Global Investment Voice

Mona and Mark are joined by Sam Udani and David Hirson to discuss News from China’s EB-5 Market. As one of the biggest EB-5 markets, keeping abreast of the latest news in China from potential investor interest to updates on the arrest of Wailian Group President, Linda He,  and its impact on the Chinese market as well as difficulties investors face transferring EB-5 funds is key to understanding th...

Wondering if those TEA maps you use online are accurate to base a project or investment on, or why the TEA data changes every December and April? Maybe, your burning question has to do with placement of job positions and how exactly remote or hybrid jobs count towards job creation in a TEA location? Join EB-5 Investment Voice’s Mona Shah and Rebecca Singh as they ask these questions and more with...

With ever-looming fears that USCIS may hike minimum EB-5 investment amounts, EB-5 Investment Voice discusses in today's podcast the investor mindset in in parting with funds beyond $500,000. Together with our EB-5 experts, Mona Shah and Rebecca Singh, special guest Manual Ortiz, Vice-President of Global Business Development at First Pathway Partners, shed light on the history of the $500,000 inves...

Living in the post-EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) universe is tough enough, but being a pre-RIA investor may present a host of additional challenges—including decisions pertaining to the EB-5 Integrity Fund (the “Integrity Fund”) and regional centers that do not pay up following USCIS’s recent notice that any regional center who has not paid the Integrity fund fee would be terminate...

Renewable Rewards: Exploring the Lucrative Benefits of Investing in Rural Solar Projects The EB-5 industry continues to feel the effects of living in a post-RIA world in which one of the biggest impacts has been the learning curve of full utilization of the visa set-aside categories. In today’s podcast episode, EB-5 Investment Voice delves further into one of the three visa set-aside categories –...

From the EB-5 Visa Bulletin and its impact on the TEA, rural and infrastructure set-asides, USCIS delayed processing and the effect it has on investors, to the highly covered arrest of Wailian Group President Linda He, a lot has been going on in the past month! In this episode, our resident EB-5 experts, Mona Shah and Rebecca Singh, weigh in on the latest in EB-5 news and what it really means for...

India has been one of the top markets for EB investment for some years now.  Post RIA and post COVID, does this statement still hold true? Investment Voice Travels explores this theme with ILW’s Sam Udani: EB-5 Investment Voice asks Sam Udani from Immigration Law Worldwide (“ILW”) to walk us through his most recent travels across India: India’s post-Covid subcontinental surge to EB-5 makes its mar...

Today Mona and Rebecca are joined by Canadian immigration expert  Patrick McCarthy  to discuss the imminent return of the Quebec Immigration Investor Program (“QIIP”). Patrick has over 25 years of experience in Canadian immigration, so his authoritative insight is invaluable to understanding what the renewed program will mean for Quebec, Canada, EB-5 and the US Immigrant Program along with the res...

In today’s episode, we are joined by David Hirson of David Hirson and Partners to discuss two of the biggest albatrosses plaguing the EB-5 industry: the dreaded Request for Further Evidence (“RFE”) and Notice of Intent to Deny (“NOID”). Our experts use the power of their informed, passionate voice to send a message to USCIS that baseless requests and Draconian denials cannot continue to be a patte...

The Chinese market has been a huge factor in the success of the US EB-5 program. The flow of investors from China completely slowed down following the backlogs (from 2018) and COVID. As this lucrative market cautiously re-opens, EB-5 Investment Voice discovers what is happening as we converse with  Immigration Law Worldwide’s  (“ILW”) Sam Udani as he continues his travels through Southeast Asia. T...

Ishaan Khanna of the  American Immigrant Investor Alliance (“AIIA”)  joins us for today’s episode, bringing with him his expert opinion and an exciting possibility for the future of EB-5 immigration. Also: has EB-5 become too litigious? Have all Regional Centers, at one point another, been involved in a lawsuit? Our experts weigh in and discuss the pros and cons facing any investor that may be con...

IIUSA Executive Director Aaron Grau is back on  EB-5 Investment Voice  to talk to Mona about some pressing issues facing the EB-5 industry today. The two experts discuss the importance of consistent political outreach and the education of our Congresspeople about the program, and how it can protect the future of EB-5 and the US economy. Furthermore, Aaron and Mona review the industry-wide disappoi...

Pre-Covid, Southeast Asia has traditionally been a hotspot for attracting investors by developers and regional centers. In today’s episode, Mona Shah speaks with ILW CEO (and  EB-5 Investment Voice  veteran guest) Sam Udani, who is currently traveling Southeast Asia, speaking with migration agents and gaining a firsthand understanding of the current markets in Vietnam, Taiwan, and South Korea. Wit...

On today’s episode, Mona and Rebecca speak with yet another global citizenship by investment expert, Patrick Peters, on how some of the recent Golden Visa program closures might affect the Caribbean. Also, the panel discusses some of the benefits of the Caribbean as a destination. Patrick:  “There’s a lack of housing and gated communities in Antigua. So, we take the investment of our client who’s...

This week, Mona had a discussion with CSG Law’s Samuel Newbold about the complexities and strategies surrounding the documents required for EB-5 funding for a second or additional phase of an existing project. The experts offer some context of these new complications and provide some advice for those who are dealing with phase-2 funding difficulties. Mona:  “It’s created more demand for EB-5 becau...

The closure of the Portuguese and Irish Golden Visa programs has caused quite a stir in the citizenship by investment industry. This week, Mona and Rebecca spoke with IMI Daily’s Christian Henrik Nesheim about the what, why, and where of it all. Christian: Portugal does have a housing crisis. Housing is not affordable here for the average Portuguese. Let’s say the differential between income and h...

This week, Mona and Rebecca sat down with Bob Sloposky, April Feely, and James Sozomenou to discuss what other banking options may be available to the EB-5 industry now that Signature Bank is no more, including the entrepreneurial bank, Metropolitan Commercial. Bob: Not only are they very strong financially, they are diversified. They do not deal at all in anything that touches crypto. James:  Our...

Mona Shah and Jill Jones delve into a thorough discussion of how the closure of Signature Bank will affect the world of EB-5. Jill Jones:  I think there’s a lot of us that hope to see [Signature Bank will establish a new account elsewhere], and I do think it’s a possibility. In the meantime, what I see is a shift, and it’s a shift in priorities…after this past week, I’m seeing a shift in, okay, ma...

The Reform and Integrity Act (“RIA”) prohibits any person who is not a US national from owning or being otherwise involved with a regional center. Mona and Rebecca speak to attorney David Hirson about the complexities of this rule, which is just one of the many ways the RIA has changed the landscape of EB-5. David:   With the citizenship by investment closing down in several countries, these agent...

Mona Shah and Ronald Fieldstone discuss the 2-year sustainment period and redeployment of investor funds. Recently, there has been a lot of controversy and conversation about the feasibility of these practices. Fieldstone says:  ““When money is paid back, what happens when the investors have not satisfied, quote, the ‘immigration requirement?’…You are now free to get your money back notwithstandin...

Attorneys Mona Shah and Rebecca Singh discuss what awaits us in 2023– the good, the bad, and the ugly. Mona:  People have been waiting four years. And I know we’ve been through a lot. We’ve been through COVID, and we’re getting an idea of how archaic USCIS is running … USCIS needs to just move into 2023. I think so many of their issues would be resolved if they did that. But hopefully somebody wit...

It has been an eventful year for EB-5. From regional center uncertainty to visa backlogs, Mona and Rebecca sat down to discuss some of the revelations– and revolutions– of 2022. This episode also reflects on previous discussions, revisiting conversations Mona and Rebecca have had with other industry experts including Sam Udani and Ron Klasko. Listen below for an expert recap of 2022. Happy Holiday...

EB-5 visas are distinct from other paths of immigration in many ways. Particularly, an EB-5 investment has a wide reach and impacts not only the immigrant themself, but also the business, employment area, industry, and entire communities. We have seen extensive delays and confusion from USCIS, who can struggle to understand both the law and projects. Often times, the solution is a simple line of c...

One of the main requirements of EB-5 is that the investment remains “at risk.” But what happens when the risk does not turn out in the investor’s favor and the project declares bankruptcy? In today’s episode of EB-5 Investment Voice, we continue our ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ by exploring the bankruptcy of an EB-5 project. Mona Shah is joined by attorney Joseph Moldovan (Morrison Cohen LLP) to...

Continuing EB-5 Investment Voice’s series of unfortunate events, this week we are taking a deep dive into the recent string of denials issued by USCIS. In this episode, Mona is joined by two titans of the EB-5 industry, John Pratt and Suzanne Lazicki. Together, they are dissecting the recent numbers and quarterly reports to find any patterns in USCIS’s adjudication process, while also providing th...