Congress nearly averted a shutdown last week, but just missed the mark when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) temporarily blocked Senate passage of the fifth – and supposedly final — continuing resolution (CR) of this fiscal year...more
2/13/2018
/ Continuing Resolution ,
DACA ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Foreign Investment ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
Three days into the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor Monday afternoon to announce an agreement to end the impasse and reopen the...more
1/26/2018
/ Continuing Resolution ,
DACA ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Foreign Investment ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Investors ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
Three days into the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor Monday afternoon to announce an agreement to end the impasse and reopen the...more
1/25/2018
/ Continuing Resolution ,
DACA ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Foreign Investment ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Investors ,
Time Extensions ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
With all eyes in Washington focused on tax reform, let’s not forget that there is a hard deadline approaching to address funding of federal activities with the current continuing resolution (CR) set to expire soon. The CR has...more
Like Elsa, the Princess in Disney’s classic Frozen, once again the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has utilized its power to freeze. In this case, the freezing of assets. In what has become an increasingly common...more
10/12/2017
/ Asset Freeze ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
EB-5 ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreclosure Sales ,
Foreign Investment ,
Green Cards ,
Investors ,
Misallocation of Funds ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
The chances of a stand-alone EB-5 bill gaining consensus with lawmakers on Capitol Hill are low. With the GOP failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, lawmakers may be spending time readjusting priorities in unexpected ways...more
9/29/2017
/ DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
EB-5 ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Register ,
Foreign Investment ,
Immigration Reform ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
As we head into the summer, there is no certainty that we will see changes to the EB-5 Program. Lawmakers may simply not act, which may result in EB-5 being included in Continuing Resolutions alongside other immigration...more
The extension of the reauthorization for the EB-5 Investor Visa Program may lapse on September 30, 2016. Whether lawmakers will invest time in EB-5 this coming month is an open question, but it is more probable than not that...more
Check out what’s new in the EB-5 world, where a team of securities lawyers are at work offering to help lawmakers understand complex legal provisions of proposed EB-5 integrity legislation. The group is called the EB-5...more
Recently, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which is the oldest international organization devoted to investor protection, published an investor advisory for potential investors in EB-5...more
On August 11, 2016, USCIS published new processing times for I-829 petitions. The news is not good for EB-5 investors. USCIS is now taking in excess of 21 months to adjudicate I-829 petitions. This means that EB-5 investors...more
The recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino are going to result in an increase in security checks for visa applicants at U.S. consular posts. We also anticipate Congress to at least review the Visa Waiver Program for...more
Private placement offerings are an increasingly active part of the securities business. One especially complicated and emerging area of private placements is the EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Center Program. Under the current...more
11/6/2015
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
EB-5 ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Green Cards ,
Inducement ,
Investigations ,
Investor Visa Options ,
Lawful Permanent Residents ,
Private Placements ,
Reasonable Care ,
Regional Centers ,
Regulation D ,
Regulation S ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Rule 506 ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Underwriting ,
USCIS
Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, the Immigrant Investor Program, more commonly referred to as the EB-5 program, offers foreign investors an opportunity to secure permanent residency in the United States by making a...more
7/8/2015
/ EB-5 ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Green Cards ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Investors ,
Job Creation ,
Lawful Permanent Residents ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Permanent Residence Cards ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reauthorization ,
Regional Centers ,
Targeted Employment Area ,
USCIS ,
Visas
In an interpretive letter to a broker-dealer dated August 26, 2013, FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) interpreted the suitability requirements under Rule 2111 for recommendations to foreign nationals making...more