired them and started actually working on the application, how long did it take from that moment until everything was finished and you were ready to submit the file?
It was only two years later that we decided “Okay, now we’re going to pull the trigger. It’s time to pick a project.” And the trigger point, it was a few months before my son was turning 21. And from the moment that we decided to pull the trigger—we had a deadline of January 15th, which was a month and a half ago—it took about 45 days to get everything done. Keep in mind that we were going through the holidays and New Year’s.
So I would say for all intents and purposes, probably took 30 days to get everything done. And I mean everything. I mean me getting all the paperwork in and them doing all the applications for it, as well as selecting the investment project and completing that part of it as well.
Gotcha. Okay. So for other investors coming from Canada, what kind of unique aspects or points would you share in terms of gathering records and things that were kind of unique to your situation as a Canadian applicant versus someone, let’s say, from Europe?
I would say the one thing to consider is to kind of put yourself in the shoes of the person evaluating the application, specifically in terms of the source of funds. They are looking exactly where that money came from. And when I say exactly, I mean exactly. I mean yes, I’ve been investing over the last 25 years. It’s very easy to say that the money came from the gains that I’ve had over the 25 years, but that just is not necessarily good enough. We had to track it back to one specific—say an extract from the company that I’m running right now—and kind of trail it through the whole banking system until it got in the hands of EB5AN and the ONE Tampa project.
So just to circle back and answer your question, I think the important thing is don’t take the source of funds lightly, and make sure that you can track the investment properly. And I’m in the middle of it, but I think that at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to get an application to run through smoothly.
Gotcha. And since your son is the applicant, did you end up doing a gift or a loan? Did the attorney help kind of think through what was going to be most efficient for you for that, or how did that kind of play out?
Okay, perfect. And so now that that process has kind of recently completed, what advice would you have for someone considering doing EB-5 in terms of hiring an attorney? And I know you spent a minute on kind of how you picked one, but now that you’ve gone through it, what would you say in terms of how to kind of pick the best one going forward?
Perfect. All right, so shifting gears to the project side of things. So you mentioned that you kind of initially started considering EB-5 a couple years ago and then didn’t really dig in until fairly recently when you decided you definitely wanted to go forward with an application for your son. So once you did decide “Okay, we’re going to do EB-5 for sure. We’re going to use Darren Silver’s team to help with the source of funds,“ what did that research process look like in terms of identifying do you want to do a rural project, urban project? And then within that, what project features were you really focused on?
I actually started with a different EB-5 company that had multiple projects. And the truth is my faith was more in the EB-5 company than it was in the project, because I have very little control on that project, which is something I’m not used to. I’m used to getting involved in these projects and kind of influencing outcomes.
So at the end of the day, step one is picking the right EB-5 company versus the project. And I thought I had made the right pick, and I’m sure it was the right pick, but at some point, the responsiveness was not to the level that I’m used to and that I require.
And I connected with you, Sam, and I connected with Jordan and other members of your team. And I got to tell you, everyone was on the same page in terms of responsiveness, in terms of goals, in terms of just getting us the proper data and coaching us through it, and I was really, really impressed. So I shifted gears, switched to EB5AN.
Then it was a matter of picking the project. And both Jordan and Sam, you held my hand quite well. It’s a matter of evaluating probability of getting the investment back, return on investment, probability of project actually getting completed. All these projects sound great, and we’re in the middle of it, so I’d love to have a follow-up interview once my son gets the Green Card and tell you that it went according to plan.
But at the end of the day, the ONE Tampa project, I like the fact that it was 47% sold at that point that I was evaluating, and I liked that there was a high sales of units. I actually called the project. I was going to go visit it. I didn’t go visit it. But the project managers there were very responsive as well.
I just felt, after evaluating, it had the highest probability of getting built, getting done, and returning my investment within the time that’s promised. Whether that happens or not, again, we’ll have to revisit this in two, three years and see if we’re on track.
Gotcha. And in terms of the developer themselves, what made you feel a little bit more comfortable in terms of Kolter being able to successfully execute on the development of the project compared to some of the other project developers, let’s say, that you also evaluated?
But I got to be honest, you, Sam, you holding my hand and Jordan also coaching me through it, that had as much if not more value than the fact that it was a Kolter project. And that’s just the way that I roll. It’s just the way that I do things.
So on that point, kind of how did you kind of think about that lawsuit, that unknown risk, and what made you still want to go after the ONE Tampa project as opposed to some of the other projects, knowing that that’s still an unknown out there?
There’s always challenges with every project, and at some point you got to decide “Am I ready to pull the trigger or not?”
So zooming out a little bit, having gone through the whole process now, working with Darren’s team, getting the application together, finalizing the project, getting all the money wired, filed, all of that, what are the kind of two or three main takeaways that you’d have for other Canadians considering doing an EB-5 for themselves or let’s say for one of their older kids?
So I think the whole process itself is not a complicated process. It’s a rather easy one. You just got to roll up your sleeves and go all in.
Perfect. And kind of having gone through that, would you recommend your attorney and EB5AN to other investors? And just very high level, why would you?
Everything I asked of them was done in a very timely manner. Every question I asked, even if it was a ridiculous question, was answered honestly and with respect, without concern, and even Sam taking the time to meet with us.
Truthfully, it wasn’t about the questions we asked. It was about are you willing to spend your time with a potential customer. And that gave us peace of mind. Knowing that there’s a lot of intelligent people behind it gives you a comfort level and basically, at the end of the day, mitigates your risk in my opinion.
