Roberto Contreras III’s early exposure to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor programme encouraged him to aid other immigrants pursuing the same ambition, leading him to establish his own EB-5 regional centre. Contreras, 57, began his career as a young student at the University of Houston in 1984. “It was a year later, when I went back for a visit to Mexico, that I realized I really want to make my future and live in the U.S, It was only then that I knew I was chasing the American dream and I wanted to become a U.S. citizen and a business owner.” says Contreras. His ambitious early business initiatives set him on the route to American citizenship, allowing him to achieve the American Dream and establish himself as a formidable entrepreneur.
Contreras, a young entrepreneur, founded his first company, Super Marble, a custom marble fabrication studio, when he was just 23 years old. He claims that the experience taught him immediately how difficult it is to start a firm, lessons that he says helped him refine his business skills. He persuaded his father to invest in Technimar Industries in 1995, which was ultimately sold to Cambria. He says that his father’s investment and gift enabled him to engage in the EB-5 programme.
He was able to get through the approval procedure with the support of immigration attorney Charles Foster and his firm. Foster first encountered Contreras when he hired him to represent his parents and brothers in their quest for lawful permanent residency. “By that time, his father had begun a stone business in which the family was investing heavily, and while most family members might qualify as dependents of their parents, Roberto, as the oldest, could not,” adds Foster.
Contreras was able to qualify based on a direct EB-5 investment, which was the sole option at the time, and was successful, according to Foster. Contreras became a citizen of the United States in 2008. “One of the happiest days of my life is when I was sworn in as an American citizen,” says Contreras. “I fully understand the struggle an immigrant goes through, and the advantage of the EB-5 program, both as a regional center and through direct investment.” Contreras was inspired to open a regional centre in Houston in 2010 after undertaking the EB-5 route himself and learning about the regional centre programme through Foster.
Almost 350 families have been sponsored by the Houston EB-5 regional centre, which has resulted in the creation of over 6,000 jobs. Contreras says he has had the opportunity to construct multiple award-winning real estate projects for the local community as a result of the process. Contreras intends to aid other families on the route to citizenship in the United States through the Houston EB-5 Regional Center and get a few steps closer to achieving the American Dream.
