Well, as I anticipated, Brian Su pulled together a sold out crowd for the Boston EB-5 workshop in which I am currently sitting.  Ron Klasko just gave an excellent presentation looking into his "crystal ball" to see the EB-5 future, giving us both worst and best case scenarios.  As usual, his presentation was as informative as it was entertaining, and he gave us a good sense of the key factors we need to monitor for what lies ahead.  Can't wait to hear what Boyd Campbell has to say later today.  BTW: I just found a VERY helpful article written Suzanne Seltzer, an attorney who works with Ron Klasko.  The USCIS has, of late, developed adjudication policies which substantially misinterpret recent appellate decisions regarding just who is and is not &quot…

Just back from a great vacation in the Keys and Costa Rica, ready to strap on the EB-5 boots and get busy.  Tomorrow I head to Boston, where Brian Su's next EB-5 Workshop/Networker takes place on Friday.  Each of Brian's events is more powerful and useful than the prior one, and the critical mass he's achieving in terms of bringing the leading international experts on the EB-5 visa continues to grow.  This particular event will feature a diverse assortment of "straight shooters" who tell it like it is…something an awful lot of EB-5 industry folks do NOT do.Ron Klasko, perhaps one of the most experienced EB-5 attorneys in the country and a long-distinguished leader in the American Immigration Lawyers Association will be the featured speaker, along w…

I’m still on the call, marveling at the tremendous diversity in domain expertise demonstrated by the folks calling in with questions (i.e. brilliant to utterly sans clue (-:) and I noticed this on question 15 of the Meeting Q&A…see what I highlight and watch the bullet USCIS dodges, accidentally or intentionally:15.Credit for All Jobs Saved or CreatedIt is our understanding that when EB-5 investor money provides some of the funds for a business, the EB-5 investors get credit for all the jobs saved or created. Is this true?Response: Yes. The establishment of a new commercial enterprise may be used as the basis of a petition for classification as an alien entrepreneur by more than one investor, provided each petitioning investor has invested or is actively in the process of investing t…

Just found this, posted on my old "Port of Entry" web column (the word "blog" didn't exist) in 1999.  Seems like the right time to rerun it:Top Ten Reasons Why Web-Based Immigration Firms are Superior to Conventional Practices7/23/9910. Email creates a written record of all communications for both the client and attorney.9. The client can constantly refer back to complex explanations, promised attorney completion dates, etc., and not have to rely on memory.8. The attorney who masters the web has the world's resources in hand in preparing NIW, Extraordinary Ability, and other visas requiring thorough analysis in a reader-friendly format.7. The attorney can handle clients from any part of the world, at any time, without the expense of client travel.6. Becau…

My good friend from EB-5 Land, Michael Gibson, recently published an internal “EB-5 Yearbook”, memorializing some of the people, events, and developments in our very specialized little legal community this past year.  I was delighted to see an entry about me in the yearbook…and had to smile when I read Michael’s disclaimer (which effectively gives the article an unwritten subtitle akin to “Jose and his Big Mouth”…) (-: Truth be told — and, of course, that’s what I tend to do, much to the dismay of many — there are a lot of folks out there who are annoyed when I reveal truths which disrupt their less-than-truthful money-making.  I never name names but as we all pretty much know, it’s not hard to figure things out when there are so few visible players. Thanks for the plug with the ca…

Foreign investors snapping up real estate is nothing new in South Florida, but record numbers of them have poured in so far this year, eclipsing anything we've seen before.  Depending on whose numbers you believe, cash buyers from overseas have made up more than half of the closings in our area in 2011 — some put it at +60%.The cycle which got us here is, at first blush, predictable:  overleveraged buyers couldn't (and can't)  keep up with the big mortgages associated with properties purchased at inflated prices, bank foreclosures skyrocketed, bank lending rules tightened dramatically, and at a given point, cash buyers – both domestic and foreign — conclude that the time is right to buy. No surprises at that level of analysis.But when examined a bit more clo…

Brian has done it again: with an All Star roster of speakers, his San Diego EB-5 event is proving to be another invaluable experience for those of us in this sector. As participants were greeted with the beaming smile of Aijun Cheng (Chief Investment Officer of Kantex Oil & Gas, LLC, currently initiating Regional Center formation via our own EB-5 Resource Center team) at the registration desk, it was apparent that this was anything but another dull, half-hearted event.  It's not often you get to see a big roomful of people eager to discuss a subject, but this is the dynamic environment Brian has been able to recreate yet again.The morning started with my good friend Michael Gibson of USAdvisors making a call for support of IIUSA, the EB-5 industry group.  WIth the Pilot …

Two of my best friends are Iranian-Americans…well, like me, they really are just plain old "Americans".  The "Iranian" prefix for these guys -  like the "Cuban" prefix for me — is really more of a heritage stamp than any sort of embedded ethnic identity.  They call me "dude", I call them "bro", and we are, basically, another subgroup of your basic Yankee Doodle Imports.The demonization of the Iranian people has been the unfortunate consequence of U.S. policy against the various flavors of zany leadership which have governed this incredibly sophisticated, talented and productive nation since the Shah was ejected from power.In Southern California, where LatourLaw will soon be opening our long-delayed West Coast office, there…

Where politics steps into the private sector and emasculates it, only one thing happens, invariably: the economic might of a nation embarks on an exodus via its best and brightest.And this, my friends, is why I have so many good clients in Sunny Isles…US slams Russia over Khodorkovsky treatment – Nation Wires – MiamiHerald.com.…