Congress voted yesterday to extend the budget for two weeks and EB-5 gets yet another brief extension.  The Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate are still tinkering with a number of issues which are more politically pressing than EB-5, and the two week extension was agreed upon with Democrats to prevent the disruption of an official government shutdown of nonessential services (which has happened in the past.)  The so-called “C0ntinuing Resolution” approved the extension of many USG programs, including EB-5, until December 22nd, 2017, with no changes to any of the underlying laws affected. While Big EB-5, led by IIUSA, continues to dig their boots in to prevent the much-needed reforms to the egregious TEA abuse, Congress is still pondering changes to the program to i…

As the brilliant Suzanne Lazicki pointed out in her posting today , the EB-5 Regional Center program has received an astonishing 7 short-term extensions in the past two years, and it’s been a good five years since Congress did anything meaningful to improve the program.  The TEA abuse and unlawful kickbacks to foreign agents which Big EB-5 relies upon entirely continues unabated, and the only  EB-5 lobbying going on in Washington right now is to bankroll the status quo, in continuing, perpetual defiance to what Congress intended when it created the EB-5 Investor Visa category in the Immigration Act of 1990. I am certainly not surprised at the inaction, but this time around, it’s different.  It’s a little too quiet. Perhaps its the overall chaotic state of Washington’s internal operatio…

If you are a Vietnamese investor thinking about EB-5, you’ve probably heard about the potential of a so-called “cutoff” which could leave new investors facing long delays.  I’ve told you several times that I thought this was more marketing hype but now that the mighty Charles Oppenheim, Director of Visa Control, US Department of State has gone on record and predicted that Vietnam could hit the cutoff by late 2018, it’s time to pay attention.  This article is to explain to prospective EB-5 investors in Vietnam what all this means and what they need to do NOW to make the right decision regarding their family’s EB-5 decision. For the past two years, the threat of an EB-5 backlog has been primarily communicated by EB-5 marketing firms and Regional Centers trying to find a new EB-5 …

If you’re considering becoming a U.S.citizen, you can rest assured that there are many benefits waiting for you if you make the big decision. As an accomplished EB-5 program, American Venture Solutions is happy to hear that you have an interest in U.S. citizenship and is dedicated to making sure you have all of the resources necessary to succeed in your goals, while at the same time, stimulating the economy of the beautiful country you could call home! In this blog, I’d like to tell you about some of the main benefits you can look forward to as a permanent resident of the United States of America. If your EB-5 is approved, you will obtain a conditional green card. After three years, the conditions are removed and then you can apply for a full U.S. citizenship. For more information on h…

Hello, and welcome back to our blog! Today we are going to talk about the similarities and differences between various employment-based visas and how EB-5 investment stands out when it comes to economic growth and stability, and how it will lead to permanent residency for you, the investor. Let’s start off by talking about some of the other EB programs out there. E1 Foreign researchers belong to the first preference EB-1 program. What this means is that if you are a person with extraordinary ability, an outstanding professor or researcher, or a multinational manager or executive, you will be considered first among employment-based immigration petitions for a visa. If you’re someone who qualifies for an EB-1 petition, you have a significant advantage over EB-2 because you won’t need a…

Okay, AVSEB5 Readers, for those of you who are gluttons for punishment, here you are:  the entire library of all of my immigration blogs written since 2007 is officially online at AVSEB5.  I know what you are thinking: “Why on EARTH would Jose re-post all of his old blogs when most of it is no longer even relevant??” Well, there are three answers to that: Because it’s all still online, I just consolidated blogs which were on various sites. Because, among all the ranting and raving, there are still useful nuggets of information here and there, as well as prophetic predictions of EB-5 doom which were subsequently proven true after the USG finally addressed  EB-5 Regional Center abuses involving migration agent kickbacks and TEA abuse. Because it is inevitable that some of you have troub…

It’s true: time DOES fly when you are having fun!  Consider that it was only last September when brand new AVS Country Director Nguyet (“Monica”) Pham and I were looking at our first little Regus office at the very tony Saigon Tower, across the street from the U.S. Consulate.  We were arguing: ever the pragmatist, Nguyet was insisting that the specific closet-sized office we were about to rent did NOT need to have a window.  She didn’t want to spend the extra few hundred dollars a month for a window.  But the thought of our ONE Vietnam team member sitting alone in a windowless office was awful, and I won the argument.  (She later confessed that she was very happy to have the window but it was an “unnecessary expense….” (-:) Fast forward a year later and here we are, in the same won…

American Venture Solutions offers viable immigrant investment opportunities to foreign investors that are looking to gain permanent residency. Though most of our website and our blogs so far have focused on what EB-5 investment programs have to offer, we felt it was important to cover topics such as where to live after you gain permanent residency. Though moving to the U.S. has many opportunities and advantages for foreigners, we also understand that knowing there is a place that will easily feel like home is important as well. In this blog, we continue to cover which cities are the most welcoming and advantageous for immigrant investors. Louisville, Kentucky Louisville, Kentucky probably was not the first place that you thought of as a welcoming new home for you and your family. Unlike so…

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has announced that its form for reporting foreign bank and financial accounts will only be accepted for electronic filing beginning Monday.  The so-called “FBAR” – which stands for “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts” — requires anyone who is subject to U.S. taxes to report any interests in financial accounts, trusts, etc. overseas.  Here’s a link to the IRS page on FBAR: IRS’ FBAR FAQs I know I sound like a broken record, but I continue to be astonished at the number of inbound EB-5 investors I meet, especially those from the Pacific Rim, who have given absolutely no thought whatsoever to pre-immigration tax planning.  Once you land at the airport and get stamped as a U.S. conditional resident, you ARE subject to worldwide taxation!  Ne…