Susan L. Pilcher is a senior attorney with the EB-5 practice group at Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP in Los Angeles, California. Her practice focuses on business and investment immigration. Ms. Pilcher counsels and represents clients in a diverse range of investment-related immigration matters, ranging from working with entrepreneurs on nonimmigrant status and long-range strategic planning, to preparing I-526 and I-829 petitions and template filings, to guiding developers in the preparation of investment offerings suitable for EB-5 funding, developing I-924 regional center applications, and counseling regional centers and developers on ongoing compliance issues.
Ms. Pilcher’s investment immigration clients have included individual E-2 and EB-5 investors from 40 countries, EB-5 project developers, USCIS-designated regional centers, and regional center applicants. Her general business immigration practice has been devoted substantially to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program since early 2007. She additionally has extensive experience with both routine and complex consular processing and border adjudications, and with servicing the business immigration needs of large and small companies, including hospitals, a Fortune fastest growing company, and large multinational enterprises.
A widely published author and frequent speaker on investment immigration topics, Ms. Pilcher’s background includes more than 20 years of immigration law experience; in addition to her private immigration practice, her experience includes several years of commercial law practice and nearly a decade of full-time law teaching (including immigration law). She is also a current member of the editorial board for the English Edition of EB5 Investors Magazine. Ms. Pilcher earned her bachelor’s degree cum laude from Smith College. She received her Juris Doctor with distinction from Stanford Law School, where she won the Hilmer Oehlmann, Jr. Award for Legal Research and Writing and was managing editor of the Stanford Law Review.
Answers to EB-5 36 Questions Answered
- Can I use the EB-5 Program to obtain capital for an online company?
- Can an attorney help if my EB-5 I-526 petition is denied?
- Can non-profit hospitals be funded through the EB-5 program?
- Do you need to have an EB-5 Project in order to start your own Regional Center?
- Do I need to reside in the US after the EB5 visa is approved?
- How much does it cost to establish an EB-5 regional center?
- Will my family have to move to the US if I participate in the EB-5 Program?
- Can I apply for an EB-5 Visa while in the US on an E3 Visa?
- What is a conditional green card?
- How are Seasonal Employees counted towards job creation in the EB-5 Visa Program?
- Do I need a sponsor for an EB-5 green card?
- What is the benefit of investing in an EB-5 Regional Center?
- Can I waive the two year home country presence requirements for an EB-5 visa?
- Do all immigrant investors have to invest through EB-5 Regional Centers?
- What are job creation requirements in EB-5 projects involving expanding businesses?
- Can funds from a parent in the U.S. be used for an EB-5 visa?
- Can investors from Vietnam participate in the EB-5 visa program?
- Can an illegal immigrant qualify for an EB-5 visa?
- Does USCIS give a receipt upon receiving EB-5 visa materials?
- How do I make a safe EB-5 investment?
- Will I have to manage my EB-5 project from inside the United States?
- Can I maintain my green card petition after a failed EB-5 project?
- How much capital needs to be initially deposited with the Regional Center?
- Can a Regional Center qualify for $500,000 investors if it is does not meet TEA designation?
- Do I need to create 10 new jobs at my new enterprise to qualify for an EB-5 visa?
- Can a secured loan be used to fund an EB5 visa investment?
- How are fired employees counted towards EB-5 job creation requirements?
- Are there business growth opportunities in the EB5 program?
- Would an EB-5 visa be a good option?
- Do I need to declare taxes on an EB-5 investment that was gifted from my parents?
- When are EB-5 investments available to the business?
- Can an EB-5 Investment be made in a 501(c)3 non-profit?
- Can EB-5 investors fund residential development?
- What kind of attorney do I need to create an EB-5 Regional Center?
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EB5 Investors Magazine and EB5investors.com Articles
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Loan Proceeds as Capital: Practice Advisory on USCIS “Indebtedness” Policy
On April 22, 2015, the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office ("IPO") issued a public statement defining its interpretation of the EB-5 regulation as it applies to the use of loan proceeds as capital. Susan Pilcher breaks down the USCIS "indebtedness" policy, how it is applied, and what stakeholders and investors can expect.
Susan Pilcher