Contact:
Email: info@sggimmigration.com
Michele Franchett
Partner & Certified Specialist
Michele Franchett is a partner at SGG Immigration LLP, and co-manages the Investors and Entrepreneurs Practice Group. 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-raising groups. She provides counsel to a number of regional centers seeking to obtain or amend regional center designations and EB-5 investment project approvals, and regional centers undergoing mandatory audits by the Immigrant Investor Program Office. Ms. Franchett serves on the Public Policy Committee of IIUSA (Invest in the USA) – the national industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program, served as a member of the AILA national EB-5 Committee for eight years, and is a former chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) Southern California Chapter.
Ms. Franchett began working in the area of U.S. immigration law in 1986, and has acquired experience encompassing virtually every area of business-based immigration, including employment-based immigration, employer compliance, and I-9 audits (both internal and those initiated by ICE/HSI). She has represented multinational corporations, research hospitals, universities, investors, entrepreneurs, academicians, artists, and entrepreneurs from around the globe.
Ms. Franchett graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies. She began studying Mandarin at the age of 15, and completed First-Year Intensive Japanese at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, as well as coursework at the Taiwan Normal University Mandarin Training Center in Taipei. She received her law degree from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law.
In her free time, Ms. Franchett enjoys visiting her family in Minneapolis, tennis, biking, hiking, and reading.
Speaking Engagements
- 2024, June – Old and New EB-5 Cases: The Ongoing Implementation of the EB-5 Reform
Act of 2022 – 2024 AILA Annual Conference on Immigration Law, Chicago, IL
- 2024, February – Overview of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 – 2024 AILA Investors and Entrepreneurs Conference and Webcast, New Orleans, LA
- 2023, June – New Era for EB-5 Investor Visa Program: Impacts of EB-5 Reform Act of 2022, Orlando, Florida
- 2022, November – Investment Visa Hot Topics – 35thAnnual AILA California Chapters Conference, Los Angeles, CA
- 2021, April – AILA Conversations with the EB-5 Committee
- 2020, December – AILA Conversations with the EB-5 Committee
- 2020, May – AILA Conversations with the EB-5 Committee
- 2019, October – The New Normal for TEAs: What Are the Changes & How to Adapt – IIUSA 9th Annual EB-5 Industry Forum, Seattle, WA
- 2019, May – RFEs, NOITs, and Regional Center Terminations: Trends and How to Respond – IIUSA 12th Annual EB-5 Advocacy Conference, Washington, DC
- 2018, October – USCIS Adjudications: RFE, NOIT, and NOID Trends, Response Strategies and Implications for Investors – AILA & IIUSA EB-5 Industry Forum, Chicago, IL
- 2018, April – USCIS Processing Times & Practical Strategies for Investor Success – IIUSA 11thAnnual EB-5 Advocacy Conference, Washington, DC
- 2018, January – RFE/NOID Trends (Case Studies), EB5 Investors Magazine’s Global Investment Immigration Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 2017, December – Latest RFE Trends, AILA EB-5 Investors Summit, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 2017, October – RFE Trends: What is USCIS Focused on in EB-5 Investor & Project Adjudications, IIUSA EB-5 Industry Forum, Miami, Florida
- 2016, October – Issue Spotting in EB-5 Legislation for Investors – IIUSA EB-5 Industry Forum – Los Angeles, California
- 2016, October – Representing Regional Centers with Setting Up, Maintaining Status, and Planning Projects – AILA EB-5 Investors Summit, Washington, DC
- 2016, April – The Future of EB-5 in California – California Association for Local Economic Development (“CALED”) 36thAnnual Training Conference, San Francisco, California
- 2015, August – Job Creation Methodologies for Regional Center Projects – AILA EB-5 Investors Summit, Las Vegas, Nevada
- 2015, February – EB-5 Recent Trends – AILA Southern California Winter CLE Conference, Palm Springs, California
- 2014, July – I-829 Removal Process – AILA EB-5 Investors and Regional Centers Conference, Chicago, Illinois
- 2014, June – Performing Immigration Due Diligence on EB-5 Regional Centers, AILA Annual Conference, Boston, Massachusetts
- 2014, March – Regional Centers vs. Direct Investments, Los Angeles County Bar Association EB-5 Seminar, Los Angeles, California
- 2014, March – EB-5 Overview, AILA Southern California Chapter Winter CLE Conference, Mammoth, California
- 2013, October – EB-5 Visa Quota Retrogression, AILA National Webinar
- 2013, October – I-829 and Documenting Job Creation, ILW EB-5 Summit for Attorneys and Developers, Los Angeles, California
- 2013, May – I-829 and Documenting Job Creation, ILW EB-5 Summit for Attorneys and Developers, Washington, DC
- 2012, April – Focus on Investors From China, AILA National EB-5 Conference, Nassau, Bahamas
- 2011, October – To EB-5 or Not to EB-5, AILA National EB-5 Conference, San Antonio, Texas
Publications
- EB-5: The Lay of the Land in 2024, M. Franchett, M. Galati, W. Gindin and D. Morris, 2024 AILA Annual Conference on Immigration Law, Chicago, IL
- Investment Visa Hot Topics – 35thAnnual AILA California Chapters Conference, Los Angeles, CA
- Associate Editor, Immigration Options for Investors and Entrepreneurs (AILA 4th ed. 2019)
- Job Creation for I-829 Petitions, Immigration Options for Investors & Entrepreneurs, 4th Edition, AILA, 2019
- Regional Center Terminations and Impacts on Immigrant Families, IIUSA Regional Center Business Journal, July 2017
- No Legislative Reform, Now What? A Roundtable With EB-5 Experts, IIUSA Regional Center Business Journal, April 2016
- Representing Investors and Entrepreneurs from China, Amidst a Market Enthralled by EB-5, Immigration Options for Investors & Entrepreneurs, 3rdEdition, AILA, 2014
- Immigration Update, PIHRA Scope, May 2002
- Spousal Work Authorization Bill Signed by President Bush, PIHRA Scope, March 2002
- Overview of Recent Changes in Immigration Law Affecting Health Care Human Resource Administrators, AHHRA News, 1996
- DV Lotteries–A Mad or Rational Way to Allocate Immigrant Visas, AILA Immigration & Nationality Law Handbook, 1996
- Non-Traditional H-1Bs and TNs, Emerging Issues in Immigration Law, AILA California Chapters Conference Handbook, 1994
Notable Professional Activities
- Member, Public Policy Committee, Invest in the USA (IIUSA), 2015 – present
- Member AILA EB-5 Committee, 2014 – 2016, 2018 – 2024
- Vice Chair AILA EB-5 Committee, 2020-2021
- Chair, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Southern California Chapter, 1996 – 1997
- Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association
Bar Admission and Certifications
- Certified Specialist in Immigration & Nationality Law, 2014 – present, California State Bar
Experience
- Partner, SGG Immigration LLP, Los Angeles, CA – January 2014 to present
- Associate Attorney, Stone & Grzegorek LLP, Los Angeles, CA – July 2009 to December 2013
- Associate Attorney, Bernard P. Wolfsdorf, A Professional Law Corporation, Pacific Palisades, CA – April 1993 to January 2006
Areas of Expertise
- EB-5 advising for groups seeking to raise foreign investment capital
- EB-5 eligibility analyses of offering documents, comprehensive business plans, economic impact and job creation reports, and EB-5 compliance policies and procedures
- Advising on I-956F Application for Approval of investment in a Commercial Enterprise
- Advising on regional center designation and amendment filings
- Advising on I-956G annual reports
- Advising individuals seeking to immigrate on range of options
- Consular processing of immigrant visa applications
- Consular processing of nonimmigrant employment-based visa applications