How do I know which EB-5 Regional Centers and projects are reliable?

The selection of a qualified and successful regional center is very challenging. A full due diligence on a short list of regional centers will be necessary as well as a personal visit to the project to ensure its viability as well as a review of all documents. Please review your tax situation before becoming a US person for tax purposes, especially for income tax, gift and estate taxes. TEA projects are normally approved by the state and a letter of such is issued by the state. You may request a copy of such. The reliability of the developer of the project hinges on your due diligence. Take the time to make all necessary inquiries or hire an accounting or law firm specialized in forensic research. Indeed, there is a real danger of loss of principal if the investment is in the wrong hands. The conditional status can be revoked due to failure to provide the necessary jobs as stated in the business plan. We do not and cannot recommend specific projects.

There are several Regional Centers with proven track record of I-526 and I-829 approvals. When you talk to a Regional Center, ask them about their track record. They should be able to tell you how many approvals, RFEs and denials they received and show you the redacted approval notices. If they refuse to tell you this, they probably are not the one you want. There are only few that have had I-829, which is very important as they are the ones that have gotten their investors the permanent green card, not just temporary ones. As an immigration attorney, I do not actually recommend one regional center over another in order to avoid any conflict of interest. However, there are several financial advisors, like WhichEB5, who reviews regional centers and keep track of their approvals

You have to do your own due diligence as far as regional centers go. You can find a list of the regional centers on the USCIS website. You need to be careful because some are good and others not so good. There is a danger of losing money as with any at-risk investment if there is a problem with the project, and the green card may not be renewed if the conditions are not met. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

You need to study the PPM of each project carefully. Make sure to understand the business model and ask them how they will pay you back the $500K. Make sure the Job creation model has not been criticized by the US government.

You don''t, which is why due diligence is so important. Employ a financial adviser, visit the EB-5 project location and the regional center. Investigate the project principals and the regional center principals. Ask lots of questions.

You would not know any of this. You select a good attorney and ask the attorney to do these things for you. I believe it is the duty of the attorney to provide this kind of service to the client. Many attorneys do not believe in that and they only do the filing of immigration case. But in our law firm due to extensive ''business,'' and ''investment'' experience we assist our client and include these service as part of the same fee.