The idea of emigrating comes with many questions. Thankfully, EB-5 expert Dan Wycklendt from FirstPathway Partners has some of your burning questions covered in this interview with Gareth Cliff. FirstPathway Partners helps foreign investors become United States Citizens through the Department of Homeland Security Immigrant Investor (EB-5) program. Dan eloquently discusses your options for emigration to the United States through investment here.
The idea of emigrating comes with many questions. Thankfully, EB-5 expert Dan Wycklendt from FirstPathway Partners has some of your burning questions covered in this interview with Gareth Cliff. FirstPathway Partners helps foreign investors become United States Citizens through the Department of Homeland Security Immigrant Investor (EB-5) program. Dan eloquently discusses your options for emigration to the United States through investment here.
This is Cliff central.com. There are a lot of South Africans and people from all over the world who are looking at making their way into the US economy and making themselves either in some way a pocket taker or a participant in in the US economy. Of course, it's booming, and Donald Trump, whether Europe, Donald Trump fan or not, and lots of people are also looking at ways to become involved in the biggest economy in the world. Dan Wicklund, is with us. He is the Executive Vice President of first pathway partners, and I'm sure he's going to answer a lot of our questions today. His favorite color is blue. That's very important, right, then it's extremely important. Great to be with you. Dan, please tell us quickly what first pathway partners is. Yeah, so first pathway partners is a regional center based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And for your listeners, I can pretty much guess that most of them don't know where Milwaukee, Wisconsin is. It's kind of right in the center of the United States on the northern border. So we are in the Great Lakes area, we border Lake Michigan, which is a beautiful lake and especially this time of year in the summer, the weather here is absolutely beautiful. Sometimes in the winter, it can get a little cold. But we're about a an hour north of Chicago, so very easy area to get to being close to Chicago. Milwaukee is about a million and a half people in the metro area, so decent sized city in the US. And first pathway partners specializes in the EB five program, which is a way to get citizenship and green cars for foreigners. And we've been doing it for over a decade now. Well, let's just stick with with first pathway partners for a second, where did the company come from? And what's the what's the story of first pathway. So my partner Bob Kraft, and our chairman founded the company over a decade ago. And, you know, it originally was a driver to get more foreign investment into the Milwaukee area. Again, being that not many foreigners know where Milwaukee is, it was a way to give them that extra little carrot it takes to invest in the Milwaukee area, and obtain a green card for their family. So we started out marketing, especially in Asia, South Korea and China, we have offices there. But over the years, we spread to over 40 countries now that we have investors from and most of them in the Milwaukee area. So it's been a really good driver for us here in getting investment to Milwaukee. And even with the economy in the US as good as it is right now. It's still great to bring more foreign investment here to create jobs, and drive the economy. Yeah, it's interesting that so many people all over the world are trying to get them their money into the US economy and trying to invest in us businesses and US companies and in US stock markets. I think for a lot of people, it's still the best bet, if you have made some money, and you want to put it somewhere where you can diversify and also have something secure. Yeah, without a doubt, I mean, our stock market for sure that the global market sees that it's on a roll. You know, we're almost at three and a half percent unemployment, which is really unheard of around the world. So it's been a big thing for foreigners to see that they can come here that they can bring their families here, invest invest in their future, you know, financially and also for their families safety and security. And that's what's really driven our program and investment program that gets people their green card. It's driven it through the roof lately, the EB five program has grown exponentially, especially over the past decade because of those things. Alright, so let's get into the detail of this Eb five. I've heard people talking about this. I'm not 100% sure what it is. Can you fill me in? Yeah, yeah. And it's, it's, it's a confusing program for sound. But what we've done it first pathway partners has made it simple. The program has been around since 1990. So it's not a new program by any means. And most developed countries around the world have a similar program. And what it does is it allows foreigners to make an investment to create jobs. And for that they get a green card. Now there is risk involved. So you know, a typical foreigner would invest 500 k in a qualified project, that's 500,000 US dollars. So, you know, I think that's a little more than 7 million Rand. So what they do is they invest that they have to create at least 10 jobs and that's something that we take care of for them. So we structure these projects, we make sure the proper job creation is there to qualify their family for a green card. And they place that money at risk in that project to create those jobs and for that they and their immediate family. So that covers a husband, a wife and children under the age of 21 and unmarried. It gets them all a green card. Well and as it as a green card holder, you have access to the entire country which has been fantastic for people and that means you can live and work in the United States. Yeah, absolutely. And you can live anywhere. So, you know, as I said earlier, our our program is in Milwaukee, we've done projects in California as well. But they don't have to live where these projects are located, they can live anywhere in the US a green card gets you full access to the country. And most of the same benefits that I get in my children get as citizens. So you can live where you want, you can work, you can travel, pretty much anything, even your the kids of our investors, the children get educational benefits, whatever state they located, they can get resident in state tuition. And the beauty of this program is you are investing your money, and it is an investment. But at the end of the day, if the project goes as planned, you're also going to get your money back. And for them, investing money, getting the green card, and ultimately getting their money back makes this a pretty easy decision for some people. Now, what what are the other ways to get green cards? And why are they so difficult? Why is it so hard to get a green card? Yeah, so you're probably asking the wrong person here. Because, you know, we found that it's tough to get green cards any other way. So that's why we focus on the EB five program, right. But, you know, over the past few years, all the other different ways that used to exist to get access to the US have kind of dried up. And that's one of the reasons that the EB five program has become so popular, you know, allowing for an investment to get the green card has still been a popular option. You know, we have a lot of different issues politically that people don't get along on. But Eb five is one that both sides, both political parties seem to agree on that it's good for our economy. We're getting good investors here, people that want to contribute to the US. So the program continues, and it continues to be a great way to get access to the country. Yeah, and I think it's probably interesting to a lot of people to notice that, that even though the administration has changed from Democrat or Republican to democrat to Republican, it doesn't really affect this, because people in the USA happy to see money being invested in jobs being created, right? Yeah, absolutely. And not only does that$500,000 come in, get invested in projects to create jobs. But these people move over here, they start businesses, they work, they buy houses spend money, they send their kids to school, you know, these are people with a long term vision of participating in the United States and what we've created here, and we're happy to have them. Now then, what what happens to the money, you said it gets invested in businesses over there, and you help to figure that out, and you will help to create the jobs? How do you choose those those projects? And how, how good how safe is people's money? I mean, you know, you don't go and put it in a casino, right? If if the casino was a great investment, you never know. I mean, there have been casinos in in Eb five, but it's not them putting it on the roulette table, it's investing in the real estate. So, you know, typically we'll look at hundreds of different projects, and we'll vet them for their suitability first, for Eb five, job creation is important because without the proper job creation, people don't get their green card. So first, we make sure that these projects qualify for that. Second, though, we look at their financial suitability that they are going to be able to return this investment because what we want for our investors is to first accomplish their immigration goals, get them in their family here to the US, but then also get their money back. And we've been very fortunate we've been successful in our first project. So far, we've returned money to our investors, and that's been important to them, that's helped drive us forward as a regional center. Because there's a lot of options in the US, but to be able to accomplish the immigration goals for our investors, and on top of that, get their money back to them has made us very successful. Then this almost as a question, I don't need you to answer but I want to hear it from you. What makes this so attractive to South Africans? Well, you know, it's the same thing for South Africans that we see in a lot of different countries. You know, I think South Africa has, you know, about 60 million people now. The US has 300 and 30 million, but as far as population density, you know, the US has a lot of spread out, you know, we have a lot of different states a lot of different opportunities, and a lot of different options for people. So, you know, South Africans look at America and they say, okay, you know, I have a big country, I have a lot of opportunity. And what the US offers is safety, security. You know, I talked about the low unemployment. These are all things that drive anyone to America. And, you know, we have, you know, the beauty of America is it was created around the constitution that allows us things like property rights of voices. in government. And ultimately, with all the issues we have here in the US, we found that around the world, they pale in comparison. And that's what's driven people here. You know, ultimately, the US is a major destination. And it's not really, for adults, it's for their children, you know, most of our investors have kids. And ultimately, they're looking to the future and wanting to know that as they grow old as they move on, so are their kids, and they want to have a bright future for them. And they and they see that in the US. Yeah, I've got a friend who lives in Houston, I've got another friend who's is in Seattle, there are loads of South Africans who are moving over there at the moment, you guys obviously deal with a lot of them. Yeah, we do. And it's funny, you mentioned Houston, because, you know, Houston has been a location that a lot of our South African clients want to move to a lot of that comes from, it's what you know, you know, people have friends and family there, like you say, you have friends there. And it's really been getting them here in large numbers. And in fact, what's nice about South Africa, is compared to some other countries, there's no waiting line to get through Eb five, you know, some of the countries I mentioned, we started off in earlier like China, Vietnam, these countries, it's been so popular that there's a line that's formed to get your visa to get your green card. But there is no line for South Africa. So as fast as these applications can be processed by the government, South Africans can get entrance into the country and located in places like Houston, Seattle, maybe Milwaukee, if they don't mind the cold. But, you know, there's a lot of different options for them. And they can get in quickly this way, which is nice. citizenship, is that a different discussion. I mean, a green card doesn't mean you become a citizen. No, not automatically. And, and that's what's nice about Eb five is it gives people options. You know, a green card, you can do everything a citizen can except vote and hold some certain government jobs. Other than that, everything's pretty much open to you obviously, don't get the passport unless you get citizenship. But the nice thing about Eb five is it does allow that option as a green card holder, five years after you first get your green card. As long as you is you spent half of that time in the US, you can qualify for citizenship and obviously have to take a test, you know, test, you can study for some of the questions I might even have trouble with at this point. But at the end of the day, it is an option. People do choose that. But it's up to the individuals, it depends on what country they're from, you know, they may be happy with the passport they have. But you know, the US passport ultimately does allow visa free travel to a lot of countries. So ultimately, people may go for that, but they don't have to. Another thing to keep in mind for people is, you know, and one thing I found the South African clients, it's different than other countries is when you do get a green card, you are part of the US global tax system. But what I found from South Africans is, in general, they're not too upset about that. I know, in South Africa, taxes have been really going up over the past years. And and that's been a big driver for them actually coming over to the US. Right? I'm not gonna give you a citizenship test. I think it might be bad for both of us. But this is very useful. This is very useful information. I think there are probably loads of South Africans who are looking at their options. At the moment. I think a lot of people want to become citizens of the world. I think a lot of people want to go to places where they aren't going to be taxed into oblivion. I think people also want to participate in the world's biggest economy. And in a country that, as you already mentioned, has got such low unemployment and and such great, you know, market signals at the moment. So this is very, very helpful information. All right, Dan, how do we how do we go about contacting you? Yeah, we have a great website. It's www dot first pathway.com. That's si rst PATHWAY, my contact informations on there. And we'd love to hear from anybody you know, whether they have questions about the US the EB five program, you know, about blue, my favorite color, I'm willing to participate in anything and we love helping people out. That's brilliant. All right, Dan, thank you so much. This is very useful information. I think a lot of people find it very helpful, especially if they're already thinking about these things. Because for a lot of people, it's quite overwhelming to try and figure this out on your own. So it's good to know there are people who can help you do that. And we will be in contact. There we go. Dan Wicklund, is the he's the he's the guy. You heard. He's the person to talk to the Executive Vice President, and he's at first pathway partners. Thank you so much, Dan. Thanks, Gary. This is Cliff central.com.