TOP IMMIGRATION AT TORNEYS
JINHEE WILDE
WA LAW GROUP | PRINCIPAL & MANAGING PARTNER
Jinhee Wilde is the principal
and managing partner of WA
Law Group, LLC, focusing on
employment and investment
immigration. Wilde’s 33 years
of legal experience began as
a prosecutor for Chicago and then as the inspector general
designee, special counsel and attorney advisor for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. This extensive government
experience still gives her a government lawyer’s perspective
, which may explain her stellar track record with only 3 RFEs
on SOF on numerous cases filed during the past 12 years.
Wilde only represents the investor side of EB-5 and stays
independent from any regional centers.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
Like the Chinese market, Vietnam and now the India market
will dramatically slow down with the expected retrogression
of visas. Furthermore, as the minimum investment is likely
to be increased with or without the legislative action, the
demographics of the likely EB-5 investors will also change. I
think they will seek projects with higher returns on their
investment and more diversification than luxury hotel or
commercial real estate projects that have been popular.
With the increased scrutiny of the regional center program’s
integrity through audits, site visits and investigations by
USCIS and SEC, there will be more demand for transparency.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
EB-5 is a uniquely challenging specialty of immigration law.
It requires an attorney to be facile in corporate, finance, real
estate, economics and immigration law. Having had both
government and corporate transactional law experience,
EB-5 was a very compelling area of the immigration practice
for me. I strongly believe in full disclosure and educating my
clients before they make a life-changing decision. The
patience to answer all the questions and the alacrity of my
responses seem to resonate well with the EB-5 clients who,
because they are busy high net worth professionals, demand
better understanding and explanations of the process.
BERNARD P. WOLFSDORF
WOLFSDORF ROSENTHAL LLP | MANAGING PARTNER
Bernard P. Wolfsdorf is a past
president of the 15,000-lawyer
American Immigration Lawyers
Association, where he earned
its Service Excellence award.
He is managing partner of the
Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP law firm with more 100 professionals
and offices in Los Angeles, New York City and Shanghai.
Best Lawyers by U.S. News & World Report selected him as
its 2018 Lawyer of the Year for Los Angeles. Chambers USA
described him as one of the “hardest-working immigration
lawyers around.” EB5 Investors Magazine has named him in
its ranking of the top EB-5 lawyers for a fifth time.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
The EB-5 industry is at a critical fork in the road. With
demand from the three leading countries (China, Vietnam
and India) creating significant waiting lines, the EB-5
industry urgently needs to reform to survive and grow.
Without China and with the possibility of a slowdown in
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
Vietnam and India, the second-tier markets are simply too
small to fund many of the larger projects in the market. With
the midterm elections now behind us, it is hoped Congress
might enact a new EB-5 reform bill that can save the industry
and continue to provide jobs to the U.S. economy.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
I did my first EB-5 case in 1993 for a “troubled business” – a
snowboard manufacturer that had run into financial
problems. The case was approved on an expedited basis in
24 hours and both the company and all the jobs were saved.
For the past 25 years we have been able to help hundreds of
families seeking the American Dream. For many, the EB-5
program presented the only viable roadmap to a green card.
For those who do their research carefully, EB-5 continues to
present a viable path to permanent residency in a relatively
short period of time.