TOP IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS
risk” requirement and TEAs. Lee lectures
widely on EB-5 issues and is recipient of
numerous awards for excellence including
the 2016 Outstanding 50 Asian Americans
in Business, the 2015 AILA Presidential
Commendation and the 2008 AILA Joseph
Minsky Award. She is listed on International
Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration
Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America
in Immigration Law.
CAROLYN LEE
Managing Partner
Miller Mayer LLP
C
arolyn Lee is the managing partner of
Miller Mayer’s EB-5 practice group. She
is chair of AILA’s national EB-5 Committee.
Lee’s current advocacy focuses on long-term
reauthorization of the EB-5 regional center
program and workable reform. Lee represents
regional centers, developers, funds and
investors. She has written numerous in-depth
publications on “material change,” the “at
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
WHAT DO YOU THINK
THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5
INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE?
The future of the EB-5 industry is bright.
Lawmakers and industry alike embrace
reform that will allow the program to
grow stronger. Conferring U.S. lawful
permanent residence is a precious
benefit. Operators and advisors with the
highest standards of integrity should
be in this space and the hope is that
reform will bring us closer to that ideal.
It will be the responsibility of all, equally
– Congress, USCIS, regional centers,
fund managers, developers and all the
advisors – to achieve the great things
possible through this program. A key part
of that is increasing EB-5 visa capacity.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
In terms of USCIS adjudication, I am
seeing harsher adjudication. I use the
word “harsher” rather than “tougher”
because the legal basis for a lot of the
RFEs and NOIDs I’m seeing is thin. Yet,
there seems to be a desire to get to a “no.”
In terms of investor demand, Chinese
investor demand is of course down to a
slow trickle. On the other hand, interest
in the India and South America markets
have spiked commensurately. In terms of
projects, careful structuring particularly
on bridge financing, is really critical to
survive the harsher adjudication climate.