One of the first questions that immigrants will want answered is,

What is the center’s track record for getting EB-5 visas approved?

Indeed this is an extremely important question to ask, and to have answered.  However, this is also a question that needs qualification, and is only a place to start.  The inquiry should never end here, and no decision should be based only on the percentage or number of successful EB5 visas approved through a given center.  In addition to this figure, some other important questions to consider include (but are 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?

•    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?
o    Of those, how many were approved?
o    How many were denied?

•    How many I-829 petitions (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) have been filed for the regional center?
o    Of those, how many were approved?
o    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?

This list alone constitutes a lot of questions and answers; and that is not nearly the end of the inquiries that you need to be making to ensure the safety of your investment and reliability of your application being approved.  Even if you were able to get answers to all of these questions (and realistically that is very hard 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 advisor 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 third-party advisor 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 advisor 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.

In our next blog we will look at:  Job Creation Methodology of the Regional Center