Last week’s ILW EB-5 Continuing Legal Education Summit in Nashville, as I’ve already told you, was the best ever…sort of a Woodstock of EB-5 Stars. Okay, perhaps that is not the right analogy. (-:  But the point is that when you get the best minds on a given subject together in one room, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, and that is exactly what Sam Udani has been able to consistently pull off with his EB-5 CLE events.In ILW’s EB-5 event format, as in their new attorney’s EB-5 book — I’m a contributor — Sam constructs a logical flow of events ranging from the formation of an EB-5 Regional Center or Project to filing the investor petitions, to troubleshooting and preempting problems in all of the preceding.  The book is a hands-on, practical handbook for bus…

If there has been a recurring issue in my practice of structuring and marketing EB-5 projects this past year, it has to do with the reconciliation of the true EB-5 process timelines with the fabrications of EB-5 structure “brokers” who promise developers completely unrealistic timelines.  As is often the case in many things EB-5, many involved in the process are far more concerned about the lucrative EB-5 Project Structuring assignment than they are with giving the developer a real-world projection of WHEN they will actually SEE EB-5 money breaking escrow.I don’t know the details behind Margaritaville Beach Resort’s problems, but I know this much:The Margaritaville brand has been developed by none other than my favorite crooner/entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett, and it is as good as it gets …

Having personally engaged Mr. Rubio on the subject of immigration reform and the DREAM Act during a fundraiser at which I wrote a check (which, I should add, I ultimately regretted writing), it is quite odd to presume he feels capable of taking a leadership position on the issue of the DREAM Act.  As an admittedly-jaded independent voter who long ago gave up on a bipartisan politics, I feel very comfortable interpreting both Mr. Rubio’s efforts as well as Mr. Obama’s long-delayed response to the issue:1.      Mr. Obama’s diluted, weird, last-hurrah suggestio…

As you no doubt have heard by now, the last meeting with USCIS’ EB-5 team was a big disappointment for the hundreds of folds physically present and listening at home. Here are few statistical tidbits worth reporting, as relayed by Steven Yale-Loehr in Miller Mayer’s latest newsletter:According to the latest EB-5 program statistics based on preliminary data for the second quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2012:USCIS received 2,771 I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur) petitions and had approved 2,101 and denied 384 so far. This was an 85 percent approval rating, compared to an 81 percent approval rating for all of FY 2011 and an 89 percent approval rating for all of FY 2010. As of the second quarter of FY 2012, USCIS had received 375 I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions…

While most immigration lawyers finding themselves in Nashville today are waking up in the opulent Gaylord, ready to begin the 2012 American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA) national gathering, I instead woke up at a friend’s home, somewhere in the lush suburbs of the Music City, being stared down by grinning 2 year old wearing a cowboy hat. A combination of too many miles and too many CLE credits led me to forgo this year’s AILA National Convention, and my job ended at 6 pm yesterday, with the wrap up of Sam Udani’s (ILW.COM) EB-5 CLE seminar, and today is “catch up with the 800 emails from 24 time zones” day before heading back to Miami tomorrow.  After speaking at a number of ILW events, Sam asked me to be the moderator for the panel and, as usual, Sam delivered a line up of …

Hi everybody, sorry I’ve been so quiet. Just back from two very exciting weeks in Vietnam and my first visit to the capital, Hanoi. I will update you soon on the latest developments in this very exciting country, which is proving very hungry for both EB-5 and non-visa-related investment opportunities in the US. (US Secretary of Defense Panetta happened to visit Vietnam while I was there, and it is clear that US expects to establish much closer ties with this country.)Before that, just a heads up: I will be moderating ILW.COM’s EB-5 continuing legal education program this coming Wednesday in Nashville. This will be the years top EB-5 CLE event, where EB-5s most experienced attorneys will teach other business immigration attorneys what they need to know to properly structure and handle clien…

In a recent conversation with a trusted colleague who has been practicing immigration law in Southeast Asia for many years, he used the word “tsunami” to describe what he foresaw in China’s economic future.  Such a perspective defies the conventional wisdom espoused by many in the EB-5 legal and business development community, in which there has been a consensus that China is currently saturated with the weight of too many – hundreds! – of EB-5 projects, most of them from Lamesville.I agree with my colleague, and the perception that China’s EB-5 investor pipeline is slowing do…