TOP IMMIGRATION AT TORNEYS
ROHIT KAPURIA
SAUL EWING ARNSTEIN & LEHR LLP
Rohit Kapuria, an attorney at
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr
LLP, regularly represents EB-5
lenders , borrowers , banks ,
regional centers, real estate
d e ve l o p e r s a n d m i g r a t i o n
brokers. Kapuria’s practice is a dual hybrid of corporate
securities and EB-5 immigration law. He has worked on
over 500 EB-5 transactions, with a combined capital
development cost in excess of $7.5 billion. Kapuria currently
represents close to 25% of the Indian-born EB-5 investor
market. He is also very active in Opportunity Zones,
representing clients around the U.S. in such transactions.
Kapuria is fluent in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Hausa.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU
SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
settlement on the new standard project and investor terms
resulting from the publication of the new EB-5 regulations.
At $900,000, investor returns, project risks, project asset
classes, administrative fees and EB-5 loan security are a few
areas of great importance for EB-5 issuers as they struggle
to embrace the new world of EB-5.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
I have so many thoughts on the negative impact related to
the new process, however, two key ones today: first, EB-5
investor demand has dropped significantly and will remain
low until the market gets adjusted to the shock of the new
investment amount; and second, reform of the TEA criteria
has pushed out most attractive urban projects from the
market. As a result, the general EB-5 asset class and project
type will change in 2020.
Two big trends: redeployment continues to be an active area
where our law firm is leading the charge having structured
more than $2 billion worth of redeployed transactions in the
last 2.5 years; the search for new investor markets alongside
PARISA KARAAHMET
FRAGOMEN LLP
Parisa Karaahmet, a partner
i n F r a g o m e n ’ s N e w Yo r k
office, represents a variety
of large, midsize and smaller
companies in their immigration
mat ters, including those in
the financial services, medical, pharmaceutical, academic,
retail and technology sectors.
Prior to joining Fragomen, Karaahmet ser ved as an
assistant district counsel and acting deputy district
counsel for the Immigration & Naturalization Service, New
York District.
She has provided immigration advice and guidance on a
pro bono basis to several organizations and individuals,
including Human Rights First and DACA recipients, among
others. Karaahmet also speaks at international and
national conferences on a variety of immigration topics.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE
EB-5 MODERNIZATION CHANGES THAT
TOOK EFFECT IN 2019 WITH THE
INCREASED INVESTMENT AMOUNTS?
44
EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
The increased investment amounts would have been better
received by investors and the EB-5 community had they
been accompanied by efficiency measures resulting in more
predictability and risk management for investors. It is
important that USCIS realize that the EB-5 program has
been extremely beneficial to the U.S. economy, and
competes directly with other global worldwide investment
programs that may appear to be more attractive to investors,
given the higher investment amounts and longer processing
times that we are now seeing in the U.S.
WHAT NEW TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
Given lengthy USCIS processing times, foreign investors
have exhibited a growing interest in short-term solutions
such as the E-2 nonimmigrant visa program, which provides
a more immediate pathway to the U.S. Expedited citizenship
programs in countries in the Caribbean or Turkey can provide
an investor with a gateway passport that can be utilized in
order to apply for an E-2 visa, assuming they otherwise meet
the qualifications of that category. Once the investor is in
the U.S. in E-2 status, there may be other permanent
residency options they can pursue, including EB-5.