International law firm Greenberg Traurig  today announced that firm client City of Miami received approval for designation as an EB-5 Regional Center for Foreign Investment under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services immigrant investment visa program.

The City of Miami Regional Center will be one of the few government-owned and managed regional centers in the United States. By utilizing the EB-5 investment program, the city expects to increase foreign investment in Miami, which will translate into the creation of thousands of new jobs and economic growth for both the city and the entire South Florida region.

Greenberg Traurig’s EB-5 Group within the Business Immigration & Compliance practice represented the City of Miami during the 10-month regional center application process.

“We are excited and deeply grateful to USCIS for their tremendous vote of confidence on behalf of The City of Miami,” Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said. “Our EB-5 Regional Center is a visionary step we took with great care and due diligence to ensure the creation of thousands of jobs and a massive engine for true economic development. This is also a key step in expanding our administration’s goal to position The City of Miami as the economic revitalization hub for all of South Florida and the gateway to the Americas, Europe and Asia”.

The City of Miami Regional Center was approved by the USCIS in a streamlined fashion without any requests for additional evidence from the government.

“This accomplishment, in and of itself, speaks to the City’s creativity, focus and clarity of purpose, as well as to our commitment to create a model that is accountable, transparent and inclusive,” said Miami attorney Mikki Canton, the architect and managing director of the City of Miami’s EB-5 Regional Center and chief advisor and global affairs counsel to the Mayor of Miami. “We hope that the City of Miami EB-5 Regional Center will serve as a model for other visionary governments who wish to establish their wholly government owned, managed and operated regional centers.”

“Greenberg Traurig is proud to have helped the City of Miami achieve this important milestone of securing regional center designation,” said Greenberg Traurig’s Immigration Practice co-chair Laura Reiff. “This increasingly popular program will provide additional financing opportunities for real estate development and infrastructure projects, therefore serving as a catalyst for economic development and job creation within the City of Miami and throughout South Florida.”

The Greenberg Traurig multidisciplinary EB-5 team representing the City of Miami was led by New Jersey shareholder Kate Kalmykov and Immigration Practice co-chair Laura Reiff. The team also included Immigration associates Jennifer Hermansky and Dillon Colucci.

Tags: EB-5 Program, investment, Job Creation
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Photo of Kate Kalmykov Kate Kalmykov

Kate Kalmykov is based in our New York and New Jersey offices and has over two decades of experience in business immigration matters. Kate currently Co-Chairs the Global Immigration & Compliance Practice at Greenberg Traurig. In this role, she works with employers of

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Kate Kalmykov is based in our New York and New Jersey offices and has over two decades of experience in business immigration matters. Kate currently Co-Chairs the Global Immigration & Compliance Practice at Greenberg Traurig. In this role, she works with employers of all sizes across a variety of industries in understanding and complying with the immigration laws relating to the hiring and retention of foreign talent. Specifically, her practice focuses on supporting clients and advising them on temporary and permanent residency immigration options for multi-national executive, business, scientific, and information technology personnel. In addition, her practice provides support to companies in the global transfer of personnel. Known by her clients for her out-of-the-box thinking, responsiveness and hands-on approach, Kate is often called upon to assist in developing immigration options and strategies in the most unique circumstances and to respond to complex Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs) or to appeal denied cases. Likewise, she has also been instrumental in developing employer compliance programs for DOL related filings including H-1Bs and PERMs, as well as for I-9 employment eligibility verification. To this end, she develops and conducts nationwide I-9 compliance trainings and policy manuals for human resources personnel, advises on best practices for E-Verify employers, provides guidance on avoiding immigration-related unfair employment practices claims and has defended and minimized penalties in immigration-related government audits. Kate regularly works with professionals from the firm’s labor, employment, tax and benefits groups, to provide strategic planning on immigration issues within a cross-border framework.

Kate also has deep experience working on all aspects of the EB-5 immigrant investor program. Kate has worked with real estate developers, private equity funds, and other organizations on applications to designate new EB-5 Regional Centers, applications for pre-approval of EB-5 projects; having projects adopted by existing EB-5 Regional Centers; structuring projects to be EB-5 compliant, the sale of existing EB-5 Regional Centers, preparing template I-526 petitions and advice on structuring direct EB-5 projects. Pursuant to the requirements introduced under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, Kate works with EB-5 Regional Centers, EB-5 Projects, Overseas Migration Agents and Broker/ Dealers to develop internal programs for ongoing compliance and to prepare USCIS I-956, I-956F, I-956,G, I-956H, I-956K submissions. Kate has represented thousands of investors in obtaining their green cards through EB-5 regional center projects, as well as direct EB-5 investment opportunities. She also represented and structured the largest EB-5 offering in the Program’s history and has over the course of her career structured over $12 billion in EB-5 deals.

Within the field of immigration law, Kate is a well-known speaker and author. She is often called upon by various media outlets to comment on topics of business immigration law including the Real Deal, the Wall Street Journal, and Law360. Kate has appeared on numerous TV programs related to immigration law including CNN, the Stoler Report, Vietface TV, and China Business Network. Kate is also a prolific writer on the topic of immigration and has been published in immigration practice handbooks for the American Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, ILW, and in news periodicals that include the New Jersey Lawyer, the New York Law Journal, the New Jersey Law Journal, USA Today, GlobeSt.com, and the Commercial Observer. At the request of the American Bar Association, Kate co-authored the book “What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Immigration Law,” a guide for non-lawyers on immigration law practice. She has sat on numerous bar association related committees including the American Immigration Lawyers Association EB-5 Practice Committee, the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition and has chaired the American Bar Association’s, Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Section of Administrative Law since 2011. Kate has been recognized in various legal surveys including Chambers Global, New York Super Lawyers, the New Jersey Law Journal who ranked as her as a “New Leader of the Bar,” (formerly 40 under 40) in 2012, NJBIZ “Best 50 Women in Business,” 2019, National Law Review, “Go-To Thought Leader: Immigration Law,” 2022, and Lawdragon 500, Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, 2020-2022.

Kate is devoted to pro bono matters and has spent extensive time helping clients fleeing conflict and persecution with asylum applications, applying for and obtaining Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole.

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