US Immigration Podcast

Interviews with Leaders in Immigration

Teri Simmons: E-2 Visa Requirements, Pitfalls, and Best Practices (Ep. 14)

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In this episode we talk to Immigration Attorney Teri Simmons about the E-2 Visa requirements, some pitfalls, and insightful best practices

Listen to this show using the web player below or your podcasting app of choice.

 

 

Teri SimmonsTeri Simmons is a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has practiced for over 23 years. She directs the International and Immigration Practice Group as well as serving as Co-Chair of the German Business Practice. She has represented companies as large as the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, for which she managed visa processing for thousands, as well as middle-sized companies and individual Investors. Teri focuses her practice on the management of legal services supporting foreign-owned business entities and individuals investing in the United States in the areas of corporate, employment and immigration law. She manages companies’ global immigration needs, as well as both U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing for businesses and families (temporary work visas and green cards) and the immigration consequences of mergers and acquisitions. Active in the international community, and fluent in both spoken and written German, Teri serves as AILA’s CBP liaison for Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, the Mayoral appointed Chair of the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, the Chair of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, and on the Boards of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeastern U.S., the German American Cultural Foundation and the German School of Atlanta.

In this episode you will hear:

  • Basic E-2 Requirements
  • Some countries that are NOT eligible for the E-2 visa
  • What a ‘substantial' investment really means
  • What constitutes a ‘commitment' of funds
  • Spouse work authorization for E-2 visa holders
  • The difficulty of tracing E-2 top level ownership
  • Why some E-2 visas only get approval for a year or two
  • What independent sources of documents help build the strongest petition possible
  • International tax advantages of E-2 visa holders
  • Paths to other visas

 

Teri also shares with us:

  • Personal Success Habits: Multitask orientated, but with a strong sense of urgency and priority
  • Parting Thoughts: Feel free to reach out to Teri (and she thanks me for the work I have done in this space)

Adel Elmankabady: Working with EB-5 Regional Centers (Ep. 13)

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In this episode we talk to Adel Elmankabadyon on the advantages of developing an EB-5 project within an established Regional Center.

 

Adel ElmankabadyAdel has twenty years of sales, managing, marketing, and real estate teaching experience in the USA and the Middle East markets.  He is a Real Estate Investment Specialist with unsurpassed level of marketplace knowledge in our local Atlanta Market.  He is also been part of six EB-5 Investment Projects in Georgia.

 

In this episode you will hear:

  • The increasing number of EB-5 Regional Centers
  • The four documents needed to create n EB-5 Regional Centers 
    • Private Placement Memorandum
    • Subscription Agreement
    • Limited Partnership Agreement
    • Escrow Agreement
  • The advantages of working with an established Regional Center for your EB-5 project
    • Leverage preexisting approval by USICS (saves time)
    • Leverage Marketing scope of the EB-5 Regional Centers
  • How to approach an EB-5 Regional Centers for your EB-5 program proposal
    • Experience of business owner
    • Personal Equity of business owner (and other domestic source of funds)
    • The EB-5 fund raise target
    • The total amount of project funding
    • Direct Job creation
  • Indirect Job creation by a third party (such as EB-5 Economist like Dr. Fernandez from Ep. 7)
  • The risks and pitfalls of EB-5 projects

Adel also shares with us:

  • The best advice he has ever received:  Do you homework and do the steps in order
  • His personal habits that attributes to his success: Exercise (give the brain a break and work out the body) 
  • Parting Thoughts:  Success does not come at a cheap price, you have to work hard for it.

Additional Resource:

We touched on the payback of EB-5 investors, but not how.  Here is a popular article I wrote last year on 10 Payback Strategies for EB-5 Investors

 

Joseph Rosen: The History of US Immigration – July 4th Special! (Ep. 12)

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In this special July 4th episode we talk to Immigration Attorney Joseph Rosen on the History of US Immigration

Joseph RosenJoseph Rosen is the managing attorney for Joseph H. Rosen, Immigration Law Group.  Mr. Rosen began practicing Immigration Law in June 2011 after retiring from the US Government where he spent 20 years as a Special Agent for the FBI and US Customs.  His law enforcement career includes 10 years of working on or near the US / Mexico border.  He teaches immigration law, as an adjunct professor, at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School and is a Clinical Director at the AJMLS Immigration Clinic located at Catholic Charities Atlanta.

 

In this episode you will hear:

  • His view on the security of the US / Mexican boarder
  • How discrimination has driven Immigration law development
  • Chinese Exclusion acts
  • How Congress developed power over immigration (and what the courts can and can't do)
  • Other interesting turning points in US Immigration 
  • Where Immigration may be heading in the near future

 

Joe also shares with us:

  • Business Advice: Treat your clients well and be responsive
  • His personal habits that attributes to his success: Working hard and perseverance
  • Parting Thoughts: Immigrants often display the highest degree of US Nationalism

 

Bonus content:

  • A short excerpt from President Obama's announcement to take executive action on Immigration
  • “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Chase Holfelder

Download on iTunes
Download on Google Play

 

Josh Adams: Immigration iOS app for INA, CFR, Practice Manuals and more (Ep. 11)

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In this episode we talk to Immigration Attorney Josh Adams about the Immigration iOS app he developed for INA, CFR, Practice Manuals and more.

 

Josh AdamsJosh grew up in New England. At age 9, he began creating computer software.  During Josh's undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, he studied computer science but majored in anthropology.  After college, Josh worked as a software engineer for five years and through a series of leveraged opportunities and continuous development, he later became an immigration attorney.  Based on his experience as both an immigration lawyer and software developer, Josh created an iPhone/iPad app for specifically immigration lawyers.

 

In this episode you will hear:

  • Details about his Immigration iOS app download here
  • His path to software development
  • Why he created the iOS app for the immigration community
  • How the App can browse the INA, CFR and various Practice manuals
  • It's ability to search, cross reference, bookmark and paste
  • How his cat plays and an important part of his marketing (Kidding.. kinda)

Resources discussed on this episode:

 

Josh also shares with us:

  • The best advice he has ever received:  A previous manager encouraged him to go to law school
  • His personal habits that attributes to his success: Persistence (i.e. how 150 hours pays off)
  • Parting Thoughts:  He listens to and incorporates feedback from his app users.  Feel free to reach out to him to make it better.

Mona Shah: EB5 difference between Regional Centers and Direct Investments (Ep. 10)

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In this episode we talk to Immigration Attorney Mona Shah on the difference between Regional Center and Direct investments with regard to the actual EB-5 immigration petition

 

 

Mona ShahMona is the managing partner of Mona Shah and Associates located on Broadway in New York City.  She has over 19 years of legal experience, with more than 15 years concentrated in U.S. immigration and litigation. Mona has hands-on experience setting up, working with and establishing EB-5 Regional Centers nationwide, as well as an impressive track record of many years handling complex immigration matters, including private non-regional center investor cases.

 

In this episode you will hear:

  • A compassion of the EB-5 Direct investments vs. Regional Centers from an Immigration standpoint
  • How Regional Centers make use of ‘indirect' jobs
  • The indirect job risk of the ‘last investor'
  • General guidelines for Direct Investments and Regional Centers
  • Examples of petitions for Direct Investments and Regional Centers
  • Legal issues that should be considered when choosing between the 2 programs
  • How different EB-5 models may work better for various industries (i.e. Hotels vs. Restaurant franchises)
  • How the paperwork may be reduced for ‘self-directed' EB-5 investments, but the importance of the business plan is increased.

 

Mona also shares with us:

  • Business Advice: The KISS principle:  Keep it Simple Savvy Investor (I may have fudged that last part)
  • Her personal habits that she attributes to her success: She contentiously reads books not just to expand her professional knowledge, but also to increase her cultural understanding and empathy
  • Parting Thoughts: She thanks me for my show!  (ahhh… I'm flattered)