EB5 Investors Magazine | Page 71

[ IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS ] Daniel Lundy is a senior associate attorney at Klasko, Rulon, Stock & Seltzer, LLP, where he leads the firm’s EB-5 project group, and dedicates his practice full-time to EB-5 clients. The complexity of the EB-5 program is what first led Dan to EB-5 cases four years ago when an influx of EB-5related cases at his prior law firm quickly sparked his interest. At Klasko, Lundy primarily specializes in representing regional centers, projects and developers, while still handling the occasional investor case. Headquartered in the firm’s Philadelphia office, Dan and his team have represented dozens of regional centers and hundreds of EB-5 projects, with an impressive track record. His clients include large and sophisticated developers. Indeed, Dan loves being at the center of highly complex deals, and seeking creative immigration solutions to business problems. His goal is to help his clients structure projects that are compliant with EB-5 regulations and marketable to investors, so that the projects can be successfully built and the jobs created. To accomplish this, he couples his business ingenuity with expectation management in a program that he has found to not always be transparent or predictable. In the past several years, Dan has seen the industry grow up, from producing relatively simple and straightforward projects, to multifaceted deals with complex collateral packages sponsored by major brands. Dan expects this trend An immigration lawyer of 22 years, David M. Morris is chair of AILA’s EB-5 Investor Visa Committee and a senior editor of one of the leading EB-5 books, Immigration Options for Investors & Entrepreneurs (3rd ed.). David manages Visa Law Group’s Washington, D.C., office, which exclusively practices immigration and visa law. He is a preeminent speaker and widely published in the EB-5 industry. When asked to comment about today’s EB-5 program, David always starts by describing his unique EB-5 perspective gained between 1996 and 2000, when the program was effectively turned upside down. Prior to 2000, when the EB-5 program was still small but growing, David’s firm represented a large percentage of foreign investors. He feels that then, like today, there was strong optimism that the pilot program would fully realize its legislative intent and provide a reliable path to residency as a result of investment and American job creation. David was present when all of that changed literally overnight in 1998, when the federal government issued the Matter of Izummi precedent decision, upending the entire EB-5 program. He describes how the INS instituted immediate and sweeping rule changes, many applied retroactively, through a series of AAO decisions. The INS then formed special adjudication teams to deny or revoke almost every I-526 petition that had not yet resulted in conditional residency. Daniel B. Lundy to continue, and predicts that regulatory action in the near future will alter the program in a positive way. He shares his industry expertise as a frequent speaker and writer on EB-5 topics, and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times. Dan is also a member of AILA and the Banking Committee of IIUSA. Dan brings a broad immigration background, and an advanced level of business knowledge to the table, allowing him to find necessary solutions to his EB-5 clients’ business quandaries. When he is not handling tough cases, Dan enjoys fishing. David Morris For David, and the handful of other lawyers practicing in EB-5 in the late 1990s, the program’s darkest days have provided him with invaluable experience. There is no doubt in David’s mind that today’s EB-5 policies can all be traced back to issues raised by the INS in 1998. He believes many of these same legal and industry potential pitfalls exist today, and can be seen in recent denials and RFEs. With his in-depth knowledge of EB-5 history, David is well suited to help his clients navigate current USCIS policies an B&VF