EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 5, Issue 2 | Page 58

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 57 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.