TOP AT TORNEYS IN SPECI ALIZED FIELDS
LINCOLN STONE
STONE GRZEGOREK & GONZALEZ LLP
Since 1991, Lincoln Stone has
successfully helped several
thousand families obtain U.S.
permanent residency through
investment. He specializes in
achieving solutions for denied
or challenged cases, and advising about complex business
structures and litigation. He has been an immigration
counsel for regional centers and organizations in raising
$5 billion in EB-5 capital in over 200 different job-creating
enterprises. Stone draws from broad private law experience
in business litigation and transactions, and U.S. government
experience in cour ts and litigation. His approach is
interdisciplinary, international and focused on the goals of
migrant families. His formal education is in law, business,
humanities and global health.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY CHANGE FOR A
BETTER FUTURE?
Since 1991, the EB-5 program has been constrained by the
lack of clear and fair agency policies. Investors are exposed
to program risks that were not contemplated by Congress. I
would like to see that change, to see policies aligned with
legislative intent to reward the investor making a good faith
investment. Similarly, it would help the cause of a sustainable
EB-5 program if the regional center industry could rally
around to protect good faith investors, and to promote truly
transformative investment that is directed to actual
disadvantaged areas.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
WHEN IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION
OR ADVOCACY?
Litigation is everywhere, and it should be no surprise in light
of the extended processing times, visa unavailability, and
hostility to immigration in general. Cases must be filed
against the government for extraordinary delay, arbitrary
and capricious decisions in individual cases, and unfairly
terminated regional centers. It also helps when the
professional service providers and principals know the
pathways
for
navigating
commercial
disputes,
reorganizations and liquidations, as well as SEC and other
enforcement actions.
CLETUS M. WEBER
PENG & WEBER PLLC
Cletus M. Weber is a partner
at Peng & Weber PLLC, a
Seat tle - based immigration
law firm internationally
recognized in EB-5 and other
U . S . i m m i g r a t i o n l a w. H e
represents EB-5 regional centers, projects and investors in
all facets of EB-5. Weber serves on the board of directors
of IIUSA and previously served on AILA’s national EB-5
Committee. Weber is the editor-in-chief of “ The EB-5
Handbook: A Guide for Investors and Developers”; the
senior editor of “Immigration Options for Investors &
Entrepreneurs, 2nd-4th Eds.”; and invited reviewer of
the EB -5 section of Ira Kurzban’s “Immigration Law
Sourcebook, 14th-16th Eds.” He is also listed in Who’s
Who Legal: Corporate Immigration.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY CHANGE FOR A
BETTER FUTURE?
Many changes could drastically improve the EB-5 industry,
but by far the most important is also the most difficult to
achieve in the short term: Congress should increase the
number of EB-5 visas available to maximize the EB-5
78
EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
program’s ability to create jobs for American workers. It
could do so simply by following the congressional intent in
requiring only one EB-5 visa number for each principal and
no visa numbers for any family members. Also, the
government should process cases much more quickly than
it does. Regional centers and investors alike should not
have to pay Lamborghini fees for Yugo service.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING WHEN
IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION OR
ADVOCACY?
Many more clients are choosing to sue not only on
unreasonably slow processing times, but also on
substantive aggressiveness against regional centers and
investors. Advocacy efforts are producing both more unity
among industry groups and more careful consideration of
a broader range of views. Nonetheless, the more things
change in advocacy, the more they remain the same:
ongoing disagreement about the true relevance of TEAs
continues to slow down the industry’s overall advocacy
efforts. We think the recent USCIS regulations are likely to
be the law of the land for at least another year or two or
more.