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 » |
March 1st, 2010 |
 It is interesting to look beyond the headlines used to promote regional center programs.
Here are some example headlines we found and the reasons you need to explore deeper to expose ALL the details before you choose a regional center for your EB-5 visa.
1. “The only Designated Regional Center in the U.S. controlled and supervised by State Government.”
The Regional Center investments that operate under the banner of a state can sometimes confuse prospective investors in terms of the implications of this status. For example, has the “State Government” any responsibility for repayment of the investment? Some investors assume such designation may offer a safety net. Another question might be: What role does the state government play in the exit strategy regarding the then value of the investment?
Some regional centers, at different times, have made this claim. One program that operated under a State banner is reportedly the subject of litigation. This could raise raises questions as to how far the “state” supervised the program.
2. “A 100% success record for EB-5 Visa approval and faster approval times.”
Many centers have a 100% successful track record, at least at I-526 stage. As regards faster approval times; centers generally get approvals within the USCIS average time lines however, for specific reasons relating to “Requests for Further Evidence” RFEs, and the nature of some programs, some centers have had longer approval times.
3. “In 2009, a total of 4,218 wealthy investors from outside the U.S. successfully applied for and received an EB-5 visa. But many are left asking what has accounted for the recent interest the program has been receiving”?
Firstly a few points regarding these figures which may seem a little pedantic but are important for reasons that can be explained.
The figure quoted includes the spouse and children of the investors; it does not mean there were actually 4218 individual investments in regional centers. - Many investors have a spouse and at least one child so the number of actual investors is nearer a third of the total number of visas. Secondly, the figure for 2009 contains a substantial number who invested in 2008; delays in processing carried these over into 2009.
The main change to be aware of in the figures for 2009 is actually the nationality of investors, with a greater proportion of Chinese investors in particular. China has seen a significant sales focus by a number of regional centers and their agents based in China. This has meant certain programs have mainly Chinese investors whose particular motivation and awareness may have implications.
4. “The regional center returned my investment in three years.”
Three years is generally unrealistic given current review times. That is unless the client is selling out at the moment their I-829 petition is approved. This could be extremely dangerous
Andrew Bartlett and Stephen Parnell are authors of Green Card via the Red Carpet. You can read excerpts of the book at our book website and/or contact the authors via Which EB5.
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Tags: andrew bartlett, china, Chinese investors, eb-5, exit strategy, Green Card via the Red Carpet, I-526, I-829, investors, litigation, regional center, request for further evidence, RFE, state government, stephen parnell, uscis, value of the investment, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 13th, 2010 |
 Escape the bad weather Today’s blog is coming to you from London’s freezing cold Gatwick airport as I try to return to the USA after having to postpone last week’s return due to flight cancellations caused by the snow.
It’s been a busy time over the past few weeks; I have been discussing the various regional center programs with many families in Europe who are planning immigration to the USA and are considering the EB5 visa as a preferred option. For many the reason is that the program offers permanent residence for the applicant as well as their spouse and children under 21.
It is interesting that many of those I speak to raise similar issues of concern regarding the EB-5 program, such as; what is the success rate of the various programs? Has anyone got their $500,000 back? What have I found behind the scenes when I have visited various regional centers? Which programs seem to have suffered delays?
I know Stephen Parnell, who carries out consultations with our clients worldwide, is also asked similar questions. One of the most important questions a family can ask to enable them to make an informed choice of program is very rarely asked. The question is fundamental to maintaining permanent residence after 2 years and can be an indicator to the return of your $500,000 investment.
Future EB5 blogs will focus on this question.
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Tags: eb-5, eb5, investor green card, regional center, stephen parnell, USA
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 29th, 2009 |
Our senior partner Stephen Parnell was recently interviewed regarding the EB-5 visa program. We now have available a limited number of CD’s containing the complete interview (45 minutes) for our clients and interested parties. The interview covered many useful topic including:
 Relocation to the United States; is it viable for me? How regional centers actually work. How long is the process for obtaining my Green Card? What are the qualifications for an EB-5 visa applicant? Are their any viable alternatives to the EB-5 visa program? What fees does an EB-5 investor pay? Why are Which EB5 different; why should we use you as opposed to an immigration attorney? How do I select which EB-5 regional center to invest in? What are the risks? What’s the one thing I need to be sure of before choosing an EB5 investment visa program? What information do I need from a regional center? Are their different types of regional centers? Exactly what is an EB5? Do the government of the USA support this program?
Update: Since the recording of this interview (only a few weeks ago) the EB-5 visa program has added additional regional center choices. The need for independent information in the choice of investment program is now stronger than ever. In this interview Stephen Parnell shares his experience and world views that should be useful for anyone considering an EB-5 investment as their route to permanent residence in America.
There are two ways to get your copy of this interview: If you are already registered with us you can request a copy via email to info@WhichEB5.com : If you are not already registered with us you can request a copy of the interview and receive information on your regional center options by completing this short form now.
 Here is a sample from the interview: Green Card via the Red Carpet - Green Card via the Red Carpet - Audio interview of Stephen Parnell
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Tags: eb-5, green card, immigration attorney, investment visa, permanent residence, regional center, stephen parnell, united states, USA, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 15th, 2009 |
We have been looking at the reasons why the EB5 visa has been of interest to particular groups of immigrants and today we look at a case study taken from one of our previous 100+ investors - this relates to a citizen of Pakistan who wished to change his visa from the H-1B to the EB-5 to live permanently in the USA.
The gentleman had relocated to the USA eight years ago, initially as a student on an F1 visa. After graduation he worked for a major finance company in New York. After working for a few years on the H1B visa, and wishing to file for permanent residency in the United States, he faced a lengthy waiting period required for the labor certification during the first stage of the employment-based permanent residency application. This situation had been further complicated by the distressed economy. He and his wife were also fast approaching the end of the six years allowed under their H-1B visas. An inability to renew their H-1B’s, despite both their desire to remain in their respective jobs and the willingness of their respective company’s to help, could have necessitated their departure from the USA.
After meeting Stephen Parnell during a Which EB5 discovery day in New York city, he looked at the EB-5 regional center pilot program in more detail. A successful project track record, quick processing time and an investment with a project that offered a specific exit strategy were some of the important criteria that he considered in reaching his decision. Once he had completed his diligence on the projects that met his criteria, he decided to invest the requisite $500,000 in a limited partnership project in an approved and proven regional center program for the development of an infrastructure project in California. The funds are loaned to a development agency to fund the redevelopment and renovation of a redundant government facility for commercial use. The entire process took a little over four months from beginning to end, with the I-526 approval taking three months, and the green card arriving little over a month later.
If you are currently on an H-1B visa and need to look for an alternative route to permanent residence click here now.
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Tags: california, citizen, eb-5, eb5, employment based, F1 visa, green card, H-1B, I-526, investors, labor certification, New York City, Pakistan, quick processing time, regional center, stephen parnell, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 2nd, 2009 |
An audio CD interview of Stephen Parnell covering multiple aspects of the EB-5 investment visa is now available.
Some of the topics covered include: Should you be considering moving to the United States? What is an EB5? How does a regional center help me obtain a green card? What types of investments are these? Who is eligible to apply for this type of visa? What are the political implications of this program? Is the investment safe? How long does it take to get a green card? What is the process to obtain an EB-5 visa? What do you have to know before searching for an EB-5 regional center investment? Do I need to live in the same area as the regional center I invest in? What do Which EB5 do for their clients? Finding an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney, how to do it correctly. Are other visa categories a viable alternative to the EB-5?
This informative interview is available free. Simply let us know you would like a copy via email for current clients or for potential clients by registering for information here now.
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Tags: eb-5, eb5, green card, immigration attorney, investment visa, regional center, stephen parnell, united states, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
June 16th, 2009 |
In part one of the new Which EB5 Podcast interview series, Stephen Parnell offers insight into the choices facing an EB-5 immigrant investor with over 40 Regional Centers to evaluate. You can listen to the podcast and/or subscribe (to ensure you don’t miss future editions) using the Podcast Button at the top right hand side of the blog. The button looks like this 
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Tags: eb5, immigrant investor, regional center, stephen parnell, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
May 27th, 2009 |
There is no way for you to gather the information you need if you don’t know what questions to ask. Being new to the prospect of immigration and EB-5 investment, there is almost no way for you to know what those questions might be, unless you put the advantage of professional advising on your side.
Part of the job of that advisor is to spot potential problems and red flags. There is really no telling what form those red flags might take, and this is in a way the “catch all” that is left when all other issues have been attended to. That may sound as if we are being intentionally vague, but we are not; we are simply pointing out to you that there are certain things that will raise the awareness of a good advisor, and that will require further investigation. These are issues that will be unique to the regional centers and projects that you are considering. To the trained eye, these issues will be spotted quickly and will be very telling of the project and center’s operations, while to the untrained eye they would be easily glossed over by sales spiel and largely ignored until it is too late.
Realistically the potential problems and red flags that an impartial third party will find and address, and the ability to recognize those issues or lacking elements will come as a direct result of experience. Being able to spot red flags and address them in a proactive way is a skill that is developed as one works with several regional centers and their projects over time, as well as the process and regulations regarding EB-5 immigration. It’s not something that can be learned by reading and research alone—this ability comes from direct, hands-on investigations and information saturation of the sort that only time and involvement can bring.
In many ways, this ability to address the ethereal red flags and potential problems is the most valuable service that an experienced impartial advisor can deliver to you. Throughout the entire process of regional center evaluation and investment it is not the known and obvious that will cause you problems—it is the unknown, the unquestioned, and undisclosed; but as we’ve said many times, given the complexity of investing and immigrating through the EB-5 visa, there is hardly a way for a single investor, or even small group of potential immigrants, to know exactly what to look for, or what information to trust.
If an impartial advisor, Immigration Advisor, or Immigration Consultant does not have these concerns, you should think twice about why that is. Is it possible the advisor is not as impartial as you originally were led to believe? Is there a conflict of interest? Or is the advisor simply not that good at his or her job?
These are things you want to consider to ensure you are getting value from the partnership, and also to ensure that the advisor has first and foremost your concerns at heart. To be even more clear, and hopefully preempt these troubles entirely, we’ll look at how to find a good Immigration Consultant or third party advisor after we address a couple more issues wherein your impartial third-party advisor will certainly prove his or her worth.
Next, POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS OF SOME REGIONAL CENTER PRACTICES AND POLICIES. In the meantime, if we can answer any of your questions please contact Stephen Parnell or Andrew Bartlett at Which EB5
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Tags: andrew bartlett, eb-5, Immigration, immigration consultant, investment, partnership, stephen parnell, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
May 26th, 2009 |
Most discussion around the EB-5 focuses on the amount of money you need to invest in order to qualify for the visa; what a lot of people do not realize, and what a lot of regional centers aren’t as quick to share, is that the total cost of your visa is not just a flat $500,000 or $1 million. The total cost will be higher when all is said and done.
In addition to the requisite amount of your investment as determined by the USCIS and the project you are investing in, there will be an additional set of fees charged by the regional center. This varies between each center, and is set by the administrators; these fees are in no way regulated by the U.S. government, and are entirely separate from your investment. As a bare minimum, you are probably looking at something more in line with $540,000 just to get started on the process and investing. This figure is arrived at by taking the minimum amount of $500,000 required by USCIS, and adding in the average basic fee of $40,000 that the regional center will charge in administrative and other fees.
Many of these fees are real reflections of costs of business and investment, and are justifiable. They may be used for a variety of applications, including administrative fees and legal fees accumulated by the regional center in the course of processing and overseeing the project. It is not that it is shady business for a regional center to charge a set of additional fees, and in fact this is the norm; the trouble comes when investors are not prepared for them, because they have only been given the bare basics of investment requirements.
The other problem that often arises is that investors are not told specifically what is and is not covered by the fees that are disclosed to them. For instance, the legal fees charged are the fees incurred by the regional center for legal services—they are completely separate from the legal fees that you will incur for your own representation. It is also not uncommon for an investor to be lead to believe or assume that the fees they are charged will cover all of their expenses with USCIS for application and petition fees, but this also is something separate that you need to be prepared for.
A true determination of the potential cost of doing business with a given regional center really only comes through a thorough analysis of the center’s costs and charges. You need to know exactly what is and is not included in any fee structures, but then you also need to go beyond that published list and ask the questions the centers are hoping you would not think about (at least not until it is too late and they’ve already got you on the hook for $500,000 to$1 million!). Most of these, like project evaluation itself, are not questions that you would know to ask unless you have had extensive dealings with a number of regional centers, policies, and projects. Potentially, any small variation from the “normal” application (which is usually to say, very basic and “by-the-book”, if such a thing exists) is grounds for additional charges and processing fees from the center. There are myriad potential charges that should be discussed well ahead of any commitments or payments.
Both the published and the hidden costs and fees of a regional center need to be determined before you can make a real, informed choice of a regional center investment project. Only when you know the real cost potentials will you know the real cost of doing business with the centers you are considering. And only when you know all the costs of all the centers on your list do you have a real basis for comparison between centers and projects. This is an overwhelming amount of information for one person to pursue and flesh out, but with the help of an experienced immigration consultant the information will be much more quickly forthcoming and provided in a way that makes comparisons easier, giving you the confidence to make a good decision.
Next we’ll look at potential problems and red flags associated with an EB-5 investment visa. In the meantime, if we can answer any of your questions please contact Stephen Parnell or Andrew Bartlett at Which EB5
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Tags: andrew bartlett, costs and fees, eb-5, regional center, stephen parnell, US Government, uscis, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
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