News
Martin Lawler Speaking
Martin Lawler is a popular speaker at business, law and university conferences, as well as in the media. Here is a list of Martin’s recent speaking engagements: L.A. County Bar Association EB-5 Conference (lead off speaker and on 3 panels) – March 2014 KAZA 1290 AM, San Jose Vietnamese Radio – February...
Regional Center Regions
A regional center (RC) is granted a charter by USCIS to develop projects in a region – a territory. It can be small or large, such as a town up to a state. A region’s size may be expanded or contracted. Previously, this involved a protracted application. With the USCIS May...
Ho, Ho, Ho
USCIS issued four precedent decisions in 1998 intended to rein in the EB-5 program. One is Matter of Ho. Matter of Ho holds that an EB-5 project must be accompanied by a credible, detailed business plan. Ho says the plan should include: a description of the business, including products and services;...
Nicolas Colucci, New EB-5 Chief
Signaling a shift of focus toward increased enforcement, USCIS has appointed Nicolas Colucci as EB-5 chief. Colucci comes from an executive posting at of the Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN’s overall mission is to increase transparency in the US financial system to detect money laundering, terrorist financing...
Here are two interesting questions and responses raised on the USCIS EB-5 February 2014 stakeholder call: Question: What is required to maintain an investment for I-829 purposes, particularly if an opportunity to refinance/liquidate arises for a successful project? Given the erratic processing times for the Forms I-526, and expected quota backlog,...