HERALD: What brings you to Goa?
DOBRINA USTUN: I am a US immigration attorney and we assist foreign nationals coming in to the United States of America, obtaining work and investor Visas and also helping them to bring their family along into to the US. I was in Mumbai to attend the Global Investment Immigration Summit which brings together leading real estate developers, regional players, immigration funds, immigration companies and immigration attorneys from different countries. Since Goa was close-by I decided to visit the State after Jagat Shah of Vibrant Goa requested me to do so. In fact I was supposed to come to Goa in October last year but that programme could not materialise.
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HERALD: Are people interested in migrating to USA at the moment?
DU: Yes, there will always be people who want to migrate to the United States for multiple reasons. First, a lot of people have family in the US already and they want to reunite with their family there. Secondly, lot of people want to do business or expand their business to US and if you have money, US is open for business. Indians in particular look for businesses in IT sector, restaurant business or even invest in real estate in the US.
HERALD: You have worked in US with an Indian company Infosys. How was your experience?
DU: Yes, I worked for them from 2012 to end of 2013. I cannot share confidential issues but one of the things about Indian companies is that there is plenty of hard work by Indian companies and there is a thrust for innovation and knowledge to get to the next level. You can already see how many Indians or of Indian origin are leading companies like Google, Microsoft etc. The list is endless. In fact Indians do not take ‘no’ for an answer and that is probably embedded in their culture and education. If this is the mentality and obviously you will achieve something big in your life. Also, since Indians are very well educated, they are already ahead of many people in US. It is a recipe for success.
HERALD: Since you are an immigration attorney, how do you see the trend for immigration into USA?
DU: Immigration is tied to the political climate. Every time we have a new administration, obviously the immigration policy will change one way or the other and I think it applies to several countries and not just the United States. Right now the laws are changing very rapidly and it is becoming more stringent. The trend is that the current administration does not encourage asylum seekers. The recent wealth tax that the US has imposed which will come in to effect on February 24 this month, will give the administration the right to look into the financial of the immigrant as well as the sponsor financial so that the immigrant is not dependent on US budgetary support. Many more documents will be required to prove that the immigrant is self-sufficient.
HERALD: How does India rank among other countries as far as immigration to US is concerned?
DU: India is one of the top countries of the world from where we in US get immigrants. China has taken a back seat because of political environment in their country. India has been in the top five countries which include Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea and China.
HERALD: President Trump is likely to visit India soon. How do you see the business growing between India and US?
DU: The business between India and US is to grow because US-India relationship is much better than that of US China relationships and both India and China are a country of over a billion people. Given the relationship with China, US have no choice but to maintain a good relationship with India. India today is the fastest and the youngest growing nation is the world which cannot be ignored.
HERALD: Before the Brexit, most of the Goan used to migrate to UK and other European countries. In case they wish to immigrate to US what would Goans require?
DU: Brexit will also take a year as it will have to undergo that transition period and thereafter a lot of things would change. In terms of coming to the United States people have couple of options which they utilise. One is the investor visa where one in the past had to put $ 500,000 but now it has become more expensive and the figure is now at $ 900,000 which is a minimum requirement and the process is very long. Secondly, if one has a business in India and wants to open a branch in US then one can transfer his or her employee but that is on E2 visa which is a non-immigrant visa. Some people are buying citizenship in Caribbean islands and then after four months they migrate to US through investor visa.
