TOP IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS
past 10 years of his practice to EB-5 law.
His interest in EB-5 developed during the
late 1990’s, when his business clients’
growth led to his initial direct EB-5 filings.
His firm is one of the first law firms in
the country to handle EB-5 applications,
and later regional center submissions.
He also has assisted developers and
projects to review immigration strategies
for their organizations and business
enterprises. Silver is a longtime member
of AILA and IIUSA.
DARREN SILVER
Founding Partner
Darren Silver & Associates LLP
D
arren Silver is the founding partner of
Darren Silver & Associates LLP. Silver’s
career of more than 20 years has focused
exclusively on the field of immigration with
an emphasis in business and investment
immigration. Prior to founding his firm, Silver
worked with USCIS, where he audited policy
guidelines and helped create field guides that
are still in use today. Silver has devoted the
WHAT DO YOU THINK
THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5
INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE?
I am optimistic about the future of EB-
5. Until recently, many regional centers
played by their own rules. Investors truly
did not understand the process behind
the investment. However, over the past
two years I have seen positive, dramatic
changes in the industry. Government
scrutiny combined with self-regulation has
elevated project quality. Presently, USCIS is
still muddling through a mixed bag of very
good and some not-so-good projects. Over
time the “not-so-good” will be sorted out
and USCIS will recognize signs of project
different job-creating enterprises. Stone
successfully represented some of the first
investors in the EB-5 program, and assisted
with litigation to help families marooned by
program changes in the late 1990s. He also
worked closely with immigration officials
and drafted key legislation that fueled the
renaissance of the regional center program.
Stone served for five years as chair of
the AILA EB-5 Committee and organized
the first nine EB-5 industry conferences.
Drawing from broad experience in business
transactions and litigation, Stone has
published dozens of EB-5 articles covering
numerous interdisciplinary topics.
LINCOLN STONE
Partner
Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP
L
incoln Stone is a partner at Stone Grzegorek &
Gonzalez LLP. He has 25 years of experience
with the EB-5 program, including specializing
in solutions for denials, terminations, complex
litigation and business reorganizations. He has
successfully helped several thousand EB-5
investors and completed EB-5 compliance
work aiding U.S. organizations in raising nearly
$5 billion in EB-5 capital for more than 200
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
WHAT DO YOU THINK
THE FUTURE OF THE EB-5
INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE?
Early on, the EB-5 program was a three-
year process with reasonable adjudication
times and abundant visas. The main
concern was unpredictability about
agency adjudications. Several factors
complicated the EB-5 practice, but none
so much as agency processing times and
visa backlogs. Investors are consequently
exposed to more risks than congress ever
intended. Whether for redeployment after
quality and legitimacy. The result will
allow for faster adjudications and overall
more predictability for investors.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN
THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
I fell into the EB-5 world quite on accident.
In the mid-1990s, my law practice was
heavily involved with investment visas,
such as the E-2 visa. A small number of
my E-2 clients were looking for green card
options. I took it upon myself to learn about
the little-known EB-5 category. I realized
that some of my E-2 investors were also
eligible for the EB-5 program. When the
regional center boom began seven years
ago, I was fortunate to be one of the few
immigration lawyers who had experience
in this area.
a successful initial investment, salvaging
the immigration case after business failure,
a terminated regional center or diversion
of funds, USCIS should provide clear, fair
policies to protect investors. I hope to see
USCIS comprehensively review policy
prioritizing EB-5 investors who have shaped
their dreams around the EB-5 success.
WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN
THE EB-5 INDUSTRY?
I became involved with EB-5 investors in
1991 when I was an associate attorney
practicing business and immigration
litigation. Most EB-5 clients then were
from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea.
Substantial effort went into shaping
EB-5 opportunities to compete with the
Canadian investor program, which was
dominated by foreign migration agents
promoting short-term, low-risk loans.
Now, the EB-5 program is a tool for large-
scale project finance. Whether the model
is venture funding or project finance, new
and transformative capital investment
should be welcome. However, confusion
about policy objectives continues to
plague the EB-5 program as stakeholders
seek to formulate a winning narrative
supporting its permanence.