I am just starting to learn about EB-5. I have 18 years of experience with five nationally recognized groups, and have a full pitch deck presentation and business plan ready. How can I use EB-5 to raise capital to open a start up restaurant in New York City?
Your first step should be to consult an experienced EB-5 attorney to ensure your project is EB-5 compliant. You may then contact a migration agent that can provide you with foreign investors willing to invest in your project.
The first step is to book a face-to-face consultation with an EB-5 immigration attorney. I assume that you want to raise funds through a direct EB5 investment. You might want to contact some migration agents as well, especially Chinese ones.
You can use EB-5 with a restaurant model, but you have to do a full evaluation of the geographical area to determine the amount of investment ($500,000 versus $1,000,000). Next, you have to do a full evaluation of the business itself to determine whether it qualifies for EB-5 purposes. You need a well qualified EB-5 attorney to guide you through the process, as it is complex.
With the guidance of a team of professionals, including the EB-5 attorney, securities attorney, business plan writer and possibly the economist, you will have the required offering documentation to allow foreign investors to use your restaurant to obtain conditional permanent residency. You will need to retain an intermediary who sources investors for marketing your project.
You would need to make sure the structure of the business and your investment complies with EB-5 rules, which we would provide guidance for. We would also work with EB-5 economists to estimate the required job creation. We will also authenticate the source of your investment funds. Retaining EB-5 counsel (like our law firm) is essential.
This can be done through a direct Investment EB-5 I suggest you consult with an experienced EB-5 attorney.
The first step is to engage a professional familiar with the program to evaluate the feasibility of EB-5 for your restaurant. There are a number of variables the professional will look at, including whether the restaurant is in a targeted employment area (TEA), the number of jobs that can be created, the amount of capital needed, the other parts of the capital stack, the liquidity plan for the investment and the attractiveness of the investment in established EB-5 markets. My firm offers this analysis.
