Published on 10/22/2014
Video Transcription:
Interviewer: You’re obviously very passionate about EB-5, what are the highlights of the program?
Vaughan de Kirby: Well it’s great for the foreign national. Immediately, number one, they have access to the best educational opportunities in the world in the United States, the finest universities are here. They have access to the employment possibilities in the United States because they’re able to work anywhere they want, they don’t have to have a sponsor, if you are being sponsored by your employer you’re limited, you can only work for that employer. With the EB-5 Regional Center Program, you’re not having to operate a business, which means that someone that’s inexperienced, like a university student, can be an EB-5 investor, and the best part is they can live anywhere they want in the United States. That means they can go to school where they want in the United States. They can work where they want in the United States. It gives them total freedom, just like all of us enjoy, it also gives a direct path to citizenship. Five years after you obtain your green card through EB-5, you qualify to apply for U.S. citizenship.
Interviewer: So if you’re a Chinese national going to school in the United States, how do they let their parents know about this program?
Vaughan de Kirby: Well I’d say step number one, they should go to my website and they should order a copy of my book. They can order a copy of my book on behalf of their parents. We have two EB-5 coordinators in China who will be happy to send a copy at no cost to their parents to review. I travel to China every six to eight weeks. Generally speaking, I can make myself available in different cities, and I can meet with their parents and discuss it with them directly. That would be my recommendation. Number one, get the book, because the book is going to really explain the program, both to the student and to the parent, and then arrange for a face-to-face meeting with me so I can answer their questions directly.
Interviewer: So are there other ways for students to obtain a green card?
Vaughan de Kirby: Absolutely. Number one is through family immigration, and that, generally speaking, would mean that their university student would marry an American citizen. That’s a direct way to a green card. There’s also what’s called an H-1, which is a working visa, the working visa, if they are able to get through that process, and find an employer who will do what’s called a labor certification, will certify that this person must come to work for the company, there is not a suitable American citizen, that is another way to get a green card. The difficulty in those is H-1 has become very, very difficult in the United States. I’m not sure if the students out there know this. Basically what happened this last year was only one-third of the applications made it through the lottery process. That means if there were three cases submitted, only one was selected for a possibility of an H-1. And of those, I’m not sure what the percentages are but you’re probably talking 60% of those are granted. So when you get right down to it, that’s very difficult, because not only does the foreign national university student have to go through that process, but they also have to find an employer that’s willing to employ them, and the employer employs them based on their granting them an H-1, which means the possibilities and the freedom for that student are not as great. The labor certification process is available to them, but it’s very difficult, it’s arduous, and it really forces the student to continue working for that employer for an extended period of time, with a lot less freedom. So that’s why the EB-5 program is so good for students, because it gives them such a high level of freedom.