How long until EB-5 funding is available for a regional center project?

It depends. With a complete set of EB-5 project documents, a migration agent will have an easier time selling the project to potential investors, but there is a lot more that goes into marketing an EB-5 project.

There are many factors that will determine the timeline for your funding. Marketability of your project in China and elsewhere is the major factor. Another factor will be the size of your project. A larger project will take longer to fund; it really depends upon the project and who is marketing it.

Your question depends on the specific EB-5 project you are investing in. The project documents govern the specifics your investment.

In most cases the answers depend on two things: the terms of the agreement between the investors and regional center, and the filings of the I-526s relating to the project and their consequential approvals. For instance, if the I-526s and the accompanying documents are filed and approved, any money in the escrow will be released for use on the project within a reasonable amount of time. In essence, the release of money for the projects will be affected by any number of factors relating to the I-526s approvals. Advisably, work with your EB-5 attorney to ensure the terms of agreement are followed and facilitate the release of funds on time for the project(s).

The question of how long it will take to get EB-5 funding is the most fundamental question. It depends upon your ability to raise money from potential EB-5 investors abroad and the ability of you and/or your regional center to market your project abroad. There are many EB-5 projects that never fully raise all of their funds in the marketplace since you have to compete with many other viable EB-5 projects that may be better known or have more attractive features.

Right now the program ends December 8 unless Congress extends it.

This depends upon the terms of the escrow and the holdback provisions. If you wait until the I-526 is approved, that could be about 18 months or longer. If there is no requirement to have an approved I-526, and merely a portion of the funds are held back to cover refunds, then it can be used much sooner.

That will depend on how you structure your documents and how fast the raise will take. It is possible to make EB-5 funds available for use immediately upon a deposit from an investor; however, it has to state so in the offering docs. The most important question is how fast can the money be raised? Experienced centers can raise the funds in a few months, and most new centers will need 1-3 years to complete a raise on their first project.