About Charles Foster
Charles Foster is the chairman of the Houston-based Foster, LLP and leads the firm’s EB-5 practice group. For more than thirty years, he has represented multinational businesses in the field of immigration law, and has been board-certified as a specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law since 1979. Attorney Foster has represented individual EB-5 investors since the program’s inception in 1990, and regional centers since 1992.
Attorney Foster’s legal background includes acting as a senior policy advisor on immigration matters during the presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush. He has also served as the chairman for a number of organizations, such as the Coordinating Committee on Immigration Law for the American Bar Association, and the Governor’s Task Force on Immigration, and he has been the vice chairman of the Houston Bar Foundation. A past president of AILA and member of its Board of Directors, Attorney Foster also has the current distinction of being the Honorary Consul General for the Kingdom of Thailand.
With his service activities also consisting of leading the Greater Houston Partnership Task Force on Immigration Reform, serving as the State Bar of Texas Immigration and Nationality Law Section’s founding chairman, and more, Attorney Foster is active in the greater immigration law community. He previously taught immigration law for five years at the University of Houston Law Center as an adjunct professor, and on various occasions has testified before the Senate and U.S. House Subcommittees on Immigration.
The many accolades Attorney Foster has received throughout his career include the Houston International Service Award in 1997, the American Immigration Law Foundation Honorary Fellow in 1998, and the Distinguished Friend of China Award in 2000. He has further been recognized by Texas Monthly Magazine as a Texas Super Lawyer, and was ranked as a Leading Individual in 2014 and 2015 by Chambers USA, and Chambers Global, respectively. Attorney Foster received international attention for his immigration work assisting the ballet performer, Li Cunxin, a success story portrayed in Mao’s Last Dancer.
Attorney Foster graduated from the University of Texas with his bachelor’s degree, and from the University of Texas School of Law with his Juris Doctor. He is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Answers to EB-5 1465 Questions Answered
- How can I go to school in the U.S. as an EB-5 investor without an F-1 visa?
- If a common law marriage is recognized in my home country, how can I add my partner as a dependent on my EB-5 application?
- Can I file an I-485 with an expired I-94?
- Do F-1 students with pending I-485s have to leave the U.S. due to the new SEVP regulations?
- How can I apply for an extension on my re-entry permit outside the U.S.?
- When can I get work authorization as an EB-5 investor?
- How could executive order on immigration affect I-551 renewal?
- Can I travel out of the U.S. with a pending I-526?
- Do I lose my EB-5 green card if my mother cannot meet residency requirements?
- Does USCIS require I-485 interviews for EB-5 investors currently?
- Do I have to apply for an EB-5 visa out of my home country?
- How can EB-5 investors apply for naturalization?
- How could a pending I-526 impact J-1 visa?
- Can a DACA beneficiary apply for EB-5?
- How can I file a EB-2 I-140 with a pending EB-5 I-485?
- How can I apply for EB-5 on H1-b?
- How can I file an NIW I-140 with a pending EB-5 I-485?
- Can I get back to H-1b status if my I-829 is denied?
- Does the new I-526 processing policy apply to cases filed in December 2018?
- Could I experience any delays in my EB-5 visa process as a result of the Trump Immigration Ban and COVID-19?
- Will Indian EB-5 I-526 applications be processed faster?
- Can green card holders enter the U.S. if forced to stay abroad for an extended period of time due to COVID-19?
- How can I take investment from potential EB-5 investors?
- When could an EB-5 investor receive an advance parole card after submitting an I-485 application?
- How can EB-5 dependents attend a visa interview if the principal applicant already gets a green card?
- How can my son who becomes 21 during the administrative processing of our EB-5 visas enter the U.S.?
- How can I reinvest in an EB-5 project and retain my previous priority date?
- Do I need to own at least 50% of a company to be eligible for the EB-5 direct investment program?
- What are my options if the EB-5 project I invested in fails at the conditional green card stage?
- How can we switch the principal applicant of an EB-5 case?
- How can I travel back to the U.S. without a re-entry permit after being outside the country for over six months?
- How can I correct a mistake on my DS-260 form?
- How does the government’s budget extension impact the modernization changes of the EB-5 program, which were set to start Thursday?
- How can DACA beneficiaries participate in the EB-5 program?
- What legal recourse does an investor have if the regional center does not provide the supporting documents for I-829 promptly?
- How can I still successfully file an EB-5 application before Nov. 21?
- What happens to my application if one of the other proposed EB-5 reform acts gets passed after Nov. 21?
- Is the age of EB-5 dependent children still frozen after the approval of I-526 and before a visa interview?
- How should I respond to the questions regarding immigrant petition history on the DS-160 form if I have pending EB-5 and EB-2 petitions?
- Could EB-5 investors from South Korea face the visa backlog anytime soon?
- How can my 20-year-old daughter get a green card through the EB-5 program?
- How can I invest in a real estate development project and qualify for EB-5 without working with a regional center?
- How long can green card holders stay outside the U.S.?
- How can an EB-5 investor attract other investors with his direct EB-5 business?
- How can EB-5 investors with hepatitis B enter the U.S.?
- How can my wife travel outside the U.S. with a pending I-539 application and a pending EB-5-based I-485 application?
- What is the minimum age for a minor to file an EB-5 petition?
- How can I use my F-1 OPT to work for my own EB-5 company?
- What happens to my EB-5 case if I file before Nov. 21 but don’t get a receipt by then?
- How should a mainland China-born EB-5 investor estimate how long they need to wait before a visa number is available?
- How can an EB-5 investor whose EB-5 investment has failed stay in the U.S. with a valid conditional green card?
- What is the average time needed to process an I-526 petition?
- What should an EB-5 investor do if the regional center is terminated by USCIS at the conditional green card stage?
- How can an EB-5 investor study or work in the U.S. with a pending adjustment of status application?
- What happens to the ages of dependent children during EB-5 visa administrative processing?
- What should an EB-5 investor do if his passport expires before a DS-260 application is submitted?
- What happens if I cannot file my I-485 application in time as indicated in the visa bulletin?
- Why does the visa bulletin say unauthorized for EB-5 regional center programs?
- How can I enter the U.S. with an H-4 visa when I have a pending EB-5 case?
- How can I use intangible assets for my EB-5 investment?
- How can I work in the U.S. if I withdraw my EB-5 investment?
- How can I add my spouse as a joint petitioner in our EB-5 application?
- What should we do if my dependent child ages out due to the backlog for Indian investors?
- How can I use money in my 401(K) account to apply for EB-5?
- How should I start my EB-5 application if I have a pending EB-2 case with a priority date in 2010?
- How long do we need to wait if we receive a 221(g) notice during our EB-5 visa interview?
- How can I use borrowed money from a friend for my EB-5 investment?
- When can I submit an EB-5 application in the U.S. if I enter the border as a tourist?
- What legal recourses do I have to secure the return of my EB-5 investment?
- How can I run an EB-5 business with a TD visa?
- How can I travel outside the U.S. and return for my I-131 biometrics appointment?
- How can I sell a business to a potential EB-5 investor?
- How can I structure an EB-5 direct investment business at two different locations?
- What are the requirements on the business performance and maintenance of jobs for a direct EB-5 business during the I-829 stage?
- How can I file an EB-3-based I-485 when I am on an EB-5-based conditional green card?
- How can the approved I-829 of an EB-5 principal applicant accelerate the processing of the I-829s of dependents?
- How can we require to expedite the processing of EB-5 visas?
- What is the timeline for setting up an EB-5 business and creating jobs?
- How does USCIS count job creation for an EB-5 application?
- How can I make my investment accumulate and qualify for EB-5?
- How can I register a business in the U.S. with a pending EB-5 application?
- When can I travel internationally after my I-131 biometrics appointment?
- What is the timeline for an EB-5 application?
- How can my wife travel with a pending I-485 and an I-551 from a pending I-829?
- How are permanent residents and citizens taxed in the U.S.?
- Under what circumstances is an I-134 necessary for a visitor visa holder?
- What kind of investment can I make with a tourist visa?
- How can I apply for an F-1 visa if I have filed an I-526 application?
- What are the travel restrictions on conditional green card holders?
- What is the estimated processing time for I-526 applications?
- When do I need to start fulfilling tax obligations as an EB-5 investor?
- How can I change my levels of study as an international student with an EB-5 application?
- How can my son apply for EB-5 while studying in the U.S.?
- How can I apply to adjust status with an I-130 form if I have a conditional green card?
- How can my daughter qualify for EB-5 if I filed our I-526 application one day before she turned 21?
- How can I keep my EB-3 priority date if my I-829 gets denied?
- How long can Canadian citizens stay in the U.S. after TN visas expire?
- What should an EB-5 investor do if the name on her I-526 form is different than that on her passport?
- How could my credit score impact the approval rate of my I-526 application?
- What happens to rgw EB-5-based green card of my son when he turns 21 years old?
Verified EB-5 Investors
As of May 18, 2016
- EB5Investors.com found no public criminal record on BeenVerified.com
- Active BAR member in good standing
