Canada’s Investment Immigration: 2 Steps Ahead of the Superior U.S. EB-5

Canada entered their current model of investment-based immigration years after the U.S. enacted the EB5 Regional Center visa category, but they sprinted out of the starting gate.  When I had my Hong Kong office in the mid-90's, in the years preceding Hong Kong's cessation to China by the British, the EB-5 visa had been on the books for years…at least on paper.  In reality, after the procedural nightmares the USG – at the time, the INS – created in the regulatory framework for the legislation, the attractive features of the U.S. immigrant investor platform were eclipsed by the downsides.I saw many nervous HK business people over those years, and most of the ones I helped immigrate to the U.S. were ushered in via L-1/EB-1 structures.  I arrived in Hong Kong after t…

Immigrant Migration Patterns: Little Pink Houses

It's no surprise that when times are tough and jobs are scarce, the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. drops.  What IS interesting, however, is in trying to understand the impact of the recession on overall U.S. immigration…and census stats can't quite tell the tale.Today's Wall Street Journal features a great article on page A3 entitled "The Sun Belt Loses Its Shine".  The piece examines data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau which illustrates the rapid cooling of the uber-hot migrant magnets of the past.  The data, collected between July 2008 and July 2009, is a snapshot of America during the "depths of the recession", as the author puts it.Based on the numbers, some of the country's top immigrant destinations …

TEA for Two? Thoughts on Economic Zone Gerrymandering

The hypothetical: You are approached by a client who has a solid business in place, a good history of success; the company is looking to expand production to meet export demand.  Although highly invested in the firm, they need money for the expansion, but the banks are saying "no way, Jose", citing their dried up appetite for expansion in this wobbly economy.  They have heard something about this "immigrant investor deal", and you give them the rundown on the EB-5 visa, suggesting either the creation of a new Regional Center for their objectives or, if you know of one, direct them to an established local RC which might be able to accommodate the project.You're excited, the client is excited, and you jump in to start your homework but, lo and behold, despi…

Callback from OZ (a/k/a EB-5 Adjudications Team)

To my surprise (and to their credit), I received a telephone call at 7 pm the other night from a member of USCIS' Laguna Niguel's EB-5 Adjudications team.  Much to the amusement of several attorney friends who were tickled by my naive belief that one could simply call up and speak to the EB-5 folks, I had left a voice message about a week ago.  The gentleman who called was friendly, and I was TOTALLY off guard, having slipped into "done with work" mode and onto the couch a bit earlier.  After gently chiding me for actually leaving a voice message (they much prefer email communication), he — and I won't tell you his name out of respect for his courteous call — asked me how he could help me.  Well, my list of questions was back in the office on …