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One of the first questions that immigrants want answered is – What is the regional center’s track record for getting EB-5 visas approved?
Although this is an extremely important question to have answered, this is also a question that needs qualification, and is only a place to start. The inquiry should certainly never end here, and no decision should be based only on the percentage or number of successful EB5 visas approved through a given center and particularly any specific program from that center. In addition to this figure, some other important questions to consider include (but certainly not limited to):
- How “old” is the regional center?
- When was the center approved?
- Has the regional center been reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO)?
- Is the regional center affiliated with a government agency or entity?) Does the Center claim to be operated by the government? Some do but when they are not.
- How many years’ experience does the principal manager of the regional center have in working with EB-5 centers?
- How many years’ experience does the principal manager have working in job creation and developing new jobs?
- How many I-526 petitions (Immigrant Petition for Alien Entrepreneur) have been filed for the regional center? – Of those, how many were approved? How many were denied?
- How many I-829 petitions (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) have been filed for the regional center? – Of those, how many were approved? How many were denied?
- Are fees being charged to you as an investor for information and materials?
- Will the Regional Center in question escrow invested funds?
- What happens to escrowed funds if the I-526 is rejected? Are they refunded?
- What is the project and how will investment funds be used?
- What type and frequency of project status reporting can I expect?
- What is their actual track record of returning investors $500,000 funds, actual as opposed to exit strategy, hype etc?
This list alone constitutes a lot of questions and answers; and that is not nearly the end of the inquiries that need to be made to ensure the safety of your investment and reliability of your application being approved. Even if you were able to get full and genuine answers to all of these questions (and realistically that is very hard and in some cases a near impossibility for a private investor), just having the answers will not tell you how to evaluate them. Every answer that is collected needs to be put into perspective not only for that particular center, but in perspective in comparison against other prospective regional centers as well. For most of the questions that need asking there is no one right or wrong answer—only an answer that needs further consideration and evaluation. This is what an impartial adviser will do—first get the answers that elude you, and then secondly sit down with you, discuss the implications of each one, and help you decide its bearing on your investment and your regional center selection.
The track record of the regional centers that you are considering will be the first thing that your adviser will discuss with you. That is because the track record alone will “weed out” a lot of the centers that are either simply too risky, or not right for you. From there, your adviser will walk you through a number of other evaluations, and address many more concerns to ensure the viability of the center, its projects, and their fitness for your needs.
More detailed information on the EB-5 immigration investor visa can be found in Green Card via the Red carpet – a comprehensive guide to US immigration options by Andrew Bartlett and Stephen Parnell
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