EB-5 Program
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EB-5 Process Practice Area
Let one of the oldest and most experienced immigration firms in America guide you through the EB-5 process. Barst has a reputation for being able to take difficult cases and has one of the most successful track records in the nation with the EB-5 process. We are one of the few firms in the country that can service EB-5 clients from start to finish.
EB-5 Investment Process
Barst Attorneys at Law is your premier resource for obtaining U.S. permanent residence through EB-5 investment. Our experience with the EB-5 program dates back to the mid 1990’s when we first began representing investors for I-526 and I-829 petitions. Hardly anyone had even heard of the EB-5 program at that point in time, yet we had already begun a successful track record of navigating clients through the EB-5 immigration process. Over the years, Barst has continued to represent investors, developers, and regional centers and has become experienced in many different types of qualifying investment structures within the EB-5 program.
Our EB-5 Process:
- Barst provides counsel on source of funds
- Barst provides immigration due diligence on projects and works with financial professionals to help investors select a project
- Once the client has selected a project, Barst will file the I-526 petition
- Once the I-526 is approved, Barst will help the investor file their immigrant visa application or their adjustment of status application
- Once the client receives their conditional green card, Barst will track the client’s 2-year period and will prepare and file their I-829 application to remove their green card conditions during the designated 90-day period
- Once I-829 is approved, Barst helps client apply for citizenship
- Barst acts as a liaison between client and project to explore their exit options and capital return
The attorney-client relationship can easily exceed five years, so it is important for a client to pick a firm that will be around for the entire process.
Assistance from EB-5 Professionals
Our highly skilled immigration attorneys in New York City assist investors and their families with all stages of the EB-5 immigration process including Adjustments of Status, Immigrant Visa Processing, Consular Interview preparation, and Source of Funds preparation. Additionally, we have extensive experience in dealing with common issues that arise in many countries, particularly China, India, Vietnam, and Turkey, such as restrictions on foreign currency exchange, transferring money abroad, forensic accounting issues, and translations. The attorneys and staff at Barst Attorneys at Law are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Fuzhou, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Turkish, Hebrew, German, Polish, Russian, Tagalog and several other languages.
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Barst Attorneys at Law
99 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-686-3838
Toll-Free: 1-888-506-1291
Fax: 212-481-9362
Our EB5 Team
Alexander G. Rojas
Partner
Emre Ozgu
Partner
Relocation to the United States
Our EB-5 clients frequently ask us about relocating to the United States and some of the additional challenges they face beyond the EB-5 process, for example, who to contact for buying a home or business or who to contact for wealth management and pre-immigration tax planning. Due to our firm’s long-standing reputation in the broader legal community, we have professional contacts and sources in the business, real estate, accounting, tax, and financial sectors that can provide you with personal attention if you are seeking real estate, financial, or tax advice. We welcome you to ask us how we can help make the relocation process to the United States easier for you and your family.
EB-5 Financing Process
The corporate and securities attorneys at Barst Attorneys at Law have been trailblazers in the EB-5 Financing industry. Since 2010, our business attorneys have been counseling regional centers, developers, franchisors and business owners raising capital pursuant to the EB-5 Program. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and FINRA offered little to no guidance regarding EB-5 matters in 2010 and 2011 and our attorneys were among those active in developing and implementing best practices, policies and procedures. Their counsel has served and protected EB-5 issuers (as well as the industry) over the years, as those who have heeded our advice remained clear of SEC enforcement actions, which began in 2012. Barst services companies raising EB-5 capital, as well as individual investors.
Furthering the EB-5 Program
As the EB-5 program has developed over the years to allow greater flexibility and access to capital, Barst has continued to represent EB-5 issuers in a variety of investment structures (such as Regional Center, Direct and Direct-Pooled investments) in a variety of Investment projects (including hotels, casinos, restaurants, hospitals, senior living facilities, residential facilities, mixed-use facilities, athletic facilities, manufacturing plants, and technology companies). Barst corporate and securities attorneys have experience in EB-5 offerings ranging from “direct” $1 million raises up to complex $400 million regional center raises and everything in between. In the aggregate, our business attorneys have counseled clients who have raised over $1 billion dollars via the EB-5 Program and successfully closed over 100 EB-5 transactions.
Our EB-5 financing services include:
- Structuring EB-5 Capital raises to minimize disruption of existing debt facilities
- Equity capitalization and business operations; drafting, negotiating and/or reviewing EB-5 documentation
- Securities and immigration law compliance
- Counsel regarding best practices
- Securities and immigration-related due diligence audits
- Regional center sponsorship of third party projects
- Drafting, negotiating and/or reviewing migration agent marketing agreements
EB5 Franchise Opportunities
If you are a Franchisor looking for EB-5 investors to start new franchise locations, or are a potential investor looking for direct EB-5 franchise opportunities, please contact us. We have seen a resurgence in interest in direct EB-5 opportunities as a result of the market shifting away from China and other countries. Even as interest has come back to these opportunities, franchising still poses challenges to individual investors, especially outside of the United States.
I-924 Regional Center Accreditation and Regional Center Administration
Are you looking to set up a Regional Center or seeking immigration administration or securities compliance advice for your Regional Center projects? A company that is looking to raise EB-5 capital must first have their project sponsored by a regional center. If companies want to raise capital for their own deal, they either have to create their own regional center or align themselves with an existing regional center. Barst is very experienced advising companies which option is best for them. Please contact one of our attorneys to set up a consultation and allow us to answer your questions.
The EB-5 Visa
The EB-5 Visa program was established in 1990 to stimulate the economy and promote job creation through foreign investment. This program is divided into two areas: Regional Center Program and Traditional Direct Program (Inside and Outside a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or Rural Area (RA). The EB-5 program is really an economic development and jobs program that happens to be codified in the immigration regulations. The immigration benefits are only given out once the economic benefits have been established. In that regard, EB-5 is different than many other types of immigration program.
Why Barst?
- One of the oldest immigration law firms in the United States that now has a complementary Corporate Securities practice designed to improve service offerings to clients
- Assisting clients with immigration law matters since 1930
- Extensive legal knowledge with regard to U.S. citizenship and immigration matters
- Corporate securities group involved in billions of dollars in EB-5 deals
By retaining Barst to be your attorneys, you will have confidence in knowing that you are being represented by one of the most experienced business immigration firms in the United States. We encourage prospective clients to do their due diligence when selecting their immigration and corporate attorney and to only retain an attorney who possesses comprehensive immigration and corporate knowledge and experience.