EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 4 Issue 1 | Page 36

IMMIGR ATION AT TORNE YS Elsie Hui Arias Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP Elsie Hui Arias is a partner at Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP (SGG) in Los Angeles, California.  She is certified as a specialist in immigration and nationality law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, a designation that is held by a very small percentage of immigration practitioners in California based on their demonstrated expertise in Edward Beshara Beshara P.A. Edward Beshara, Managing Partner of Beshara P.A. in Orlando, Florida, has exclusively practiced business and family U.S. Immigration Law and offered approvable solutions since 1983, representing corporate and individual clients worldwide. Beshara P.A. has represented foreign national investors and corporate clients in the EB-5 process 34 TOP 25 L IS T ED BY AL PHAB E T IC AL O R D ER all aspects of U.S. immigration law.   For the last nine years, Arias’ practice has focused on EB-5 immigration, through which she has successfully represented hundreds of foreign nationals with their I-526 and I-829 petitions based on investment with regional centers or individual businesses. She also provides counsel to regional centers and developers with respect to preparing investment offerings suitable for EB-5 funding for diverse commercial ventures, applying for initial and amended regional center designations (including approval of I-526 exemplar petitions), and ongoing compliance issues.  At SGG, she co-manages a team of more than 20 lawyers and staff devoted to representing EB-5 investors and entrepreneurs.  Arias also has significant experience in other areas of U.S. immigration law, including employment- and family-based immigration, waivers of inadmissibility, citizenship and naturalization, and motions/appeals before the Immigration Court, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  She has provided pro bono representation to indigent clients referred by nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles, including Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) and Catholic Charities.  Arias is a frequent conference speaker on EB-5 and other immigration matters.  She has also written on various aspects of EB-5, including: Removal of Conditions for EB-5 Investors: Practical Guidance in Preparing I829 Petitions and Transitioning the E-2 Investor to an EB-5 Entrepreneur.  Elsie earned her Bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Davis. Outside of the office, Elsie enjoys trying new restaurants and wines with her husband, a civil litigator, and taking long walks with their Labrador retrievers. since 1991, and has concentrated on the EB-5 regional center process for more than ten years. Beshara P.A. represents more than 100 EB-5 Regional Centers and EB-5 Projects in the preparation and filing of EB-5 regional center applications, regional center amendments, EB-5 compliant projects, investor due diligence and OFAC review, and legal compliance issues. Beshara P.A. continues to assist and represent hundreds of EB-5 foreign national investors in regard to performing U.S. Immigration due diligence on EB-5 projects, as well as the preparation and filing of I-526 Petitions with USCIS, authentication of the investors’ source and transfer of personal funds, U.S. Consulate processing or USCIS applications for conditional permanent residency, and I-829 petitions to remove the conditions. Beshara is a member of the preeminent EB-5 industry organization Invest in the USA, and serves on the Compliance Committee, Best Practices Committee, and New Investor Markets Committee. Beshara has organized EB-5 presentations at the City of Miami EB-5 Regional Center, where he is a frequent speaker on EB-5 and immigration topics. He is an active board member of the Syrian Lebanese American Club, Florida Arab American Chamber of Commerce as vice president, and two Brazilian American Chambers of Commerce in Florida as a board member. EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE