Archives for September 2014

Jason Feldman: E-2, L-1A, and EB-5 Business Immigration Visa Comparisons (Ep. 26)

September 23, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

In this episode we talk to immigration attorney Jason Feldman on E-2, L-1A, and EB-5 business immigration visa comparisons

Jason Feldman is an immigration attorney at Feldman Feldman & Associates. He concentrates his practice in helping foreign nationals obtain permanent residency and nonimmigrant visas through business investments or employment. Jason is also a World champion Bridge player and has represented the United States in international competitions on numerous occasions. When not playing bridge or practicing immigration law, Jason loves to travel, surf, ski, and spend time with his wife and daughter.

In this episode you will hear:

Foreign Nationals are as diverse as any group, so you can’t have one path for all
E-2 requirement discussion revolving around Marginally (i.e. how many jobs created)
L-1A Requirements and distinction between a Manager, Executive and a daily participant in the new US company
EB-5 is discussed again on this episode but in contrast to the other types
We also discussed multi-visa immigration paths leading to residency or citizenship such as:
- E-2 to EB-5
- L-1A to EB-1

Jason’s parting thoughts:

Best Business Advice: Do what you love and love what you do
Personal Success Habit: He takes every case personally
Parting Thoughts: Every situation is different

Jason’s specializes in:

Derivative and Family based green cards
Employment visas for business seeking to hire foreign workers (H-1b, L-1, labor certification)
Investor Visas (EB-5 and E-2)
Extraordinary Ability Green Cards
Deportation Representation
I-9 Audits

Anson Asbury: Disclosing Offshore Bank Accounts (Ep. 25)

September 16, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

In this episode we talk to tax attorney Anson Asbury on the How & Why to Disclose Offshore Bank Accounts

Anson Asbury, J.D., LL.M., is the founder of Asbury Law Firm, an Atlanta-based tax boutique with offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Asbury Law Firm represents clients in all aspects of federal, state and international tax controversy and tax planning. Anson focuses his practice on tax controversy and litigation. He is a frequent speaker and author on federal tax matters. Today we’re going to talk about the IRS requirements to disclosure foreign bank accounts and some of the steps people can and maybe should take to make sure they are in compliance.

In this episode you will hear:

How long have there been requirements to disclosure foreign bank accounts?
Who does this apply to?
What are the basic requirements for disclosing offshore bank accounts?
What is the risk of non disclosure?
Three methods to return to compliance.
- Streamlined Filing Compliance allows taxpayers to disclose delinquent unreported foreign financial holdings with minimal penalties of 5%. The program limits the lookback period for unfiled reports, avoids additional penalties that would be applied under audit, and preempts any potential criminal prosecution. The key to the Streamlined Compliance Program is that the taxpayer’s non-disclosure was non-willful. This includes negligence, inadvertence, mistake or a misunderstanding of the applicable rules.
- Offshore Voluntary Disclosure is still available for taxpayer’s who non-filing may have been willful or intentional. Keeping in mind that the IRS would ultimately have to prove willfulness, taxpayers with large overseas investments may still want to consider this option.
- Filing delinquent FBARs. This guidance issued by the IRS limits this option to taxpayers who do not owe tax on any income generated from the offshore accounts. So, if the offshore assets did not produce any income or if that offshore income was fully reported on the U.S. returns applicable for the delinquent FBAR reports, then the taxpayer could just file the delinquent FBARs. This option carries more risk and should not be taken lightly.

If you would like to reach out to Anson Asbury in regards to your tax matters, you can do so through his website at Asburylawfirm.com

Courtney Creedon: Immigration Journalism (Ep. 24)

September 9, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

In this episode we talk to Courtney Creedon (editor of EB5 Investors Magazine) on Immigration Journalism

Courtney Creedon is the editor of EB5 Investors Magazine and an editor of The EB-5 Handbook. There she works with EB-5 service providers, developers, and legislators to publish peer-reviewed articles on the EB-5 industry. Courtney holds a degree in international relations from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and has worked with immigrant communities in Washington, DC, Copenhagen, Denmark and Orange County, CA.

In this episode you will hear:

How Courtney went from working with asylum seekers to high net worth immigrant investors
We she similar thoughts on immigration diversity
Her role with EB-5 Investors Magazine
I dubbed the EB-5 Investors Magazine a ‘full spectrum experience’ because it covers:
- Profiles of Industry experts
- Investment Immigration Stories
- EB-5 Resources
- Light reading stories
- In depth technical pieces
The process of article selection and magazine creation
A candid comparison of print media and online media
The new EB-5 Handbook and how that came together
Which is better: Indirect or direct job creation.
Guidelines on how lawyers and investors can review projects themselves.

Courtney also shares with us:

Personal Success Habit: Maintain strong relationships with those you collaborate with
Parting Thoughts: Those interested in EB-5 should ‘do the homework’

Links to the resources we covered:

Ismael Fernandez: America has hit the EB-5 cap for the first time (Ep. 23)

September 2, 2014 by Mark Deal Leave a Comment

In this episode we talk to Ismael Fernandez, PhD on the EB-5 cap The United States has hit for the first time and what it will mean to Investment Immigration now and next year.

What we predicted in our podcast two months ago, along with many other experts, finally occurred. On August 23rd, the U.S. Department of State announced that the quota for EB-5 visas had been reached for China and therefore they will become unavailable for the rest of FY2014. This has many implications, but first, let’s define what this means. The U.S. government Fiscal Year runs from October 1st to September 30th of the following year, so FY 2014 ends on September 30th of 2014. This “unavailability” period will have a duration of about 5 weeks. The quota has been reached for Chinese nationals, but not for other countries. The quotas for all countries is 7% of the annual cap which is set by Congress at 10,000 EB-5 visas. This number, by the way, includes family members of foreign investors planning to migrate under the same visa. Once this cap of 700 EB-5 visas has been reached, unclaimed visas can still be used by applicants from the same country as long as the maximum allotment of 10,000 is not reached. Chinese investors have been applying for EB-5 visas above this limit for years, but it is not until now that it has a repercussion to them as the total number of EB-5 petitions worldwide was always below the maximum cap of 10,000. So, in essence, this is the first time that EB-5 petitions have reached 10,000 in a given Fiscal Year.