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 →