One of the most exciting – and confusing – changes brought about by RIA was the allocation of visa set asides. The law allows applicants who invest in certain projects (rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure) access to reserved visas and priority processing. This sounds like a dream for investors who want to “skip the line” – particularly Chinese investors stuck in a backlog. But how do visa set asides actually work? Is “skipping the line” too good to be true?
In this episode, Mona and Rebecca are joined by William Gresser (Founder and CEO – EB-5 New York State, LLC; Vice President – IIUSA) to provide a comprehensive breakdown of visa set asides under RIA. The team dives deep into issues such as project selection, visa retrogression, options for investors and much, much more.
About our Guest
William Gresser is the President and founder of EB-5 New York State, LLC. Since the Company’s founding in 2007, Mr. Gresser has managed the successful completion of numerous EB-5 investment projects and helped EB-5 investors, and their families achieve their immigration and investment objectives. Mr. Gresser is a leader in the EB-5 industry. He is the Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of Invest In the USA (IIUSA®), the largest trade association of Regional Centers. He is also active in the industry’s government affairs activities in pursuit of industry reform and reauthorization. Mr. Gresser is a regular speaker on advanced EB-5 related topics and is sought out by Regional Centers and developers throughout the U.S. Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Gresser was an attorney and a successful business executive. Mr. Gresser obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University, a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Masters in Business Administration from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, all with honors.