By Staff
Meet Marjan Kasra, a seasoned EB-5 attorney who brings a unique blend of personal experience and professional expertise to her practice. As a U.S. immigrant, she shares insights into the pivotal moments that shaped her path toward specializing in the EB-5 visa program.
For Kasra, pressing issues face the U.S. immigration industry, mainly processing delays and the impact of overzealous application reviews, particularly from countries like Iran and Vietnam. With a keen eye on advocating for fairness and transparency in immigration decisions, she emphasizes the need for uniformity and adherence to regulations to ensure a smoother path for investors seeking to contribute to the U.S. economy.
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO HELP IMMIGRANTS ACHIEVE WHAT THEY NEED IN THIS COUNTRY”
How did you get started in the immigration legal services? What inspired you to become an immigration lawyer?
I’m an immigrant myself, so that’s how my journey started. I remember my mom at the embassy talking to the Consulate about getting U.S. visas. That was my first exposure as a child, just watching my mom do her magic. When I became an attorney, I didn’t start out as an immigration lawyer, but as a real estate attorney. That’s how I grew my firm [Lawmaks], founded in 2005. When the housing market broke in 2008, I naturally transitioned to immigration because it is very near and dear to my heart. After that, I became very interested in business immigration. Now, I specialize in EB-5, L1, and E2 investment categories; they are my main passion.
What more can you share about your personal immigration journey?
I’m from Iran. After the Revolution [1979], things were very difficult in my country. My parents were very well educated. My mother, especially as a woman, just could not accept being told that she had to cover her hair and conform to arbitrary, man-made rules with the government. And I didn’t understand it at the time, to be honest. I was 13 years old. I just remember being so upset to be away from my friends, taken away from my environment. It was not easy for a 13-year-old girl to go through, but now I’m grateful. She made a very big sacrifice. She’s a medical doctor and has a very lucrative practice in Iran. We had our own hospital in Iran; my dad was a surgeon, and my mom was a gynecologist, and they had such a good life there. But my mom just didn’t want her three girls to grow up in that environment. So, we came here. Our journey was not easy because of government restrictions. My mom was able to get out first, then my father. I was the last in the family to leave. They just wouldn’t allow people to come out together. It was a difficult journey.
After I came here, I had to learn the language. It was a challenge, but it did provide me with a diverse understanding of the world.
Then I went to start college with a double major. I was a Biology and Psychology major undergrad, and then I got my two-year Postgraduate Program at Columbia University in microbiology. I thought about attending Medical school because that’s what my parents had done.
How did you go from Biology to Real Estate law?
I just didn’t see myself in that role. I found that when I was going through school that I was more passionate about writing, and I loved my English classes. It’s when I decided on Law school, and I absolutely loved it from day one. I especially fell in love with Criminal Law class. I think I became involved with Real Estate because one of my friends was practicing Real Estate, and I was seriously considering opening my own law firm. It was very lucrative at the time because the Real Estate market was booming, and it was the right business decision.
How did you transition from Real Estate to Immigration law?
When the market went down in 2008, it pushed me to look at other things that may be more sustainable business. People called me to ask about immigration, and I started doing some cases. It was something I cared about. It’s important to help immigrants achieve what they need in this country, especially with the system being so broken. It’s also critical for an attorney to care about what’s happening and look out for the clients.
“MY JOB ALL DAY IS TO EDUCATE MY CLIENTS ABOUT THE EB-5 LAWS”
Why did you specialize in EB-5, L1 and E-2 visa programs?
In 2010, I started talking to some EB-5 developers and regional centers. And I found the whole program fascinating. I threw myself in and learned from A-Z. I felt that I have a natural market for it because I do come in contact with people from Iran and from the MENA region and they are well-to-do guys who want to contribute to the U.S. economy. I felt that there was this niche. I started to pursue it, to talk to some clients and then I was in the EB-5 business. I have a passion for immigrants who come here, and I understand their situations. I think my experience allows me to better understand my clients.
What do you find fascinating about the EB-5 visa program?
It’s always changing. There are so many moving parts to it. I’m never bored doing it. It’s challenging and you must analyze what the project is all about. And there’s no one project for everybody. My job all day is to educate my clients about the EB-5 laws. Learn about their circumstances and analyze the best way to move forward for them. We reserve EB-5 as a last resort because it’s quite expensive; you must invest about $800,000 or 1.05 million dollars. So I do try to identify alternate solutions for them before we jump into EB-5, because it’s not a fit for all. If somebody contacts me and they already have a business overseas, for instance, and they want to open their own U.S. business possibly, and they’re in their 30s-40s, want to work in this country, then I may suggest an L-1 visa for them if the company overseas is opening a subsidiary or a branch office of an existing company in the United States. An L-1 opens the pathway to EB1C and EB1. You can get a green card about a year and a half later. Then E-2 is for U.S. Treaty countries. But it’s also just a visa, not a green card. There’s a way to get a green card, but what we do is talk about EB-5. If somebody’s not from the Treaty country and if they are older, they don’t necessarily want to engage in a business, and some people just do this for their kids, who are in college, have their career paths, and they don’t necessarily want to get involved in a business. So that’s when they go to a regional center and try to get a green card through EB-5.
What’s the most pressing immigration issue facing the EB-5 industry right now?
Right now, it’s delays in processing. That said, they have been doing a decent job. I have to give the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) some credit. They are hiring new people and they seem to be moving the cases along, especially those in rural areas, post RIA (Reform and Integrity Act of 2022). Priority is given to cases in rural areas and HUAs (High Unemployment Areas), but I believe there are still some EB-5s from 3-4 years ago that are still sitting. Those are delayed cases; sometimes, we are forced to sue the government and file for a Writ of Mandamus to push cases through. Even though they’ve made progress, there’s still a lot of improvement to be made.
Delays are one of the big concerns not only with EB-5 but with all visa categories in U.S. immigration.
Another concern is that, unfortunately, U.S. immigration decisions are not uniform. What they require for one nationality differs greatly from what they need for another. There is a bit of discrimination in the U.S. immigration system. That’s something that I advocate for my clients all the time. They seem not to apply the same standard to all countries.
Not only are they not uniform with respect to different nationalities, the USCIS goes above and beyond what they’re meant to do. The Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC, is supposed to regulate money. They are part of the Treasury Department. OFAC is a different entity from USCIS, and they’re the ones who are supposed to be the watchdog to make sure that there’s no money laundering. They have all these regulations in place. They issued a “general license” for Iranian nationals to participate in the EB-5 program, in 2012. Unfortunately, USCIS is interfering with that general license, in my opinion, because they’re going over and beyond what OFAC prescribes, and often, they act arbitrarily and capriciously for things that are not necessarily prescribed by OFAC or even by their regulations. I think they’re circumventing OFAC, in my opinion.
We are actually working on a lawsuit at the moment because some of these cases that should be approved are not because they’re asking for arbitrary things beyond a given investor’s reach. I think it’s very unfair.
How does this overzealousness you describe affect EB-5 applications?
They have overzealous adjudicators who are not necessarily appropriately trained. IPO is hiring many new people, but because they’re new, they’re not necessarily trained on what OFAC prescribes or what they should be required to ask for.
The sad thing is that it discourages foreign investors from wanting to invest in this country. And given that the EB-5 program has been so successful in creating jobs, it has brought over $37 billion since its inception [1992], 5.2 billion in new capital raised since 2022, [post-RIA]. You take that into consideration, and it’s a shame for investors to be discouraged by arbitrary rules that prevent them from actual immigration, given they have held up their end of the bargain and invested money; sometimes, it’s their life savings! They’ve created ten or more jobs, and suddenly, you have this overzealous adjudicator who arbitrarily decides. I think this is against the Administrative Procedures Act, and that’s what we’re basing our lawsuit on.
Are there particular countries or nationalities affected by these actions?
Specifically, Iranian and Vietnam nationals. With countries like Iran and Vietnam, you’re dealing not only with US sanctions. With Vietnam, there are currency transfer restrictions, and they’re asking for an intermediary because they can’t send the whole money to America in one wire. They must go through an intermediary. It’s the same thing with Iran and Ethiopia. China has the same issues. They must go through some type of intermediary to export money. Until a year ago, when we provided documentation about the intermediary being, an MSB, or money service business, they [USCIS] were happy and satisfied. But of late, they’re saying, ‘We don’t care that they’re in the money service business. We still want to see their bank account.’ The intermediary is very much like a mini bank. And banks will never give you the internal books unless they are subpoenaed. It’s unfair to expect an investor to be able to get that from a third party. They’re denying cases based on precisely that.
China and India also have money transfer limitations and restrictions. Is Vietnam being targeted more than China and India?
Yes, they have concerns about money laundering. India and China may have better anti-money laundering laws. I understand, but you have to also be reasonable. This system doesn’t work for Vietnam. Some general policies should be put out so that maybe people from Vietnam would do things differently or look at different ways of investing. You know things to be working in a certain way and, all of a sudden, they don’t work anymore, and nobody notices why now they are going to ask for these things. If there’s a switch in the policy, first, it has to be uniform for all countries. Secondly, we must have notice of it to lawyers, because how else are we going to serve our clients?
I have personally brought this to the attention of some heads of USCIS at meetings. We are trying to do what we can to get it to their attention. I think they’re aware of it. It’s just a question of what they’re going to do about it. This is why I’m working on this lawsuit. It’s the only way to really bring it to a resolution.
“LEGAL IMMIGRATION IS AT THE HEART OF THE UNITED STATES”
Is there any message you’d like to convey to the U.S. immigration community?
It’s a very political time, and U.S. immigration has become very political. There’s a balance to be struck between legal immigration and actual policies that make sense. Are we going to put up walls? No, we all know that’s not going to work. We have to have some comprehensive reform that allows families to stay together. Family unity is critical, and legal immigration is at the heart of the United States.
Immigrants contribute to this community in intellect, talent, and diversity. Job creation, especially in investment categories like EB-5, enriches our culture. They add to the United States. It’s a matter of educating the U.S. public that we’re all immigrants in this country. We must be able to provide a more comprehensive pathway for legal immigration. I don’t believe in open borders. But, at the same time, there must be uniform laws in place that treat every nation fairly and uniformly.
What would you recommend to potential investors looking into the EB-5, L1, and E-2 visas?
The EB-5 program has improved, aside from the U.S. immigration laws needing an overhaul, especially since RIA. I think there’s a more streamlined way of getting Indian and Chinese nationals here now, especially with the visa set-asides. I tell all my clients this: it’s the best time to invest in the United States, especially because of the Congressional mandate for processing rural areas faster. And we are seeing those approvals in as little as three months. So yes, certain nationals have problems and challenges, but we are seeing approvals overall. Given that, there’s this streamlined process for people who invest in rural centers. Not only that, but the RIA provides for adjustment of status to be filed simultaneously with the EB-5 application. So, if you have an immigrant here on a long-term non-immigrant visa, like a student visa or H1B visa, now they can file for a green card and all other visa categories, including EB1 and EB2. So, EB-5 is a very viable option, especially for Chinese and Indian nationals. They need to work with a very experienced immigration lawyer. Document everything properly because the source and path of funds are critical to the EB-5 program. I’ve been a big advocate of the EB-5 program and believe this is the best time to apply.