How do I vet a specific EB-5 regional center project?

It is in your best interest to hire an experienced due diligence specialist and an EB-5 immigration attorney.

USCIS approves the EB-5 regional center designation; it does not approve the financial viability of the project. Attorneys can provide immigration due diligence about the project. There are also companies that can provide financial and investment due diligence on the EB-5 project.

USCIS will approve the regional center. They do not post if the project has been approved or not. The regional center can receive approval of a project, but you must contact the individual center to find out. You need to contact the individual center and ask questions and perhaps employ someone to perform due diligence on the project.

This is an excellent question that investors often choose to ignore. Look to a registered broker dealer or a company that does due diligence.

You can reach out to an experienced lawyer or due diligence specialist that has familiarity with many of the projects. The analysis of the project is the same that you would do for any investment. What is the collateral? Examine capital stack, track record, etc.

You will have to contact each regional center directly to get information.

The public USCIS list of regional centers does not include information about the projects seeking financing that they are associated with. There are some public resources that list project offerings or you may search the world wide web and locate offerings by individual projects. No offering is vetted or approved by a government agency, so you must conduct your research thoroughly. You may also consider hiring a licensed investment adviser, securities broker, accountant, attorney, or other qualified adviser to assist in your due diligence inquiries.

USCIS can approve specific projects. Look for a regional center with an "exemplar" approval, and ask to see their regional center designation letter. By retaining an immigration attorney, you can have them review a project and regional center for immigration compliance.

You can certainly ask for information from various regional centers. Due diligence firms and broker-dealers in the EB-5 space often work with numerous regional centers and can provide due diligence reports on various projects. The "approval" by USCIS does not insure success. It only means that they have met minimum requirements set by EB-5 rules and regulations. Whatever you do, it is wise to retain securities counsel and an accounting firm to review deal documents and financials to supplement your own due diligence.