CEO Middle East sits down with Shai Zamanian to discuss the road to success of The American Legal Center – an immigration firm laser focused on the United States EB-5 Golden Visa program – and how it has earned a reputation of excellence within the Middle East.
The EB-5 program provides foreign investors the opportunity to obtain US residency for themselves and family, including their spouse and children under the age of 21, with an investment of $800,000 in a real estate development project in the US. For over the past decade, he and his team of US licenced lawyers have successfully navigated this intricate landscape of immigration law, earning them the distinction of handling 6 percent of all global EB-5 applications in June 2021.
Inspired by his own personal experience of migrating to the United States at a young age, Zamanian’s journey is marked by a vision to build a bridge between East and West, facilitating the dreams of families seeking a better future in America. In this exclusive interview, Shai delves into the challenges he overcame while setting up his business in Dubai and educating families in the Middle East about the EB-5 Golden Visa route.
The success of this investment immigration program can be credited to the US economy’s need for cash injection and the burgeoning desire of upper middle class families abroad in accessing the American dream. The EB-5 program’s popularity surged after the financial crisis of 2008. With traditional funding sources dwindling amid the Great Recession, banks hesitated to lend to real estate projects. This was the time in which the EB-5 program came to light.
“Difficulties in accessing traditional domestic financing brought on by the Great Recession, along with a rise in the number of wealthy investors in developing countries, led to a spike in interest in the EB-5 program,” Zamanian tells CEO Middle East.
Seizing the opportunity to bring the EB-5 program to the East, Shai – an avid reader, US attorney, and entrepreneur – flew from his life in the West to educate an untapped market – the Middle East. Armed with a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, Zamanian has been the leading voice on EB-5 related matters since his move to Dubai in the early 2010s. To date, he only agrees to file a fraction of prospective families seeking the program, as he explains, “We will not move forward on an application unless we are near certain of approval.”
What initially attracted you to the EB-5 industry?
At a very young age, my family and I embarked on a journey to the West from a war-torn nation in the Middle East. Sacrificing cherished family heirlooms and leaving everything behind, my parents paved the way for us to seek refuge in the West, yearning for the promise of a brighter future. From the moment we landed, all our relatives looked to my parents for advice on how to follow in our footsteps.
I first heard about the EB-5 program at the age of 10. My family and I were visiting Iran during one summer, staying at my aunt’s house. We were sitting around with my cousins and uncles and a commercial about the EB-5 program came on satellite TV – the promise of access to America and the possibility of tasting the American dream through a $500,000 investment in the US The commercial ended and a heated discussion ensued. “No one has that kind of money,” one uncle said. Playing the devil’s advocate, another uncle urged, “At least it’s a legitimate way to build a future for your kids.” That conversation influenced my perception of the disparities between the privileged and the less fortunate, highlighting the dual role of money as both a barrier and a gateway.
Little did I know that this introduction to the EB-5 program during a summer gathering in Iran would shape my understanding and eventually lead me to a pivotal role in facilitating similar journeys for others in pursuit of the American dream.
The second experience with EB-5 that guided me to where I am now was working at the nation’s largest home builder at the time – Lennar Homes – after law school graduation. I didn’t know much about the world around me but I was willing to be a sponge absorbing all the information being flown around by virtue of being surrounded by knowledgeable professionals.
My desk wasn’t too far from the director’s, and concepts of finishing commercial development projects through alternative forms of financing were often discussed. This was post the Great Recession and banks were not lending for large commercial development projects as willingly. The concept of using the EB-5 program as a form of financing came to light.
I became intrigued that investors from the East as far as China were investing in localised projects for the same hopes and desires that my parents had when we embarked on our journey. I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could from the project side, understanding the underpinnings of construction finance and the nuanced difficulties compared to conventional lending and thought, “why don’t I take this knowledge and transplant it back to the Middle East where my life story began?”
So you left your life in the US and came to Dubai to start your business. Why did you choose Dubai as your destination?
Prior to moving to Dubai, I never visited the city and didn’t have any friends or family here. I packed three bags and landed in Terminal 2. At the time, Terminal 2 wasn’t as polished as it is now. I remember walking out and immediately thinking whether this was the right choice. Throughout my first few years, I thought about giving up and heading back to California to conjure up another entrepreneurial idea but I’m glad I stuck it through.
Dubai made sense because there were facets of the West implanted here. It’s this masterplan project or idea that just happened to pan out, where many families similar to mine migrate for the future betterment of their families. But many times it’s a stepping stone since there aren’t concrete retirement options here. So it made sense to place my efforts in a place where I could be the most effective, acting as that bridge between East and West.
What challenges did you face starting your business, and how did you overcome them? Any advice for today’s entrepreneurs?
When starting a new business, you need to be humble. Nowadays I see entrepreneurs jumping at the idea of fundraising and giving up equity in their business for money and this, to me, is tragic. This concept of selling a slice of your business for money sometimes hinders entrepreneurs from what should be their main goal – to be profitable from an early stage.
Yes, there are examples of companies such as Uber that took over a decade to become profitable but that’s understandable considering their objective of entering the marketplace and establishing themselves as the ridesharing app of choice in a saturated market. Just bootstrap it and share an apartment with a roommate. Skip the trip to Paris – go when it’s time and when you’re confident.
When I first made the journey to Dubai, I had with me about 35,000 in personal savings. I didn’t have the money to set up a lavish office. It’s hard to capture people’s hearts and trust without a proper setup and without years of experience within a city. So, I was driving around town to people’s offices and meeting people in lobbies of fancy hotels, pitching this concept and idea.
Sometimes in the depths of August heat in a Kia Picanto that lacked air conditioning with the prayer that this would be worth it. Showing up to these meetings, looking like I walked out from the Seventh Circle of Dante’s Inferno and essentially practicing my pitch. I was eating Subway everyday trying to cut costs.
For the first year, every door was closed shut. There were drives that I would take to Abu Dhabi, only to be sent back after a 20-minute meet. It was only after a year had passed that some clients understood my relentless pursuit and the fact that I’m not going anywhere. Yet still, for that first client, you have to keep your head up with confidence as they never want to know they are in fact the first client.
I’m telling this story not to aggrandize myself but to prove the point that if you don’t come from a humble place, perhaps profitability isn’t the objective. There is a difference between running a business and floating an idea – you must make a decision on which is your objective. A business requires profitability at the expense of sacrifice. Lace up your boots, it’s worth the journey.
The concept of “fake it till you make it” is thrown around in pop culture. If you’re sacrificing your short-term desires and dealing with the August heat, by no means is that faking it.
How is The American Legal Center different from other immigration firms?
So you’re at a dinner party and you’re introduced to a chap sitting next to you, his suit is tailored and speaks with pizazz. You ask the obligatory question, “So what do you do for a living?” And he tells you, he does it all. He’s entrenched in commercial development, sustainable farming, nevertheless funding all of his projects through his cryptocurrency investments.
Don’t be that person. Decide on how you bring value to the marketplace of ideas and laser focus on that. This is how you’ll ultimately make an impact – not by doing everything, but by doing one specific thing and committing to doing it well. At The American Legal Center, we stand out because we’re honed in on the US EB-5 Golden Visa program, guiding clients globally. If general immigration is your game, Dubai’s heavy hitters like Arton Capital and Henley & Partners have you covered worldwide. But if your heart is set on the US, turn to the experts at The American Legal Center – we’re masters of the craft.
What is the main motivation for your clients in signing up for the EB-5 program?
Multigenerational planning, especially for the kids. Generally if a young entrepreneur comes to see me who isn’t looking to study in the US and doesn’t have any concrete plans, I tend to wrap up the meeting quite quickly as I know this is not our client. But when I meet a family, I generally ask among my first questions, “How many kids do you have and what are their ages? Are they looking to study in the US?”
The common thread among 90 percent of our clients is that they have a child with aspirations of studying and working in the US. Not the highest echelon of earners, generally the upper middle class. They know the cost of sending their son or daughter abroad for education, they undertake the program, in hopes of having the US government cover all education costs, including tuition, books, transportation, insurance, housing, etc.
Tell us about your team at work.
Our group is steadily growing. We are interviewing frequently with hopes of starting more awareness campaigns in Russian, Arabian, and other secondary markets. We generally hire people that are laser focused on their life goals.
For young interns, it’s so important to practice your elevator pitch. Be able to describe yourself and your life goals within 30 seconds. There will be people that can fulfil office jobs, we want the office to consist of leaders that grow together. Coming into a role at The American Legal Center, you have to be able to first explain what your life looks like in about 10 years. For example, my marketing manager has aspirations of owning her own marketing firm. I see no reason why I cannot partner up with my associate in time to make that dream come to life and to profit with them. Their effort is never gone in vain.
Any advice for those that feel trapped in their jobs?
If you sense your salary will double one day doing the same tasks, you will look back perhaps in regret. If you’re waiting for a senior to leave the company or be fired so that you can take their spot, forget that notion as well. Be in a position to teach newer employees or interns your job, one of your goals is to pass on your knowledge and responsibilities to a more junior associate. When your duties are successfully passed down to a junior, you have no other place than to leave purgatory and elevate the ladder. Act with the mindset of cooperation and not from a place of fear of being replaced, it will ring true.
Immigration in America today
Trump’s stance on the issue of immigration in America during the 2016 presidential election sparked concerns and became a dominant topic of discussion. Trump’s ‘Build the Wall’ campaign shed light on those illegally residing in the US and those on a temporary work visa (H-1B). While asked about this issue, Trump shared his thoughts saying, “We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first […] widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for less pay. This will stop.”
This created tension between well-known tech companies, such as Google and Amazon, who employ foreigners to work in specialty occupations under the H-1B visa and the policies of the US government. These companies have been criticised for exploiting foreigners and contributing to the issue of immigration in America.
Perhaps the inefficiency of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is fueled by the narrative surrounding immigrants. The adverse portrayal of immigrants is that they are a burden to the social, economic, and political characteristics of the country.
We have seen this narrative circulate globally. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party used Brexit under the pretext of promoting economic independence to restrict the number of immigrants.
As an advocate of migrants, what are your thoughts on the illegal migrants and the refugee crisis in America today?
It’s important to discuss the illegal migrants flowing into America. They are not the brazen type looking to hop over fences and transgress necessarily. There are tour groups set up in their home countries that play on their insecurity. These smugglers, operating under the guise of tour groups, set up buses and navigation routes and make promises of a soft landing in the US.
Yet the illegal path to the US is arduous to say the least. Some are shoved off ships and told to swim to shore with infants in hand or dumped behind fortress walls of barbed wire and told to climb. Those that survive this turmoil must trek in groups to nearby towns to find meals they cannot afford and state officers that hurry them onto a bus to be better disposed of elsewhere.
This is a difficult issue to deal with. Do you have solutions?
We need to stop seeing them as our enemy and a plight to American society. America is not a socialist economy and does not provide generous handouts and that’s a fact, and no, these migrants are not effectively taking meaningful jobs away from Americans. These migrants many times end up taking roles they know best – farming fields and tasks less preferable to the general American public. If you’ve tasted strawberries in the US and afforded them at lower costs, you could have tasted that luxury off the bruised backs of these migrant workers.
Have you visited a strawberry field? For many, these fields are within a few hours drive, they are located in some of the most populated states. If you see the workers at a distance, you might not even recognise them. The job requires them to be hunched over for the duration of their eight hours on the job, if not more. These jobs simply won’t do for the vast majority of Americans that have had the privilege of being better educated.
The solution lies with the US federal government. There needs to be more action taken at a federal level so that states most affected are not carrying the sole burden. USCIS is a federal agency that processes legal migration of all types. That agency’s funding to operate comes from fees they charge applicants seeking immigration.
There needs to be a better policy in place to educate migrant workers to not pay foreign smuggler groups that dump them into tragedy, but provide an effective and legal route to petition. Even with a higher fee to hire more personnel to process applications more quickly, it should be a priority.
The money spent on smugglers and tour groups would be redirected to legal channels. Perhaps nothing more would alleviate the inflation and future stagnation than to bring in migrants legally that willingly take the tough jobs to keep America competitive.
I’ll leave you with this. If you think for a moment these migrant populations are prone to crime and poison American society, I urge you to get to know them. They sense they are outsiders and lack priority in society, they walk on eggshells not to be deported back. They pay their rents on time out of fear of being accosted by Americans that know the system far better than they do.
Since Trump took office, the United States has processed migration petitions at a slower rate at its peril. The era of shutting out immigrants and pretending they are not us needs to stop. Did we all forget, we too and our ancestors came from distant lands in pursuit of that American dream? If you insist on building a wall, build one with an effective iron clad door that swiftly lets in those that legally migrate.