June 7th, 2010 |
 All over the world there are people who want to live in the USA but despite their qualifications find that they are unable to obtain business sponsorship, labor certification or a suitable offer of employment.
As specialist EB5 Immigration Attorney Anthony Olson recently explained, labor certification is dependent on the sponsoring employer not finding a qualified, willing, able, and available worker in the local job market. In the current market there are many well-qualified people out there looking for jobs thus labor certification is not looking very promising as a vehicle to permanent residence. This could well be one of the reasons for the growing popularity of the US EB-5 investor visa green card.
Which EB5 research all EB-5 investment visa options and our impartial advice has helped many families obtain Green cards and permanent residence in the USA. For more details of how the EB5 program can help you read the Guide to the EB5 immigrant investor visa program.
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Tags: eb-5, eb5, green card, immigration attorney, investor visa, relocate, USA
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
April 30th, 2010 |
 USCIS are doing a great job for EB-5 Stakeholders I read a quote from an immigration attorney today that I thought worth commenting here on our blog; here is the quote:
“This administration has made it increasingly difficult to obtain visas because of bureaucratic incompetence and potential business immigrants are now choosing to avoid the United States altogether, because the obstacles at times are insurmountable”.
From personal experience, including a visit to the California Service Center of the USCIS where all EB-5 visa applications are adjudicated, I can tell you that the USA is attracting more EB-5 visa attention from abroad than ever before and that we are enjoying regular processing time for an immigrant investor petition, an I-526, of 90-100 days. If that is “bureaucratic incompetence” then I can’t wait for things to improve!
Really folks, the CSC are doing a very good job of keeping-up with processing times and offer us EB-5 stakeholders a generally good service. Rather than trying to knock the service levels we enjoy, yes, I said enjoy, shouldn’t we all be working together to make sure petitions are complete and fit all required criteria? This way we can build our relationship with the civil servants that process the EB-5 applications and foster a professional relationship rather than making excuses.
Just my humble opinion.
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Tags: eb-5, I-526, immigration attorney, investment visa, USA, uscis
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
April 19th, 2010 |
 How to select an immigration attorney for your EB-5 Investor Visa Experience and a lack of regional center bias are important traits to consider.
Potential immigrants from all over the world are finding themselves seeking out advice from immigration attorneys. There are certain qualifications that can guide investor visa applicants seeking out the right representation.
One of the potential pitfalls in finding an attorney is locating one that is truly independent. It is not uncommon for an attorney to also advise regional centers in addition to immigrants.
The potential conflicts of interest that can arise for immigration attorneys was a big topic at a recent American Immigration Lawyers Association conference in California. Many speakers emphasized the potential for ethical issues that can be created when attorneys provide advice about particular regional centers.
To find an immigration attorney without concerns about conflicts of interest, potential EB-5 visa immigrants should consider:
• The implications of selecting a regional center that requires investors to use a certain attorney
• If a particular attorney also advises the center he or she is recommending
• If an attorney who is offering advice on a particular regional center has actually visited that center
• The actual number of I-526 and I-829 petitions the attorney has processed
For potential immigrants, the choice of an attorney is very important. It is vital that the chosen professional have experience with immigration and particularly with with the EB-5 process as well.
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Tags: american, eb-5, I-526, I-829, immigration attorney, regional center, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
March 8th, 2010 |
 Should you compare EB5 investor visa projects with the help of a lawyer? The situation is understandable; you are looking into the various regional center options for your choice of EB-5 program and are spending days, weeks maybe months (it may seem like a lifetime) searching the internet in an attempt to find information on the relative advantages, or just as importantly disadvantages, of the ever growing number of regional centers.
A number of the most experienced immigration lawyers do not provide guidance on choice of regional centers. Instead they focus on the legal aspects of the EB-5 visa. Indeed there have been a number of seminars where leading EB-5 immigration attorney’s have stressed that Immigration Lawyers should not be providing advice on your choice of regional center – their focus should be on the actual legal immigration process.
So you continue to search for useful information; such as how many successful applicants have each center processed, however, how helpful is that statistic? For example, if a program has a high number of non-English speaking applicants what are the implications that are not readily apparent from the bare statistics?
When a web site quotes comparative statistics how up to date and accurate are those statistics and indeed how meaningful? The US economy is still undergoing massive changes and regional center programs that were popular a couple of years ago, at a time of significantly higher returns, may require other considerations in the light of a more conservative attitude.
Another factor that is not readily apparent from the web is how are programs actually performing once fully subscribed? Have buildings been constructed, jobs been created, what issues have come to the surface and have investors had their monies returned?
If you are looking into regional center options for your choice of EB5 regional center independent, impartial information can be found on Which EB-5, contact Andrew Bartlett or Stephen Parnell to find out what they discovered on their visits to these regional center programs.
Andrew Bartlett and Stephen Parnell are authors of Green Card via the Red Carpet available on Amazon
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Tags: amazon, America, andrew bartlett, eb-5, Green Card via the Red Carpet, immigration attorney, immigration lawyers, regional center, stephen parnell, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 12th, 2010 |
 How long is the EB5 immigration process? From start to finish, how long will it be before you receive your green card? Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to this question but we can give you some general estimates.
For the first phase—the regional center investment phase—the timeline should not be overly long. Usually this can be accomplished in a matter of two to eight weeks after your decision has been made as to which EB-5 center to invest in; however, every center’s timing and timeline will differ.
The real timing begins with your specialist EB5 immigration attorney submitting your I-526 to the USCIS. The general waiting time for USCIS review of I-526 petitions was previously six to eight months, but since USCIS increased its staff of examiners, it is now down to as little as one to six months.
Once that is approved and your attorney files the application for adjustment of status or for application consular processing of an immigrant visa you will have another waiting time of about six to twelve months for adjustment of status, or two to six months for consular processing. These time-lines vary enormously so please contact us for updated timetables at any time.
The grand total timeline after you submit your original I-526 application is between six and fifteen months. This is the estimated amount of time it will take for you to receive your conditional green card and take up residence in the United States – if you would like advice on what you need to take into account to obtain the quickest time please contact Which EB-5 via email at info@WhichEB5.com or through our website at www.WhichEB5.com
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Tags: consular processing, eb-5, green card, I-526, Immigration, immigration attorney, regional center, united states, uscis, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 11th, 2010 |
 Putting together a personal EB5 timetable is good advice Each investor and his or her family have ideas about what they would like their own personal timeline to look like. You should have some idea of a target date or estimated date when you would like to be living in America. Formulating your personal timeline can be difficult and this is where the guidance of an experienced EB5 immigration attorney will prove invaluable. He or she will help you match your goals and needs with the reality of the process and capabilities of processing within the constraints set by outside factors; namely the regional center you choose to invest in and the USCIS.
No discussion of time lines for EB-5 investing is complete without at least introducing the basic timeline for investing from the regional center perspective. USCIS’s procedures and processing times determine most of the timeline in this process; however, you should not underestimate the impact of the regional center and its time lines and procedures on your personal goals.
The timeline for investing from start to finish will vary. In fact, the proposed timeline for a center and their track record for abiding by it may be one of those considerations that you and your immigration consultant weigh when choosing the right regional center for your investment. For further information on time lines for various regional centers contact Which EB-5
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Tags: America, eb-5, eb5, immigration attorney, immigration consultant, processing time, regional center, uscis, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 7th, 2010 |
 Enrollment for this school year is only seven months away After conferring with a number of specialist EB-5 immigration attorneys we have calculated the current average times for I-526 approvals from the USCIS is about 3 months, with consular processing running at an additional 4-6 months. This is a total of 7 to 9 months before you can enter the USA using your EB-5 visa.
If you are planning to apply for the EB-5 visa and require approval in time for your children to start school/college in the USA at the start of the school year August 2010, you need to act now.
Some regional center programs, can for specific reasons, RFE’s – requests for further evidence etc, be faster than others.
If timing is important to you and you want your children to start school or you have children turning 21 in the next year please contact us urgently for further information info@WhichEB5.com
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Tags: consular processing, eb-5, eb5, I-526, immigration attorney, regional center, request for further evidence, USA, uscis, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 6th, 2010 |
 National Public Radio One of our EB5 clients, Brian Thompson, was recently featured on (NPR) Public Radio – Below is a transcript from part of the interview with him which was covered on the Morning Edition.
“News of job creation programs has been widely reported lately, but there’s one program that many people have never heard about: Under U.S. immigration law, foreigners can invest in an American business and, in exchange, receive a green card.
This has long been a small, obscure program, but as domestic sources of financing have dried up, the number of EB-5 visas issued this way has tripled in the past year.
For investor Brian Thompson and his wife the motivation was to leave England for a place with better weather. A few years ago they put $500,000 into the redevelopment of a Seattle warehouse that is being turned into a hotel. Once it opens Thompson hopes to make his money back and then some. But the immigrant investor program requires a certain degree of risk, and if the business venture falls through, so do the green cards.
That would be the worst-case scenario,” Thompson says. “We’d be stuck in England, left without the pot of money that we’d worked all our lives for.
But so far the hotel project is on track. And since you don’t have to live where you put your money, Thompson and his wife are happily retired in Florida.
Half a million dollars is the minimum required — an investment in a more competitive area must be $1 million — and across the country, government-approved consultants have popped up to help match this foreign money with American companies.
Immigration attorneys say a big motivation for many investors is to educate their children in the U.S., since a participant’s entire immediate family also qualifies for a green card”.
More Which EB5 client success stories can be found by clicking this link now.
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Tags: eb-5, eb5, florida, green card, immigration attorney, immigration law, National Public Radio, npr, seattle, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
December 9th, 2009 |
 How do I Emigrate to the USA? We were recently approached by a journalist writing an article for the British newspaper The Daily Mail and apparently this is a question many are currently asking. The question seems simple enough, but from our long experience we know it is a question that can so often lead to misleading information and trouble down the road.
The reason is simple, by asking how do I emigrate to the USA the questioner is already starting off by missing a key point.
By way of explanation let’s examine who may answer the question –
If a consultant or business broker is asked the question, many may flag up the E2 or L1 visa options. These visas are often tied in with an opportunity for commission for that consultant or business broker. However, that motivation may not be clear to the potential emigrant, and it may not be explained that these visas do not necessarily provide permanent residency rights. Without permanent residency a whole trail of difficult issues can crop up at a later date, this may lead to possible deportation. For this reason, certain emigrants looking at the E2 or L1 routes and buying a business of a certain size, may have been better looking at the EB-5 visa which provides for permanent residency.
An immigration attorney may also approach the question from the angle of how you can emigrate, rather than should you? and what are the lifestyle implications for your family. In other words should you even do it, or will your family wish you were back in your original country in a few months or years?
Some asking the question how do I emigrate to the USA seek advice from an emigration blog. However, this again can cause problems. For example, those that reply in a positive tone may not realize that although they were happy with the route they have taken, it may lead to issues later on. Example: Simply because they took an E2 visa and bought a business that has worked out for them does not mean that they will not eventually face problems. They may not realize at this stage that eventuality they may need to leave the States due to non renewal, business failure, or a child having to leave at age 21.
For more information contact Andrew Bartlett at: andrew@whicheb5.com
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Tags: E2, eb-5, emigrate to the usa, immigration attorney, L1, permanent residency, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
November 20th, 2009 |
 Which EB5 Visa? Occasionally we hear from an EB-5 applicant, who having signed up for a particular EB-5 regional center program, suddenly finds out about our service and approaches us for advice as to whether they have done the right thing.
Often they originally found out about the EB-5 through a persuasive agent, or an advert from a regional center or even had been recommended it by an immigration attorney.
Our first though generally is oh dear, after all, once they have placed their investment with the regional center and are in the process of making an application there is little that can be done.
In much the same way as if you rush into marriage with the wrong partner you may have something of a roller coaster ride, if you have chosen an inappropriate regional center program you not only risk losing some or all of your $500,000 but also face potential deportation for you and your family – hardly the outcome you may have been planning!
The time to ask for advice is now, before you make a decision. Visit EB5-Info now.
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Tags: agent, applicant, eb-5, EB5-INFO, immigration attorney, investment, regional center
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
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