New EB-5 Regional Center vs. Strategic Alliances for FVC

With USCIS’ announcement on August 2 that "within 30 days" some form of “premium processing” will be announced for EB-5 Regional Center applications, our sector is abuzz with speculation.  Those 30 days toll this week, and we are hopeful that Mr. Mayorkas will deliver as promised....

Jose E. Latour Aug 29, 2011

Boston EB-5 Workshop Almost Sold Out

Just back from a great vacation in the Keys and Costa Rica, ready to strap on the EB-5 boots and get busy.  Tomorrow I head to Boston, where Brian Su's next EB-5 Workshop/Networker takes place on Friday.  Each of Brian's events is more powerful and useful than the prior one, and ...

Jose E. Latour Jul 27, 2011

Still on USCIS EB-5 Stakeholders Call but I found something interesting…

I'm still on the call, marveling at the tremendous diversity in domain expertise demonstrated by the folks calling in with questions (i.e. brilliant to utterly sans clue (-:) and I noticed this on question 15 of the Meeting Q&A...see what I highlight and watch the bullet USCIS dodges, accidental...

Jose E. Latour Jun 30, 2011

Kudos With a Disclaimer

My good friend from EB-5 Land, Michael Gibson, recently published an internal "EB-5 Yearbook", memorializing some of the people, events, and developments in our very specialized little legal community this past year.  I was delighted to see an entry about me in the yearbook...and had to smile when I...

Jose E. Latour Jun 26, 2011

Something Solid…Something Real? Challenging the Residential Real Estate Market

Foreign investors snapping up real estate is nothing new in South Florida, but record numbers of them have poured in so far this year, eclipsing anything we've seen before.  Depending on whose numbers you believe, cash buyers from overseas have made up more than half of the closings in our...

Jose E. Latour Jun 21, 2011

San Diego EB-5 Workship with Brian Su

Brian has done it again: with an All Star roster of speakers, his San Diego EB-5 event is proving to be another invaluable experience for those of us in this sector. As participants were greeted with the beaming smile of Aijun Cheng (Chief Investment Officer of Kantex Oil & Gas, LLC, currently i...

Jose E. Latour Jun 18, 2011

One more thing re “Substantial Presence”…

While am hardly qualified to give tax advice, I know I need to address this issue with clients BEFORE making a recommendation regarding permanent residency.  If you are a high-net-worth individual considering U.S. residency, do yourself (and me, if I subsequently resolve your immigration issue)...

Jose E. Latour May 02, 2011

“Substantial Presence Test” for Worldwide Tax Liablility as Defined by IRS

Folks, this is hardly a newsflash but given that I've explained the Substantial Presence test probably 10 times in the past 7 days, I wanted to provide you with the IRS site link which explains it in pretty clear language.  There seems to be a lot of confusion out there!Right now there is ...

Jose E. Latour May 02, 2011

Private Placement Partners’ site is LIVE!!

I am happy to announce that after weeks of drafting content, site design, and review, Alejandro Barrere has unveiled a spectacular new site for our new consultancy, Private Placement Partners, LLC.  Check it out here.  PPP (the acronym  for the big old mouthful of a name I came up wit...

Jose E. Latour Apr 30, 2011

Houston EB-5 Workshop Recap

WOW, what a seminar!  Brian Su's Houston event was, without a doubt, the singular most productive day I've had since immersing myself in EB-5dom, and that is not hyperbole.  The presentations were superb and we all learned a great deal.  (I, for one, finally understand a lot...

Jose E. Latour Apr 30, 2011