Michael Gibson and I met last fall via Roger Bernstein, for whom I had the privilege of working at the time.  Michael accompanied the team Roger had put together to present what may have been the first substantive, objective EB-5 Regional Center seminar offered to an antsy Venezuelan populace. I emphasize the words "substantive" and "objective" to distinguish what Roger organized from the numerous EB-5"informational seminars" which have essentially served only to create confusion and distorted expectations.  At the end of that first seminar, which featured presentations by two 1st class Regional Centers, we were approached by a half dozen prospects, all expressing their "aHA" moments as our presentations clarified the muck into which they had been previously immersed.

Yesterday, Michael and I had a beer and a chance to catch up.  Michael is a kindred spirit - we share a love for SEC football and both have hula girls on our car dashes -- so it is always nice to see him when he is in town.  For those of you who don't know him, he is the man behind USAdvisors.org.  While there are other sources of reliable EB-5 information - say, for example, this blog or the superb WhichEB5 - our best efforts at pure objectivity are arguably compromised by the fact that we are compensated by the Regional Centers themselves for our referral work.   Michael has been and remains the lone, 100% independent provider of due diligence services to prospective EB-5 Investors.  His fee is paid by the prospective client who wants an exhaustive, transparent apple-to-apples comparison between the various EB-5 Regional Centers to which they have narrowed their scope of review.  He doesn't get a cent from any Regional Center or attorney, allowing him to dig deep and ask the "cringers" which make most RC Directors waffle or snarl.

Many brokers of EB-5 Regional Centers make the argument that most Regional Center pay the same commission to referring parties, so that in a sense their recommendations are "neutral".  I don't buy that, any more than I buy the notion of an attorney receiving a referral fee from a Regional Center and simultaneously representing the referred investor client in the visa process, attempting to dodge that obvious conflict via disclosure clause in the retainer.  The chickens aren't any safer just because the fox has announced he's in the hen house, are they? (-;

Nope, the truth is that even a guy like me is subjectively compromised, no matter how good my intentions and how fervent my belief in my Regional Center of choice. True impartiality involves a total financial disconnect, something gravely missing in today's EB-5 immigration bar, which appears at times to be populated more by Wall Street dropouts than by visa experts.  Since when did a guy like me become an expert in Private Placement Memoranda?? Ah, the lure of the dollar.

The fact is that most prospective investors get to a given Regional Center via the sheparding of an independent broker, a phenomenon which has evolved into a massive industry in China.  So while there are SOME of us who have bitten the bullet and limited our recommendations to those Regional Centers which pass our personal muster, even WE, with the best of our intentions, have a direct financial stake in our most sincere recommendation. 

And that, my friends, is what makes Michael Gibson's services a sage decision for an enlightened EB5 investor!

With Obama's promised Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) an increasingly distant possibility, transition from temporary status in the U.S. - as a student OR as a professional worker -- to U.S. permanent residency via employment is increasingly nebulous.

What really bugs me, however, is the soothing chant I keep hearing from others in my profession:

"RELAX, you can stay in H-1B status as long as necessary provided you start your PERM process prior to your fifth year in that status." 

That is of little comfort, and TOTALLY unrealistic when seen from the eyes of the prospective immigrant student/professional. IMHO, we can do better than create a situation where 100% of a person's destiny is in the hands of an employer who wields absolute immigration control until the end of the permanent residency process.

A colleague in the EB-5 business describes the whole H-1B and PERM process as "indentured servitude", and we've bantered that about quite a bit.  Seems to me that what I originally perceived as a bit of an exaggeration on his part is precisely what is genuinely taking root in the current economy, still slogging through with a very flawed employment-based immigration process. 

At a time when American competitiveness is most challenged,  it is tragic to put these desperately needed professionals through a process which is the metaphorical opposite of "rolling out the welcome mat".

I have to get a stopwatch.  I talk SOOOOOO much.

Have a great weekend and remember: in addition to the useful information I provide in these video blogs for F-1 students looking for a solution to their permanent residency, these videos are also invaluable to insomniacs...(-;  J