Joey Barnett is a partner at WR Immigration and a member of its EB-5 and business immigration practices. He is licensed as an attorney in Illinois, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, and practices exclusively in immigration and nationality law.
His practice includes the representation of foreign nationals under other employment-based green card categories, such as executive and managerial transferees in multinational companies as well as researchers, professors, medical professionals, engineers, musicians and artists, media and public relations professionals, and others with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.
He has extensive experience representing immigrant investors seeking permanent residency in the United States through USCIS-designated Regional Centers and investment in their own businesses. Mr. Barnett also counsels U.S. businesses and developers in creating, managing, and using Regional Centers for the receipt of EB-5 capital to create jobs for U.S. workers.
He is also responsible for a variety of other immigration matters, including temporary work visas (B-1, E-2, H-1B, L-1, O-1, P-1), F-1 reinstatements, administrative appeals, and federal writ of mandamus lawsuits and APA actions against the U.S. government.
Barnett currently serves on the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) EB-5 Committee and is a member of the IIUSA Editorial Board. He is a former member of AILA’s Benefits Litigation Committee. Mr. Barnett was selected by industry peers as a Top 5 Rising Star in EB-5 in 2019 and was also selected for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. He earned recognition from EB-5 Magazine as a Top 25 Immigration Attorney for three consecutive years, from 2023–2025.
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Verified EB-5 Investors
As of January 18, 2021
- EB5Investors.com found no public criminal record on BeenVerified.com
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EB5 Investors Magazine and EB5investors.com Articles
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April 2026 visa bulletin: Why EB-5 still stands out
While EB-2 and EB-3 are progressing slowly, EB-5 has a much more favorable timeline.
Joseph Barnett
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Consequences and Strategic Responses to EB-5 Project Denials for Investors
USCIS rejection of an I-956F form impacts ongoing I-526E and adjustment of status petitions.
Joseph Barnett
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The Cronin Memo: An EB-5 investor’s key resource to avoid the U.S. Consulate
This legal mechanism allow traveling while the AOS is pending without ultimately sacrificing their non-immigrant status.
Joseph Barnett
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Understanding the critically important “at risk” requirement for EB-5 investors
While the concept sounds straightforward, the details often get blurred when applying "at risk" in an EB-5 investment.
Joseph Barnett
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Steps to take if your EB-5 I-829 gets denied
A legal option to remain in the U.S. after having the I-829 petition denied is to apply for Cancellation of Removal for Lawful Permanent Resident.
Joseph Barnett
Joseph Barnett
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Top questions on reserved EB-5 visas
Immigration attorney Joseph Barnett answers the top questions about the set-aside categories to apply for new EB-5 visas using the concurrent filing path, and other issues concerning applications.
Joseph Barnett
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Recent EB-5 data doesn’t tell full story on how long investors must wait for visa
Notably, the data is outdated and does not include Form I-526/I-526E filing numbers over the past four months, says EB-5 attorney Joseph Barnett.
Joseph Barnett
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Ten things all investors should know about the revamped EB-5 visa program
Here is the scoop on concurrent filing, new visa categories, investment funds, agent fees, redeployment and processing times in the new EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act.
Joseph Barnett
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Documenting Lawful Source of Funds in EB-5
One of the major roles an immigration attorney plays for an EB-5 immigrant investor is strategizing and documenting the lawful nature of EB-5 capital invested in a new commercial enterprise.
Joseph Barnett
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Unreasonable delay lawsuits on Form I-829s for EB-5
As USCIS often fails to adjudicate within its statutory deadline, many investors have started to turn to litigation with successful results.
Joseph Barnett