Lincoln Stone created and has served as Editor-in-Chief for all four editions of Immigration Options for Investors and Entrepreneurs, the collaborative work-product of many leading lawyers that is published as a practice book by American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Publications for AILA members and other professionals. Lincoln’s law experience includes lawyer positions as federal appellate court law clerk, government attorney with the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, civil litigator, business counsel, and immigration law practitioner. His real-world education has included jobs as a bus boy, newspaper boy, janitor, painter, grocery bagger and checkout clerk, as well as volunteer with various nonprofits locally and abroad. Lincoln’s formal university education consists of studies in law, business, humanities, and global health.

Elsie Hui Arias is a partner of Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez, LLP (SGG), a full-service immigration law firm in Los Angeles, California. She has been certified as a specialist in immigration and nationality law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization since 2007. Ms. Arias practices in all areas of U.S. immigration, with particular expertise in EB-5 investor and business immigration. She advises regional centers and developers in preparing EB-5 investment offerings, applying for initial and amended regional center designations (including approval of I-526 exemplars), maintaining compliance, and developing strategies in tackling complex issues that emerge during the I-526 or I-829 process. At SGG, she also co-manages a large team that has successfully represented thousands of EB-5 investors and entrepreneurs. Ms. Arias was the Chair of the 2017 AILA EB-5 Conference Committee and was a member of the 2017–18 AILA EB-5 Investor Committee. She was named one of the “Top 25” EB-5 lawyers by EB5 Investors Magazine in 2018. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Davis School of Law.

Erin Corber is an associate attorney at Trow & Rahal, PC. Her work primarily focuses on employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant matters, with particular emphasis on immigration solutions for entrepreneurs and investors. Erin has extensive experience with business-related nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions for employees of companies ranging from boutique family-owned businesses to large tech and construction companies. Erin has also worked closely with individuals who possess highly specialized skills or training in preparing National Interest Waivers and green card applications. Additionally, Erin has been a devoted advocate in providing immigration solutions to victims of oppression, violence, and human trafficking. Her work has included large-scale representation of workers who have been exploited in the United States and foreign victims of domestic violence in pursuing applications for U and T visas, and immigrant visa petitions filed under the Violence Against Women Act. Erin earned her J.D. from Tulane University and her B.A. from George Mason University. She is a member of AILA and the Virginia State Bar.

Michele Franchett is a partner at Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez, LLP. She is currently serving a third term on AILA’s national EB-5 Committee and has been a member of the Invest in the USA (IIUSA) Public Policy Committee since 2015. She is admitted to the California Bar and is a Certified Specialist in the practice of Immigration and Nationality Law. She has over twenty years of experience in the field and her current practice is focused on investor and entrepreneurial immigration, with particular emphasis on EB-5 capital group representation. She is a frequent speaker at EB-5 industry events and provides counsel to a number of regional centers seeking to obtain or amend regional center designations and exemplar petition approvals.

Suzanne Lazicki is a business plan writer and the author of blog.lucidtext.com, a leading source of news and analysis for the EB-5 industry. Since establishing Lucid Professional Writing in 2008, Ms. Lazicki has written plans for hundreds of EB-5 projects. She has been privileged to watch her clients advance through the EB-5 process to permanent residence and repayment. EB5 Investors Magazine named Ms. Lazicki a “Top 5” business plan writer in 2016, 2017, and 2018. She can be reached at suzanne@lucidtext.com.

David M. Morris is a current member of AILA’s EB-5 Investor Visa Committee and its former Chair. Based in Washington D.C., Mr. Morris has practiced in the EB-5 visa program since 1996, giving him both pre- and post-Izummi experience. He has served as a conference organizer, discussion leader, or speaker at every national EB-5 conference sponsored by AILA. He is widely published in the EB-5 industry and is a senior editor of AILA’s leading EB-5 book, Immigration Options for Investors & Entrepreneurs (3rd Ed.). He has also been three times named as a “Top 25” lawyer by EB5 Investors Magazine. Mr. Morris can be reached at Morris@VisaLawGroup.com.

Kristal Ozmun is a partner at Miller Mayer, LLP. Ms. Ozmun focuses her practice on employment-based immigration with a unique specialization in the EB-5 preference category. She represents EB-5 regional centers in matters related to immigration law, including designation, compliance, and governance. She also advises EB-5 investors in navigating the immigration process and represents a variety of individual clients seeking non-immigrant and immigrant status. Ms. Ozmun is a member of the Massachusetts and New York State bars. She received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and her B.A. from the College of Charleston.

Susan L. Pilcher is a partner of Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez, LLP, a full-service immigration law firm in Los Angeles. Her practice focuses on business and investment immigration. She 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, and counseling regional centers and developers with ongoing compliance issues. She earned her J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School, where she was managing editor of the Stanford Law Review.

Cletus M. Weber is a founding member of Peng & Weber, PLLC, an eight-lawyer immigration law firm based in Mercer Island, Washington with representative offices in Beijing, China and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of IIUSA and previously served on AILA’s national EB-5 Committee and national EB-5 Conference Committee. In addition to serving as Senior Editor of this edition of Immigration Options for Investors & Entrepreneurs, he also served as Senior Editor of the Third Edition (2014) and Associate Editor of the Second Edition (2010). Mr. Weber is also the sole-invited reviewer of the EB-5 section of Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook, 14th–16th eds. He is listed in Who’s Who Legal: Corporate Immigration (2016–2019), and he represents EB-5 regional centers, projects, and investors in all facets of EB-5.