Following our overview from last week we will today look at the practice of some regional centers requiring their investors to use a designated attorney to file the I-526 petition.

In general we do not favor this practice. Our position is that you should have as much independent advice as possible, this would include an attorney independent of any regional center, an accountant and a business legal advisor. Think about buying a house; would you want to use the same legal representative as the seller or have your own? The provision of experience always needs to be taken into consideration though particularly in something as complex as the filing of an I-526 petition for an alien investor in a regional center case.

In no way are we casting aspersions on attorneys who work with specific regional centers; it is entirely possible that they made the list of approval because they are known for their high ethics, experiance and impartiality.  The only point is that this is a practice that could be positive or negative, and largely that will depend on the policies, practices, and code of ethics of the chosen regional center.

You will want to talk with your advisor to decide the implications that may apply to you.

Tomorrow we will look at how relatively new regional centers compare to those with an established record.

As usual, please contact us with any questions or comments via this blog, our websiteor Skype.