Knowing how to navigate Vietnam ' s cash- and gold-based system and understanding this custom’ s history can be invaluable toward helping investor clients.
By Kristi Ngo, Catharine Yen, and Phuong Anh Tran
In the last few years, the U. S. has seen a significant increase in interest in EB-5 visas from Vietnam, resulting in more I-526 petitions filed by Vietnamese nationals. Many I-526 petitions from Vietnam involve the use of cash, gold, and / or the purchase and sale of real estate. This article explains the prevalent cash and gold culture that has permeated throughout Vietnam, and how to explain and document this cultural practice in an I-526 petition.
This article also explains the real estate system in Vietnam as it relates to filing an I-526 petition. There are various ways that Vietnamese nationals receive or purchase real estate and potential issues for which immigration attorneys should look out. With a more in-depth understanding of the history and background of this Vietnamese practice, immigration attorneys can prepare more successful I-526 petitions for their Vietnamese investor clients.
Vietnam’ s steady economic development has made EB-5 investment feasible for an increasing number of its nationals. Vietnam’ s GDP per capita growth has stabilized at an annual rate of 6.4 percent per year since 1990 and hit 6.81 percent in 2017. 3 Vietnam is among the fastest growing of the world’ s economies, and at this rate, Vietnam’ s economy would become the 20th largest in the world by 2050. 4
DOCUMENTING SOURCE OF FUNDS: OVERCOMING VIETNAM’ S CASH AND GOLD-BASED SYSTEM
Despite the high demand for EB-5 visas by wealthy Vietnamese individuals, Vietnam has yet to reach China’ s formalized structure for EB-5 filings. Documenting the lawful means of investment capital can be difficult for many Vietnamese investors and their immigration attorneys.
INCREASING DEMAND IN EB-5 VISAS FOR VIETNAMESE NATIONALS
Vietnamese demand for U. S. visas remains robust given Vietnam’ s high regard for the educational opportunities, healthcare services, Social Security benefits and environmental safety in the United States. The ongoing political instability in Vietnam and growing financial resources of Vietnamese nationals have created a strong environment for U. S. immigration.
The growing population of Vietnamese-Americans in the U. S. also adds to the appeal of Vietnamese nationals desiring to immigrate to the U. S. 1
Thus, interest in the EB-5 program has substantially risen in last several years as more and more Vietnamese nationals become aware of the program’ s existence.
" In 2017, Vietnam had the second highest number of nationals who obtained permanent resident status..."
Initially, misinformation and bad players involved with EB-5 created suspicion toward the program, but the recent wave of I-829 approvals for Vietnamese nationals has validated the program’ s legitimacy and effectiveness. In 2017, Vietnam had the second highest number of nationals who obtained permanent resident status in the U. S. through the EB-5 program. 2 Additionally, Vietnam and Brazil were among the top countries with the greatest increase in EB-5 visas issued between 2016 and 2017.
Although real estate ownership is the most prevalent financial resource of wealthy Vietnamese investors, it is an underutilized SOF story. This is due to many investors’ difficulty documenting their property ownership because of Vietnam’ s long-stemming cash habit and lack of realty records.
Many Vietnamese investors use cash and / or gold in the purchase and construction of real estate. As USCIS adjudicators are generally unfamiliar with Vietnamese financial customs and practices, it is imperative to lay this groundwork in the I-526 petition by including newspaper and research articles that document this cultural practice.
Vietnam is widely a cash-based society, which occasionally turns the tracing of lawful funds into a Herculean task. According to 2014 study, only 30 percent of Vietnamese nationals have bank accounts, and even fewer are estimated to be using banking services regularly. 5 This is due to following facts: access to banks outside of major Vietnamese cities is limited, costs of banking services are high, and e-payment technology and infrastructure are underdeveloped.
There is consequently a lack of confidence in the banking and e-payment system among Vietnamese people. Therefore, as Vietnamese law does not require financial transactions to be performed through formal banking institutions, cash is used in the vast majority of financial transactions.
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