Immigrants can get EB5 green cards by investing in US commercial enterprises to create job opportunities. You can directly invest in your own business or via an EB5 regional center. Working with a regional center may be more suitable if you’re not conversant with the EB5 program and US investment opportunities.
What Is an EB5 Regional Center?
An EB5 regional center is an organization that facilitates foreign investments into the US economy under the EB5 immigrant investor program. Its primary role is to pool funds for economic development projects from immigrants who want to become permanent US residents. A regional center is certified and regulated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It can be privately owned, publicly owned by a state or economic development agency, or result from a public-private partnership.
How Does a Regional Center Work?
Regional centers help immigrants gain permanent residence by finding investment opportunities that meet USCIS’s EB5 visa requirements. The opportunities are offered through private placements governed by federal and state securities and exchange laws. They only involve a small pool of investors. Each investor may be required to invest $1,050,000 or $800,000, depending on the investment location.
Most regional centers invest in large-scale projects like real estate developments as they can easily meet EB5’s capital and job creation requirements. The projects may be under the direct ownership of the regional centers or belong to other businesses affiliated with the regional centers. In this case, regional centers act as project sponsors, providing businesses with capital to develop their projects.
What Does a Regional Center Do?
The primary role of a regional center is to find attractive investment opportunities for immigrants looking for EB5 visa approval. A regional center may consider the following factors when determining the viability of an investment opportunity:
Location of the Investment Opportunity
The USCIS restricts regional centers’ operations to specific geographical areas, so they can only choose opportunities within their locations. Regional centers can petition the USCIS for temporary geographical expansion for projects near their allocated areas if needed.
Project Risks
Regional centers seek to minimize investors’ immigration risks, so they focus on projects offering the lowest risks. This means choosing large-scale projects as they can meet EB5’s capital and job-creation requirements.
What Are the Benefits of Investing in a Regional Center?
Investing in a regional center may be suitable since it doesn’t require much involvement. Your chosen regional center will find a suitable investment opportunity; all you have to do is provide the capital needed to initiate your EB5 application process. You also don’t have to be involved in your investment project’s management once your visa gets approved. Your regional center can handle that. Less involvement is a key benefit for any investor who isn’t as familiar with the US economy or wants to pursue other opportunities.
You can also enjoy a short adjudication time if you invest in a regional center that offers pre-approved projects. When applying for an EB5 visa, you need to provide project documents and proof of source of funds. Analyzing these documents takes time, so some regional centers apply for pre-approval before marketing their projects to investors. Investors who invest in pre-approved projects can potentially enjoy faster processing times since they only have to submit their proof of the source of funds. USCIS adjudicators don’t review pre-approved project documents unless there are material changes to the project or if they suspect misrepresentation or fraud in the initial filing.
Working with regional centers is also beneficial since they can take credit for indirect job creation. When investing directly in the economy, you must show that your investment will create ten direct full-time jobs for US workers. Regional centers can claim direct and indirect jobs. Indirect jobs are jobs resulting from a new project but aren’t directly created by the project.
Acquire Permanent Residence Through an EB5 Regional Center
A reliable EB5 regional center can help you navigate USCIS regulations on EB5 visas. Regional centers find viable investment opportunities for immigrants seeking permanent residence in the US. These centers can be ideal for investors with little business experience or a limited understanding of the US economy and USCIS processes. Working with them can minimize the risk of having your EB5 green card application denied.
