EB5 Piggybacking: an Option Worth Exploring

With this whole EB5 US Immigration foreign investment visa buzz, another target demographic has emerged for those of us who work with EB5 US investor visas: the US developers, development agencies, and assorted entrepreneurs who finally "get" the concept of infrastructure and project capit...

Jose E. Latour Jan 25, 2010

Audio Solution to Miata Cam…

It's the weekend and I don't often blog but had to share this with you, especially those of you who actually suffered through the horrible audio quality the other morning...check this out: I found a USB lapel mic in England on eBay...USB Lapel Mic for Future Video Blogs Brace yourselves fo...

Jose E. Latour Nov 07, 2009

Econometrics, EB-5 Regional Centers, and Job Creation[VERY POOR AUDIO]

Folks, this second attempt at a video blog was shot in my Miata on the morning commute.  While I'm okay with the video (having come to terms with what I actually look like at 48 as opposed to what I THINK I look like) the audio is horrific.  I still posted it because there are a few p...

Jose E. Latour Nov 05, 2009

Immigration Insider Goes Video – An EB-5 Investor Visa Update

Jose E. Latour Nov 04, 2009

EB-5 Jeebies- Regional Center Investment Misinformation Abounds

Look, I'm TRYING HARD here, guys.  I'm not really interested in naming names or getting people angry but I'll tell you what: if some of the more BALONEY-laden EB-5 Regional Centers and lawyers don't get a grip on the nonsense they spreading, I'm going to start blogging about them.  Ho...

Jose E. Latour Oct 26, 2009

Not All EB-5 Regional Centers are Created Equal

In the past few months, I've had the opportunity to meet with a lot of folks with approved Regional Centers.  In the process, I've asked a lot of questions and spoken to some of the most sophisticated real estate developers, portfolio managers, and financial minds in the country. ...

Jose E. Latour Oct 23, 2009

Taxation Without Representation

I've been representing foreign investors in the U.S. for 18 years.  So have many of my colleagues.  So why is it that the notion of "tax planning" is such a conundrum for most immigration attorneys?  The truth is that we, as immigration counsel, are "programmed&quo...

Jose E. Latour Oct 21, 2009

To “L” in a Handbasket

A formidable number of weak L-1A visas were filed in Venezuela in the past decade, and it is small wonder the U.S. Nonimmigrant Visa team in Caracas casts a wary eye upon Intracompany Visa applications involving:a new U.S. enterprise with low job creation numbersa comparatively small Venezuelan pare...

Jose E. Latour Oct 20, 2009

TEA Time in the Florida Keys

No, I’m not talking “tee time” at Ocean Reef (or “tea time” at Ocean Reef, for that matter.)  I’m referring to the EB-5 Investor Visa definition for TEA: “targeted employment areas”.  A “TEA” refers either a geographical area which has an unemployment rate of at least 150% of the national ...

Jose E. Latour Oct 13, 2009

EB-5: It’s About Job Creation, Stupid

Our immigration seminar in Venezuela went off without a hitch and we met some great folks.  Despite Venezuela’s political complications, it was interesting to see that whatever one’s leanings, the same pragmatism seems to permeate the private sector of what is still a thriving petro-dollar econ...

Jose E. Latour Oct 12, 2009