EB5 Investors Magazine (English Edition) Volume 5, Issue 1 | Page 23

Wilson Ye, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of California Los Angeles and an EB-5 immigrant investor, is on a mission to make a change for EB-5 investors. By EB5 Investors Magazine Staff W ilson Ye has conducted a survey of more than 800 EB-5 investors and their family members to give the immigrant investor applicants in America a voice in Congress. The statistics student, who is still waiting for the green light after investing $500,000 in the Pennsylvania highway construction project, plans to use his survey to influence policy makers to hopefully speed up the waiting time and process of the EB-5 immigrant investor program. “I want to represent investors because I think Congress should consider investors’ concerns because of humanitarian reasons,” he said. Ye, who was born in Dalian and went to junior high in Shanghai, hopes that his report brings valuable info about the changing demographics of EB-5 immigrant investors. And although they do not have the same right as U.S. citizens to vote, he hopes the members of Congress would listen since the report represents EB-5 applicants who have invested more than $500 million and created 10,000 plus new jobs in the United States, he said. than the allotted visa quota for immigrant investors, Wilson became one of the tens of thousands of Chinese investors who had to wait in line to receive a conditional green card. Currently, he is still waiting and live in California under an F-1 student visa. ADJUSTING TO A NEW CULTURE Since childhood, Ye has traveled to many places with his family to broaden his experiences. In 2011, he went to California as an high school exchange student and was confronted with a new language and learning environment. He caught on to the English language relatively quickly and performed well in school. One of his scientific research received recognition from a professor of Carnegie Mellon University who was preparing to invite him to join the university’s research team. "...I think Congress should consider investors' concerns..." At the beginning of the new academic year, Ye received an invitation to join the UCLA student government and became the first student representative to lobby for international students of the university. In March, he went to Washington, D.C. to meet with a few representatives and then brought some of the concerns regarding student EB-5 investors to the table. YE’S JOURNEY TO A PERMANENT GREEN CARD “Just because I wasn’t a US resident, I lost out on this opportunity,” said Ye.” I wasn’t even able to continue on as a unpaid research intern.” Ye hopes he will be able to intern and work for one of the leading companies when he graduates college. He is part of the growing trend of applicants who have arrived in the country under F-1 student visas while waiting for their EB-5 visa approval. This is also confirmed by his survey results. He found that more than half of EB-5 investor visa applicants or their family members are students currently holding an F-1 visas. They have high hopes in the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, especially among students who do not major in mathematics, science or engineering. For those students, the EB-5 immigrant investor visa offers an additional path to work legally in the United States after graduation. Ye, who has invested through the Delaware Valley Regional Center, had his I-526 application approved by USCIS in February of 2015 right before his high school graduation. However, since the demand is much higher EB5INVESTORS.COM 22