CONGRATS Queensfort Sonic: First Investor is Their First I-526 Approval! Congratulations out to Arthur, Carolina, and all the folks at Queensfort/Sonic for their first I-526 approval! The EB-5 investor, who wanted an equity-based EB-5 project, contacted me via Immigration Insider. He was the first to invest in QS and LatourLaw filed his I-526 – their first. Fittingly, the first of many QS I-526s now in the pipeline was the first to be approved by USCIS.As my readers know, I have been pretty critical of the equity-based EB-5 structures I've seen; the structure put together by Queensfort, however, is an entirely different animal. Instead of putting the EB-5 investor's interests last (as virtually all I've reviewed do), an innovative series of protections are in place for EB-5 Limited Partners. It took Caro…
Important Tax Update for Expats Steve Cantor and Hal Webb are among the best private client tax practioners in the U.S. and, fortunately for me and many of my clients, located right here in Miami. Today the firm sent out an email advising of recent IRS guidance for U.S. Citizens or Dual Citizens Residing Outside the U.S. Because many of our clients remain overseas while having business activities and investments in the U.S., and because many are dual nationals, I wanted to share this with you.On a side note: we have worked with Steve and Hal for years in assisting our foreign private clients and we do so on a “no referral fee” basis. Our “payoff” is in knowing that our immigration clients are in the best possible tax-planning hands. Please contact them directly if you need sophisticated tax planni… Continue Reading →
HELP! Miami Office Needs Admin Assistant: Fluent Mandarin Required Folks, I posted an ad earlier and got several attorneys applying…I apologize for the confusion. I am actually looking for an Administrative Assistant who is fully fluent in Mandarin. This person will be serving as my primary "vocal chord" in Miami so poor Sharon doesn't have to spend her valuable time translating and interacting on my behalf with our partners and investors in China. I'm looking for one VERY sharp cookie who wants to come along for what appears to be a pretty exciting EB-5 ride next year, so if you know that person, PLEASE pass this along! Thx, JP.S. below is the Craigslist job posting FYIMidtown-area (Miami) law firm seeking full time Administrative Assistant with the following minimum qualifications: NATIVE fluency in wri… Continue Reading →
Sinophobia Rears its Ugly Head: Mamtek’s Forgotten EB-5 Investors Remember October 13th's Immigration Insider, On Trust and EB-5 Marketing in China, where I mentioned Missouri's Mamtek EB-5 mess, where a number of EB-5 investors from China got taken for a ride, along with the State of Missouri? Well, it's finally making the mainstream media in the U.S…and it sounds like the whole mess is the FAULT of the Chinese!In a rather comprehensive Associated Press Article on Failed Job Creation Plans, the writer opens by describing Mamtek as "A global company with Chinese ownership"…leaving the reader with the impression that the only victims were in Missouri, and that the perpetrators were from China. Nothing could be further from the truth: the former Chairman and President of Mamtek was California Attorney Bruce Cole .&#… Continue Reading →
EB-5 Won’t Be the Only Chinese Money Creating U.S. Jobs With Sinophobia now officially hitting the Republican primary debates (astonishingly triggered by no less than the former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman — excellent Christian Science Monitor article HERE ), the Chinese government's announcement that it wants to bankroll U.S. infrastructure is a game-changer…and a reality check for those who continue to view U.S./China relations with a lingering Cold War attitude. While it isn't a startling revelation to my particular readership, the American public in general would be dismayed to learn that China has over $1 trillion invested in U.S. bonds. That kind of economic might is precisely what feeds the xenophobia that seems to make for such good political posturing in this climate of a stalled U.S. economy. Histori… Continue Reading →
Absolutely Miami…About Time! A vodka named Miami? Absolutely – Art Basel – MiamiHerald.com.… Continue Reading →
JOB OPENING IN MIAMI: Fluent Written and Spoken Mandarin Required F-1 with EAD okay, will sponsor H-1B for the right person. Qualifications:Must be TRULY fluent in business Chinese, as in native-level fluencyPrefer AA or BS in business, English, or IT but open to all educational BGsMust be fully competent in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and possess the ability to write, edit, and publish basic HTMLSEO experience would be very relevantCandidates already in South Florida are preferred, position is available immediatelyPlease send your c.v. and cover letter to jlatour@latourlaw.com.… Continue Reading →
Art Lexing About to Rock Art Basel UPDATE: Art Lexing will be at Booth A5 of Art Asia…come see us!!The extraordinarily talented Lexing Zhang is back in Miami as part of her ever-churning cycle of life as an art troubadour. Lexing, my client and good friend, is a Chinese contemporary art broker based in Shanghai and Paris, and she's back for next week's Art Asia (during Art Basel) at Midtown Miami, right around the corner from our Biscayne office.With half as many featured Chinese artists in four times the booth space she had last year, this year's collection by Art Lexing offers three very different contemporary Chinese artists using different media and creating a compelling contrast with each other, mirroring the traditional elements of today's uber-urbanized China. Take a look at th… Continue Reading →
The China Real Estate Market and Its Effect on EB-5 Investment I’ve been trying for a few months now to explain to my Regional Center and EB-5 Project clients the nature of “hot money” in China, and why I believe we in America have a unique opportunity right now to drive EB-5 capital to our shores. In the past three weeks with Sharon, traipsing through a half dozen Chinese cities, presenting dozens of seminars for Lake Point EcoVentures, and speaking with hundreds of investors, I’ve been able to go a little deeper into this subject. This blog entry will attempt to convey what I have learned but I will begin by warning you: this will only be of interest to those of you contemplating EB-5 financing for your project. “Hot money” isn’t bad like it sounds. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has a great article on &qu… Continue Reading →
Green Cards for Green Acres? Not So Fast, Folks [Fraud Warning: in the preceding days, I have learned of at least one California real estate broker as well as of several unscrupulous Chinese brokers who are marketing the “buy real estate, get a green card” concept despite it NOT being law. Please be careful out there!. Sharon will soon be joining me on Immigration Insider with her Chinese language blog and she’ll be covering this issue but in the meantime, I ask our Chinese-American readers to convey this warning to folks back home: buying real estate will NOT get you a green card under current U.S. law!] When the third breathless realtor friend called on the same day, I just had to laugh: here I was a day away from leaving for my long Asia trip and was again explaining the difference between the introduction of a bill to Congress… Continue Reading →