Methinks the TEA Manipulators Doth Protest Too Much…

Unfreakingbelievable:  after years of TEA manipulation by big EB-5 developers, the Senate Judiciary Committee finally schedules a meeting very properly titled "The Distortion of EB-5 Targeted Employment Areas: Time to End the Abuse" for THIS Wednesday...and BOOM, they just cancelled it! What an incr...

Jose E. Latour Feb 29, 2016

In House EB-5 Broker/Dealers? Not Sure I Get It

EB-5 Investments fall under, we know, U.S. Securities laws...but I have a partial, academic disagreement with that concept as a blanket statement.   After all, the Howey Test requires there to be an expectation of financial gain to meet the accepted definition of "security".  So whenever I am approa...

Jose E. Latour Feb 29, 2016

A Voice Crying in the EB-5 Wilderness….

I know, I know.  It's been so long since I wrote on a regular basis that most of you who remember my penchant for melodramatic EB-5 rants haven't even put your teeth in this morning.  I understand.  Come back to this after your coffee and Centrum Silver, this will still be here. For the rest of you ...

Jose E. Latour Feb 12, 2016

AILA Florida Conference: the 2016 EB-5 Takeaway

Well, for the very first time, I spent my two days at the annual South Florida AILA conference sitting in a booth instead on the panel or in the audience.  American Venture Solutions Regional Center, the EB-5 regional center I formed, own and operate and which exclusively structures EB-5 projects ba...

Jose E. Latour Feb 10, 2016

EB-5 Update

•    Too much $$ at stake so unlikely they’ll kill the program •    USCIS testimony in recent weeks and SEC announcing that EB-5 is a “priority” in 2016 suggests that the upcoming elections aren’t necessarily dulling the debate; the vibe in all parts of DC is “its broken and it needs to be fixed” an...

Jose E. Latour Feb 10, 2016

EB-5, V2.0

Here I am, scrunched in coach, next to an extremely big and irritated fellow, juggling my laptop on my knees in the bulkhead row, 4 hours into MIA-LAX.   When I land in 1 hour and 20 minutes, I will next climb into another similarly-sized coach seat for the next 15 hours and 25 minutes – hopefully w...

Jose E. Latour Oct 09, 2015

A New Year, a New Blog

It's been quite a few years since I stopped my "Immigration Insider" blog, and, frankly, it's been good to NOT share my legal point of few during this period.  For starters, I've gone from "U.S. consular officer" to "private business immigration attorney" to whatever it is I am today rather impercep...

Jose E. Latour Feb 14, 2015

Important Offshore Tax Update from Cantor & Webb

Steve Cantor of Cantor & Webb just sent me an important notice I need to share with you.  Steve is an old friend and among the best international tax experts in the U.S. I'm pasting his message in below, but here's who needs to read this carefully!: U.S. tax residents abroad -- meaning anyone wh...

Jose E. Latour Jun 19, 2014

PPP Goes to Brazil! Next EB-5 Educational Seminar – Sao Paolo June 3, 2014

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Jose E. Latour May 16, 2014

SEC Scrutiny of EB-5: Proactivity by the Commission Continues

The SEC's first truly proactive enforcement effort against an EB-5 project began a little over a year ago (February 6, 2013) when the Commission sought and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Anshoo R. Sethi, A Chicago Convention Center, LLC (ACCC) and Intercontinental Re...

Jose E. Latour Mar 29, 2014