Immigrant INVESTOR OPPORTUNITIES in real estateHOW TO INVEST IN THE US AND OBTAIN A VISA OR GREEN CARD

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Presented by Steven Riznyk of SanDiegoBizLaw

“The CEO’s First Call”(619) 677-5727

sr@SanDiegoBizLaw.com

Steven Riznyk has been involved in immigration law for the last 25 years, and leads a very unique firm. SanDiegoBizLaw is the first in the country to combine business law and management consulting, allowing a broad spectrum to be drawn from when creating cases. Immigration is considered a division of business law, and the immigrant investors very much enjoy the fact that Mr Riznyk studied Strategic Management at Harvard and was a consultant in Business Process Re-engineering.

As Mr Riznyk discovered when he moved to Italy for a year three years ago, being in a foreign country provides endless challenges with tasks we take for granted back home. As a result, when he acts as a business consultant to his foreign investors, the E2 visa holders can save months, if not years in building a successful entity. With over 2,000 contacts he developed in the past two years, Mr Riznyk has all the tools a foreign national needs to succeed in the United States. He can be reached at (619) 793-4827 or www.SanDiegoBizLaw.com.

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INVESTORS- An Introduction

• Persons who lose their jobs can use this visa as a lifesaver. For example, if someone cannot get an H1b visa because the quota is full (ie 2014 fiscal year) or if they cannot locate an employer who will ‘sponsor’ them, then they can create a company and the employer can be their client.

• There is plenty of room for creativity with the investment visas.

• There are 3 major investment vehicles: E, L, and EB5. My favorite is the L because it can lead to a rapid Green Card (1 year versus 6-8…details to follow).

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• This area of the law offers many opportunities when other options are closed. For example, persons in the LGBT community as well as retirees. Often, they have no other options, and investing is a perfect opportunity; consider advertising to these potentials.

INVESTORS-Overview The three ways to accomplish this are:

•1.The L-1 visa (very hard to achieve). The person must own a company in ‘any’ other country. For SDAR purposes, they should be an executive or manager. •2. The E-2 visa, a wonderful visa, but you must be from a treaty country or Australia. It never leads to a Green Card (ie permanent residency). There is a creative option our firm calls the reverse L-1 to achieve a Green Card, but it is laborious. •3. The Eb-5 for persons who invest $500,000 to $1 million in a company and employ 10 persons for 2 years. This leads directly to a Green Card but to me, it is a worst-case scenario option.

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INVESTORS-L1 Visa

• The L-1• For Intracompany Transferees.

Your client must have worked 1 of the past 3 years abroad for parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate. (6 months if blanket filed).

• Didn’t have to work in full-time but most of the time on a regular & systematic basis.

• Affiliate relationship is very common - - majority of stock or ownership of both companies.

• Client had to work as a manager or executive OR a person with Specialized Knowledge. (Specialized Knowledge won’t apply for SDAR purposes)

• As with all visas, intent must be temporary.

• Despite sentence above, allows them to apply for Green Card after 1 year in highest category, called EB1 or Employment-Based one.

• Dual Intent applies.

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INVESTORS-L1• Manager or Exec can

remain up to 7 years• A person with

Specialized Knowledge can remain 5 years

• Exec: directs the management of a company or a major component or function of it.

• Should have a lot of discretion.

• Client is the brains, the direction of the firm and make important decisions.

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INVESTORS-L1 MANAGER• Manages the entire firm,

dept. or higher organizational level, a function, or component.

• Supervise and controls other supervisors, professionals, managers, or manages and essential function within a department or subdivision.

• Can hire, fire and/or recommend personnel directives.

• Can exercise discretion over daily ops of an activity or function.

• SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE• There are 2 types of

Specialized Knowledge.• You can have SK of the the

way the company operates (intrinsic) or

• You can have SK of the product/service, management, research/equipment, and/or methodologies of the company and the application of that information in international markets (i.e. the U.S. market the company is expanding to).

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INVESTORS-L1• BLANKET procedure is very

handy• Person (=beneficiary) only

need work for foreign company 6 months

• Downside is EP or EB-1 Green Card is precluded if 12 months working aboard did not happen

• Initial approval is 3 years

• Company has an office in the U.S. & has conducted biz for one year

• Fo2- profit companies only• Company has minimum of 3

domestic & foreign branches/subsidiaries/affiliates

• U.S. sales of $25 m, 1,000 employees or 10 L petitions approved in the last year (=12 mo period)

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INVESTORS-E Visa• Great visa b/c of flexibility of use• Must be from a Treaty Country• Cannot obtain Green Card w/o Reverse L1.• Indefinite renewals• Great for your clients (ie in Canada or Mexico who seek to retire in the

United States)…contact people you know in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary and be the expert in this field!

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E visa Treaty Countries• ARGENTINA, ARMENIA (E2 only), AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BANGLADESH (E2 only),

BELGIUM, BOLIVIA (E1 only), BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, BRUNEI (E1 only), BULGARIA (E2 only), CAMEROON (E2 only), CANADA, CHINA (Taiwan), COLOMBIA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (formerly Zaire) (E2 only), REPUBLIC OF CONGO (E2 only), COSTA RICA, CZECH REPUBLIC (E2 only), DENMARK (E1 only), ECUADOR (E2 only), EGYPT (E2 only), ESTONIA, ETHIOPIA, FINLAND, FRANCE [includes FRENCH GUIANA, GUADELOUPE, MARTINIQUE, and REUNION], GEORGIA, GERMANY, GREECE (E1 only), GRENADA (E2 only), HONDURAS, IRAN, IRELAND, ISREAL (E1 ONLY), ITALY, JAMAICA, JAPAN, KAZAKHSTAN (E2 only), KOREA, KYRGYZSTAN (E2 only), LATVIA (E1 only), LIBERIA, LUXEMBOURG, MEXICO, MOLDOVA (E2 only), MONGOLIA (E2 only), MOROCCO (E2 only), NETHERLANDS [including ARUBA AND NETHERLANDS ANTILLES], NORWAY [excludes SVALBARD], OMAN, PAKISTAN, PANAMA (E2 only), PARAGUAY, PHILIPPINES, POLAND (E2 only), ROMANIA (E2 only), SENEGAL (E2 only), SLOVAK REPUBLIC (E2 only), SPAIN, SRI LANKA, SURINAME, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, THAILAND, TOGO, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (E2 only), TUNISIA (E2 only), TURKEY, UKRAINE (E2 only), UNITED KINGDOM (applies to the British Isles, not the Republic of Ireland, yes to CHANNEL ISLANDS AND GIBRALTAR, and YUGOSLAVIA.

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INVESTORS-E• E-1 is for import/export• E-2 is for other business

investments• Passive investments don’t

count (=stock market, a single house)

• Also allows for “Essential Employee”.

• Don’t need to define the time you want to remain in the U.S. but at some time in future intend to leave (strange).

• No proof of foreign residence required.

• Best to get Green Card via spouse if client decides to live in US. (ie PERM)

• Dual Intent applies• Some countries OK for E-1,

some for E-2, and some for both.

• If you client an employer, the company must be owned 50% or more by treaty nationals

• UK only has special rule re being domiciled there.

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INVESTORS-E E-1• Only international trade counts.• Can also trade services, banking,

accounting, technology and many other non-standard items.

• 50% + of total trade must be b/w the treaty country and U.S.

• Requires a volume of trade. One big customer is not sufficient.

E-2• Money must be at risk (invest

then apply). • Future plans & business plans

not enough.• Condition precedent OK with

funds held in escrow with irrevocable commitment.

• Client can bring in equipment and inventory.

• Investment must be substantial (relative to the type of business).

• No marginal investments allowed.

• Greed is required (family rule).

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INVESTORS-E

• Client must Develop and Direct.• Client not meant to compete in

the skilled or unskilled markets.• Negative control is control but

client must have controlling interest.

EMPLOYEES• They must have client’s

nationality.• Must be supervisor or executive

OR non-supervisor but Essential Employee [indispensable to the success of the enterprise].

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INVESTORS-EB5• Invest $1,000,000 or, if in an area of high unemployment, $500,000• Good if you client not from a treaty country and does not qualify

for an L-1• Hire 10 U.S. workers for 2 years on a full-time basis (30 hrs/wk not

40)• Investment can be inventory, debt (not backed by the company),

other assets.

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Investors-EB5• The EB5 as a real-estate investment is a great alternative to Regional

Centers. However, more work is required by the investor. If you examine Canada, for example, many people are fans of real estate.

• Canadian clients I have dealt with seem to be cash-rich and these are persons who would purchase motels, hotels, warehouses, strip malls, and other such entities…a great source of business.

• Thank you all and all of us at SanDiegoBizLaw wish you the most successful year you have ever had. Here is an inspirational quote for you:

• "A day dawns, quite like other days; in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us."

• Maltbie Babcock