EB5 Investors Magazine | Page 68

[ IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS ] Kate Kalmykov is an EB-5 immigration attorney and shareholder in the New York City area offices of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a top-ranking international law firm. She is an active member in the immigration law community and has been working on EB-5 cases for a decade. Kate recognized the opportunity that the EB-5 program offered to immigrants who did not have the option of obtaining a visa through family or employment connections, while simultaneously contributing to the growth of the U.S. economy through job creation. These factors prompted her involvement in the EB-5 program and serve as continued motivators. Kate finds EB-5 to be a fascinating field that has experienced exponential growth, and she is rewarded by helping investors fulfill their dreams. As an immigrant herself, Kate can personally relate to her clients, and she also finds a certain satisfaction in seeing projects develop from the ground up. She understands investor concerns and motivations for seeking immigration through investment and that insight fuels her unique approach to investor filings. Longtime client Dan Fulop says that working with Kate means more than just hiring someone to get the job done; she becomes a real partner in whatever project she is working on. As part of Greenberg Traurig’s EB-5 team, Kate represents both immigrant investors and regional center clients. She is adept at navigating her clients through a process where the Recognized among the nation’s most influential immigration attorneys, Ron Klasko brings over 30 years of immigration law experience to all his cases. As cofounder and managing partner of Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP in Philadelphia, Ron leads a team of 21 attorneys who work on a full range of immigration law issues, 10 of whom work exclusively on representing EB-5 investors or regional centers and project developers. Ron has built up his EB-5 expertise over the life of the program and it is this long-term perspective that gives him unique insight into the evolving field, changing USCIS policies and exciting developments. Ron enjoys getting involved on the ground floor of projects and making an impact, improving practices, and crafting creative and effective ways to interpret the law. Embracing the spirit of the program, Ron is rewarded by seeing projects come to fruition that otherwise would not have, were it not for EB-5 capital. Similarly, he recognizes that EB-5 is often the only immigration route available to immigrant investors. Because EB-5 is both an immigration and a development program, Ron says it is essential to understand EB-5 law and policy, as well as deal structure on a detailed level. After the deal is done, however, the job is not over, and Ron and his firm have established a compliance team—complete with auditors, software, and monthly reviews of regional center 66 Kate Kalmykov rules are constantly changing based on government adjudication trends. Her experience runs the gamut of EB-5-related applications and takes her all over the world. She has traveled to China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Qatar, Cambodia, Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates to attend EB-5 events and network in the community. Kate writes for EB5Investors.com, EB-5insights.com and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on CNN, among other prominent publications. For the past three years she has been a panelist speaker at Southern California’s EB-5 Conference, and served as cochair in 2014. Apart from EB-5, Kate is passionate about raising her three-year-old, yoga and boxing. H. Ronald Klasko operations—to ensure that their regional center clients are adequately prepared for the filing of investors’ I-829 petitions and developers’ I-924A petitions. Often cited as an authority on EB-5 matters, Ron is routinely invited to speak at conferences, and he is recognized as a leader in the EB-5 community. Chair of AILA’s EB-5 Committee for four of the last five years, Ron previously served as the national president for the organization. He has been invited by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary to testify on immigration reform and is one of three attorneys to be honored with the AILA Founders Award for his contributions to immigration jurisprudence. EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE