TOP IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS
MONA SHAH
MONA SHAH & ASSOCIATES GLOBAL
U
. K . born , former British
Crown Prosecutor , Mona Shah is recognized as an industry leader in EB-5 . Shah has received numerous accolades including EB5 Investors Magazine ’ s Top 25 EB-5 Immigration Attorney eight years in a row ; Uglobal ’ s Top 25 Global Migration Attorneys , Top Lawyer Who International , amongst others . Shah is both a published author and Lexis-Nexis Editor . She has spoken extensively both nationally and overseas ; interviewed by mainstream news ; featured in international magazines ; and quoted in major newspapers including New York Times , Axios , Bloomberg . Shah hosts EB-5 Investment Voice Podcast series , running for 6 + years . She is also a parttime adjunct professor at Baruch College , City University NY .
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022 ?
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 did not make any changes to the basic rules governing direct EB-5 investment , but few would disagree that the changes wrought by the dense and jam-packed legislation certainly will move the needle to a very different industry . Overall , this could be advantageous for the industry as the high visibility of the remaining regional centers and practitioners forces best practices . The integrity provisions are a welcome boost to investor confidence .
WHAT NEW TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY ?
RIA abolished multiple investments into a direct EB-5 project . EB-5 practitioners are known to be innovative , finding ways around whatever Congress throws at us . RIA stipulated the end of pooled direct , but it did not take us long to come up with the new trend of the duplicative direct model . Another trend is that the welcome addition of concurrent filing has caused projects to seriously market within the US , adhering to US Securities laws , rather than completely relying on overseas agents . A future trend that is expected ( and hoped ) is that the additional costs of financing a RC will ensure lower fees to the overseas agents .
DARREN SILVER
DARREN SILVER & ASSOCIATES
Darren Silver is the founding partner of Darren Silver & Associates , LLP . Silver has a career spanning over 25 years exclusively in the field of immigration . Over his career , Silver has enjoyed working within different areas of immigration law . He has devoted a large segment of his practice to EB-5 law and is proud of the work that his firm has contributed to the EB-5 community . He has successfully filed over 4,000 EB-5-related applications . He has been a longstanding member of AILA , IIUSA and has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in his field .
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022 ?
The 2022 EB-5 Reform Act has brought necessary and impactful changes to the EB-5 program . Specifically , the Act finally addresses the issue of victim recourse . The new Act has carved out new protections for EB-5 investors that were subject to fraud . As important , the new act has created investor safeguards and transparency for investors . In my practice , the most impactful new change must be the new rule allowing for concurrent adjustment filing for EB-5 applicants . If eligible , the EB-5 applicant can now legally reside and work in the U . S . during the adjudication of the I-526 petition . The combination of new safeguards along with new filing options has created the most sensible and exciting EB-5 program to date .
WHAT NEW TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY ?
The EB-5 industry is looking at the new Act and policies and coordinating efforts to best serve the EB-5 investors . Specially , we are seeing a growing campaign to introduce the EB-5 program to students , H-1B employees and other nonimmigrants residing in the U . S ., as these groups can now benefit from the new concurrent filings . We have also seen some growth with rural area projects , opening the door to retrogressed investors filing in the separate visa allocation set-aside for rural and high unemployment areas . The final common trend is simply seeing all the regional centers and projects working diligently to comply with the new rules , which ultimately will create a safer and more successful program .
46 EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE