With Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in China today giving them another version of the human rights lecture the Chinese government is sooooo over, the ever-growing buzz about a “Plan B” for their children is again amping up within the walls of affluent Chinese homes.  While China is a country which does NOT have to worry about “brain drain” via emigration (simply because of its staggering population numbers) — and while Chinese EB-5 investment is a cornerstone of inbound U.S. investment — it is time for the Chinese government to understand that its inaction is nonetheless triggering a relatively important exodus of its best and brightest.I told you guys about Mr. Bo’s Wild Ride last week; now it’s a blind attorney, Chen Guangcheng, who’s the subject of whispering within co…

In the six weeks or so since I last returned from Shanghai, another 2-3 would-be EB-5 Regional Center projects have assured me that they “have most if not all Chinese EB-5 investors in place and ready to fund.”  Sometimes delivered with the charming innocence of youthful ignorance, other times conveyed with arrogance by misguided snake-oil salesman, the sheer historical inaccuracy of the notion that you can “pre-sell” EB-5 in China is the number one reason so many otherwise sophisticated U.S. developers are being separated from their money right here in America.   But th…

There are but a handful of US immigration attorneys who truly grasp the EB-5 visa at a molecular level. It’s a short list of perhaps a half dozen veteran practitioners, and I am without a doubt at the very bottom of it (if I’m in it at all!) Having spent 15 years as the industry’s EB-5 “Prophet of Doom” instead of quietly working to improve this powerful visa category as my colleagues were doing put me at a chronological disadvantage which I seem to finally be conquering via a combination of sheer immersion and a rapidly evolving policy by USCIS.What appeared at the time as my Nostradamus–like warnings (anybody out there remember my “Port of Entry” daily column, before the word “blog” existed?? 🙂 – is now historical fact: a catastrophic number of families, as I’d predicted, had I-829s …

“Psssst…c’mere: I’ve got six Taiwanese EB5 investors funded but the original deal went bust. Let’s talk…?”My my, how EB-5 has evolved. Two years ago, I couldn’t get anyone overseas to talk to me about finding investors. Today, they’re beating down the doors of guys like me. And, no, it’s not just because of my brutal Latin good looks. 😛 It’s because I have something their clients want and they themselves desperately need: fair EB-5 opportunities which will deliver the US green card as well as protect the investor’s investment.Here’s how it works: the larger agencies in countries like Taiwan, China, and Korea have a steady pipeline of clients considering various EB-5 investment opportunities. In many of these countries, there are specific banking rules as to how funds can depart the h…

I’ve never been to India. But I hope I can go soon.Due to an amalgam of fortuitous circumstances, fate, and an indisputably vast amount of karma, Sunil Kumar is responsible for a Night in Bollywood, an annual fund raiser taking place in Coral Gables (Miami) Florida, which raises tens of thousands of dollars for his orphanage in India.Sunil grew up as an orphan in India, and decided to see what he could do to make things better for the many poor children in his country. After becoming a computer engineer, he began working online, ultimately connecting with Carlos and Sandra Osorio, right here in Miamitown. The Osorios told someone, who told someone, who told someone…Fast forward a few years and you have one of the single biggest cultural/fundraising events Miami… certainly the most cult…

Last night I spent a wonderful evening with my dear friend Mikhael Keifitz, a Miami – based attorney of Russian origin. Mikhael is more than a colleague with whom I administer Russian investor cases; he’s an extraordinarily creative thinker and profoundly honest individual… But true credit to our legal profession.Mikhael invited me to the grand opening event of Donald Trump’s latest Sunny Isles high-rise. Because this particular part of Miami is heavily populated by affluent Russians, the crowd was distinctly from the former Soviet republics, and Mikhael was very much in his environment. He introduced me to a number of colleagues and clients from his part of the world, and a recurrent theme emerged: the pitfalls and dangers many had encountered and are encountering in making decisions …

In the past one month I have reviewed the following:-An EB-5 Project structuring quote, already signed off on by the in-house and external construction counsel of one of the nation’s leading builders, where an EB-5 Regional Center owner was trying to charge a one time $200,000+ fee for including the project into their existing, dated, now-administratively-noncompliant regional center.-a Chinese client trying to form a regional center project who’s paid over $100,000 many months ago to a US attorney who has done absolutely nothing and refuses to refund the fees paid.-a communication from a Chinese agent who is aggressively being marketed an EB-5 project which #1 is NOT approved for EB-5 funding nor is it USCIS approved and #2 whose very high-profile principals (who, coincidentally, I happen…

Greetings everyone! I am back from China after another successful trip with Sharon and we have finished the securing of the funding for the Lake Point project!Many issues need to be discussed, many updates are lagging, and you will be hearing from me soon. Have a great weekend and I’ll be back soon! J…

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