March 9th, 2010 |
 Using the EB-5 Visa to move from Canada to the USA?
Tax Alert
The IRS has issued Revenue Procedure 2010-19 (“Deemed Dispositions by Individuals Emigrating from Canada”).The Revenue Procedure provides guidance on the new election procedure provided under the Fifth Protocol of the Canada/US tax treaty whereby individuals moving from Canada to the United States can elect an increased cost basis on their property for US income tax purposes.
Among other things, the Revenue Procedure describes the deadlines and procedures for making the election. In addition to other factors, distinctions are made:
1. For emigrations before March 29, 2010 and thereafter,
2. Between US citizens and nonresident aliens, and
3. Property that would have been subject to US tax on the ultimate sale, regardless of the emigration.
In many cases the individual must make the election on the individual’s timely filed US federal income tax return for the first year ending after the individual’s change of residence.Some elections may be time-barred under the statute of limitations.
Our thanks to International tax specialist Richard Brunton for this alert.
|
| |
Tags: Canada, eb5, international, IRS, tax, united states, visa Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 28th, 2010 |
You quite likely have an idea of what you will need to attend to in order to make the move from your home country to the United States. But have you considered all the finer points of what that entails? Have you thought about the actual act and timing of when to start looking for a home, how to go about doing that, how to secure a living space from thousands of miles away, and how to set up your financial house in the U.S. so that you are able to function once here?
Just to start you will need to consider these major relocation considerations:
• Where to live – where will you make your permanent U.S. home, and what type of property will best suit your needs? Is a temporary arrangement better for you and yours?
• Where to learn – if children are in your family picture, how will they be educated? What are your choices and responsibilities? How do you go about enrolling your child in a school or university in the United States?
• Health matters – the U.S. healthcare system is quite foreign to most immigrants. How do you navigate it? How do you obtain quality medical care in the U.S.? Are you prepared for an emergency upon arrival if need be?
• Financial concerns – your financial concerns are not ended with EB-5 investment; you still have the many daily concerns to consider and manage, including planning for living expenses, taxations, insurances, and even the mundane of day-to-day banking needs.
• Establishing credit in the U.S. is a very important factor, but one that is so often taken for granted and mistakenly overlooked. Learn the why and the how of reestablishing your good financial name so that you have the power to live well in the States.
These and many other finer points are all critical considerations to start learning about now. Relocation experts at WhichEB5 are available to help you with these and many other considerations.
|
| |
Tags: eb-5, Relocation, united states Posted in Relocation | 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
|
| |
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 » |
December 14th, 2009 |
 How to Choose an EB5 Regional Center
Picking the right regional center isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Foreign investors looking for fast-track permanent residency in the United States can take heart in the recent three-year extension of the EB-5 regional center program. This approval, however, shouldn’t be seen as cause to throw caution to the wind.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have approved a tremendous amount of regional centers that qualify for EB-5 investment status. On the surface, this provides excellent choice, but there are some pitfalls. Making the wrong decision on where to invest can result in a revocation of status after two years and also a loss of the initial $500,000 to $1 million investment.
EB-5 investors have several things beyond making their money back to worry about. They must also be certain the investment does meet the qualifications set by Washington, D.C., and it must also result in the creation of at least 10 jobs.
The EB5 program does provide an excellent way to speed up your Visa, and ultimately your citizenship process, but investors should take the time to educate themselves before moving forward. Making a $500,000 investment is a big undertaking no matter the circumstances.
Potential immigrants need to gain solid information about a number of factors before moving ahead. Some of the things to consider include which regional centers obtain green cards the fastest, which ones are offering a rapid return on investment and even which ones have a 100 percent rate of obtaining green cards.
What is the best way to choose an EB-5 Regional Center?

|
| |
Tags: citizenship, eb-5, eb5, green card, immigrants, investment, investors, permanent residence, regional center, united states, visa, washington dc Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
December 4th, 2009 |
It’s clear that despite all the concerns at the present time in the USA, particularly relating to economic uncertainty and the recession, The United States remain the country of choice for many affluent immigrants from countries throughout the world.
The EB-5 visa, by providing the security of permanent residence (green cards), has made a huge difference for many who, despite significant wealth, have previously not found a suitable visa route enabling them to work or retire in the USA.
Andrew Bartlett will be in Europe next week for a series of individual consultations and small group meetings. If you are interested in meeting in Europe in December to discuss your EB-5 visa options please email info@whicheb5.com for a full schedule and further details.
|
| |
Tags: andrew bartlett, eb-5, eb5, green card, united states, visa Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
November 11th, 2009 |
When looking for fast-track legal permanent residency (Green Card) in the United States via the EB-5 visa program, caution should be a critical consideration when selecting a specific regional center project for you to trust.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have approved a lot of regional centers which qualify for EB-5 investment status. On the surface this provides excellent choice but there are some pitfalls. Making the wrong decision on where to invest could result in a revocation of your green card status after two years and possibly a loss of your initial $500,000 or $1 million investment.
As potential EB-5 investors there are several things beyond a return on your investment to worry about. It is important to be certain that the investment does meet the qualifications set by USCIS; it must also result in the creation of at least 10 jobs.
The EB5 program can provide an excellent way to speed up your Visa status, and ultimately U.S. citizenship, but you need to take the time to educate yourself before moving forward. Making a $500,000 investment is a big undertaking no matter the circumstances.
You need to gain solid information about a number of factors before moving ahead. Some of the things to consider include which regional centers obtain green cards the fastest, which ones are offering a rapid return on investment and even which ones have a 100 percent rate of green card approvals.
The principals of Which EB5 are advocates of immigrant investors and have chosen to be independent by not representing any one regional center. They have worked with more than 900 families and more than 150 who have opted for a regional center program.
|
| |
Tags: eb-5, eb5, green card, investment, permanent residence, regional center, united states, US Citizenship, uscis, visa Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
November 10th, 2009 |
In an attempt to determine which is the most appropriate regional center program some families carry out due diligence with statistics.
The problem with statistics is they display data any way the supplying companies want. Are the centers with the highest number of approvals the best choice for you?
Statistics may give you the figures, they will not give you all the conclusions to draw from them.
For example, the statistics will not tell you:
• If the I-526 and/or I-829 approvals were for a particular project and the center now operates a different type of program.
• They will not tell you if USCIS has changed its perspective on the program for that regional center.
• The statistics will not tell you the likelihood or otherwise of investors getting their capital investment back from that center.
• They will not tell you the implications of most of the applicants coming from a particular country.
Statistics make up an element of your due diligence but they must be taken in context to have any value for you. If you want to know how and if the statistics you have are a contributing factor for you you can ask us questions via email at: info@whicheb5.com or by calling us at: +1-559-EB5-INFO
The EB-5 Investor Green Card regional center visa program can be an excellent way to quickly become a permanent resident of the United States. Which EB5 researches regional centers; you make the same investment plus get all the independent advice of Which EB-5 at no cost to you.

|
| |
Tags: (559)-EB5-INFO, due diligence, eb-5, I-526, I-829, investor green card, investors, regional center, research, statistics, united states, uscis, Which EB-5 Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
October 12th, 2009 |
If you are considering the EB5 investor visa as your path to a greencard, and are trying to find out what the implications are of the projected return on the investment, chances are that you may want to look beyond the claims in the regional center brochures and seek out the services of an accountant with experience of analyzing such a specialist investment product.
However, here you may encounter a problem, the average accountant is highly unlikely to have analyised such a product with such an important visa component.
We have identified a rarity, an US based accountant with international expertise who has carried out this analysis for EB-5 regional center investors.
For those of you using the services of Which EB5 to determine which EB-5 regional center you opt for, we can send you the contact details for this chartered accountant.
The EB-5 Investor Green Card regional center visa program is an excellent way to quickly become a permanent resident of the United States. Which EB5 researches regional centers; you make the same investment plus get all the independent advice of Which EB-5 at no cost to you.
Contact Which EB5 via email at: info@whicheb5.com
|
| |
Tags: accountant, eb-5, eb5, expert, investor green card, permanent residence, regional center, united states, visa, Which EB-5 Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
October 2nd, 2009 |
The EB-5 visa regional center investment program can be one of the fastest methods of obtaining permanent residence in the USA. It has been known for applicants to achieve granting of their green cards within two months. However, there can be significant variations dependent on the regional center program chosen; with applications from some regional centers exceeding eighteen months.
The reasons for this discrepancy between different regional center programs are down to a number of factors and sometimes regional centers make claims which may not always be supported by the facts.
For the latest information regarding current processing times, estimates for various regional center programs and reasons for their timing please contact us directly at: info at whicheb5 dot com
The EB-5 Investor Green Card regional center visa program is an excellent way to quickly become a permanent resident of the United States. Which EB5 researches regional centers; you make the same investment plus get all the independent advice of Which EB-5 at no cost to you.
|
| |
Tags: eb-5, eb5, green card, permanent residence, regional center, united states, USA, visa, Which EB-5 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
|
| |
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 » |
|