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United States of America

Immigration Minute

Bar Admissions

  • California
  • District of Columbia (Inactive)
  • Law Society of Hong Kong (Inactive)
  • South Africa (Inactive)

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

Education

  • University of Witwatersrand
    ,
    1967

David Hirson

With 30 years experience in the practice of immigration law, David co-manages the Firm's Irvine office and is the partner in charge of Fragomen's Consular Practice, which facilitates the processing of U.S. nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications filed at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide. He has been certified as a Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization for 20 years.

Representative Experience

Manages immigration accounts for Fortune 500 companies

Assists companies with start-up expansion, merger and acquisition relating to immigration law, compliance and case processing

Retained by many high net worth individuals in their immigration related investments

Files Regional Center applications and individual Green Card applications for investors under the EB-5 Investor Visa category- considered an expert in this particular field:

Has been involved with EB-5 cases since passage of the law in 1990

Was present in the Senate in Washington DC when the EB-5 bill was marked up and Senator Biden, now Vice President Biden was debating the proposed new law

In 1991, personally prepared and filed one of the very first EB-5 cases with the INS (now USCIS). The case was approved. The same case was the first case to be consular interviewed and approved at the AIT in Taiwan

Successfully filed and received approvals of many cases in the first 10 years of the program. Only about 300 cases were approved annually by the INS/USCIS in the early years of the program. After 2000 the program began to pickup and the approved EB-5 cases broke through the 1000 barrier

Personally argued appeals at the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) and had 4 cases approved after they were denied by the INS/USCIS and certified to the appeal unit

Has applied for several regional centers to be designated and approved by USCIS. The most recent of which was in 2009- the PUMA Regional Center in Riverside, CA; and a Regional Center covering the state of Utah

He is the partner leading the EB-5 team in the Irvine office, comprised of attorneys, supervising paralegals, paralegals, legal assistants and administrative staff

Referred many of the EB-5 cases within the US Fragomen offices – San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, and Washington DC

Professional Accomplishments

Memberships

Current

Member, Orange County Bar Association's Immigration Law Section

Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Immigration Law Section

Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association

Member, American Bar Association (ABA)

Member of the legislative committee of the IIUSA (Invest in USA), an EB-5 Regional Center trade and professional organization

Previous

Chapter Chair, Southern California Chapter of AILA

Chaired, State Bar of California, International Law Section

Chaired, State Bar of California, International Law Section, Immigration Law sub-committee

Chaired, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Investor Visa Committee

Chair Committee on Congressional Liaison Southern California Chapter of AILA

Co-Chair Committee on Consular Processing Southern California Chapter of AILA

Vice-Chair, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS now USCIS) Headquarters Liaison Committee in Washington DC, on behalf of the National Office of AILA

Co-Chair, Liaison Committee to the Western Region of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of AILA

Publications and Lectures

Lectures to Bar Associations, Human Resources Associations, Chambers of Commerce, Investment programs in the U.S. and abroad

Lectures on the EB-5 topic to attorneys and to the public in the USA, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Canada, Australia, Mexico and others. Most recent presentations include:

Panel member on advanced topics at the AILA all-day EB-5 seminar in San Francisco in October, 2009

Panel member on advanced topics at the AILA all-day EB-5 seminar in Boston in August, 2010

Panel leader in an EB-5 presentation to the immigration lawyers, of the Orange County Bar Association, Immigration Law Section

Co-Author of the Immigration Chapter Section of “Corporate Legal Departments”, Practicing Law Institute

He is the author of two EB-5 related editions of Immigration Briefings, a publication of West ®, a Thomson Reuters company:

Hirson, David, “Immigrant Investors: Five Years Later,” 95–11 Immigration Briefings (November 1995)

Hirson, David & Mayou, Catherine I., “The Sinking of the Titanic, or the Rising of the Phoenix? –An update on Immigrant Investor Visas,” 98-9 Immigration Briefings (September 1998)

Publication of numerous other articles on general Immigration Law and on Corporate & Investment Immigration Law

Author of Immigration Chapter Section of “Corporate Compliance Practice Guide: The Next Generation of Compliance”, LexisNexis 2009

Awards

International Who's Who of Business Lawyers (Corporate Immigration)

Southern California Super Lawyers, America's Best Lawyers, Best Immigration Lawyers in United States by Best of the U.S., annually from 2006-2010

Martindale Hubbell AV Rated for 15 consecutive years (1995-2010)

American Jewish Committee, Lifetime Achievement Award

Recognized as one of the Top 50 Lawyers in Orange County (2007-2008)

Orange Coast Top Attorney 2006, 2007, 2010, & 2011

Strathmore’s Who’s Who, Professional of the year 2007

Strathmore’s Who’s Who, Lifetime Member

America’s Registry, Outstanding Professional 2008-2010

Madison Who’s Who Registry of Executives & Professionals 2009 - 2011

American Honor's Society, Standards of Professionalism within he field of Legal Service and Global Immigration Laws, inducted 2011

Pro Bono

David represented individuals and not for profit organizations.