During the last few years, one of the biggest growth areas in Immigration law has been the expansion of EB-5 regional centers. A regional center is an entity that has been designated by the USCIS immigration agency. The designation means that the regional center can solicit investments from foreign nationals who seek to obtain permanent residency in the United States through the EB-5 Visa.
However, just because a regional center has been designated by the USCIS doesn’t mean that investing in a regional center will automatically result in an applicant receiving permanent residency. Not all regional centers are the same – and would-be investors should take great care in choosing a regional center.
In determining which regional center to choose, an immigrant investor should look at the regional center’s financial possibilities and immigration likelihood.
Financial Possibilities: An investment in an EB-5 regional center must be completely “at risk.” It is not possible to obtain an EB-5 visa without putting your money at risk. However, each regional center brings different financial risks with it. As an investor, you must decide whether a regional center will be capable of giving you a return in your investment.
Immigration Likelihood: Investing in an EB-5 regional center does not always result in immigration permanent residency. To obtain permanent residency through the EB-5 regional center scheme, it is necessary for the regional center’s project to be initiated – and for it to create the number of American jobs that it is suppose to create. For example, if an immigrant investor invests in a regional center that is putting together a 100 million dollar investment project – but the project never gets started – then the immigrant investor will probably not be able to demonstrate that the investment created the required number of jobs.
Not all EB-5 regional centers have resulted in investors receiving even initial designation as permanent residents. Additionally, many other regional centers have not resulted in investors receiving permanent residency through the I-829 approval. That means that some immigrant investors have invested in a regional center, been invested for at least two years, and then discover that they are not eligible to gain permanent residency through the regional center.
If you are thinking of becoming an immigrant investor through a regional center, it is imperative that you align yourself with an attorney who is capable of helping you determine which regional center offers the best possibility of you having immigrant success.