What are regional center regulations on finding EB-5 investors? - EB5Investors.com

What are regional center regulations on finding EB-5 investors?

Can a regional center, or those working on its behalf, charge a commission (i.e. 10%) on top of the $500,000 investment made by the person seeking the EB-5 visa?

Answers

Julia Roussinova

Julia Roussinova

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Regional Centers regularly charge syndication fees. Please consult a competent securities lawyer regarding your issue.

Taher Kameli

Taher Kameli

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Regional centers do charge an admin fee.

Reza Rahbaran

Reza Rahbaran

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The regional center is free to charge administrative fees from investors to cover marketing and overhead. If the RC pays a referral or finders fee to migration agents, they must adhere to the SEC regulations governing private placements. Ordinarily if the fee is paid to an onshore person then that person must be a registered broker dealer.

Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

A regional center may charge administration fees for investors.

Ed Beshara

Ed Beshara

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The securities laws and regulations govern the parameters of how legally a Regional Center can market their EB-5 projects to potential foreign investors.

Shahzad Q Qadri

Shahzad Q Qadri

RC Creators
Answered on

There are no specific regulations dealing with this issue, what you need to ensure is that you comply with all SEC regaulations as they pertain to private placements.

Lei Jiang

Lei Jiang

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Commission is normally paid to agents/broker. 10% commission is very high though.

BoBi Ahn

BoBi Ahn

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There is no restriction as to the fee that the RC''s can charge, as long as the fee is outside/in addition to the minimum required investment (either $500,000 or $1Million). You can always negotiate the fee however, or go shopping for better rates and vet the track record of the RC.

Philip H Teplen

Philip H Teplen

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

By contract, such is possible but not ethical.

Rachel Lew

Rachel Lew

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Yes, in addition to investor''s capital investment, regional centers usually charge investors administrative fees to meet expenses of the Regional Center in general administration, overhead, and marketing of the regional center. However, regional centers are regulated by Security Exchange Commission (SEC) in the solicitations and sales of securities (investors'' investments are considered U.S. securities), there are strict laws on paying commissions and finders fees to a person bringing clients. I believe these persons bringing in clients have to be registered as dealers and brokers in the U.S. to be paid a commission or finders fee. You will need to check with the SEC and each state''s Blue Sky law to determine whether a regional center can label a certain amount from the administration fee as commissions.

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

These regulations are within the jurisdiction of the SEC, not the USCIS. In other words, this is a question for a securities law expert, not an immigration law expert. The immigration laws and regulations do not specifically address your question.

Christian Schmidt

Christian Schmidt

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Regional Centers typically charge a syndication fee in addition to the required investment.

Lynne Feldman

Lynne Feldman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

They all charge some type of administrative fee.

Diana Levy

Diana Levy

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Regional Centers generally charge investors an administrative fee (sometimes as high as $50,000) to cover professional fees relating to I-526 petition documentation common to all investors. The entire $500K must be invested in the enterprise and costs relating to securities attorneys, economists, market studies, immigration attorneys, business plan writers and fees, etc. are covered by the administrative fee.

Kenneth Byrd

Kenneth Byrd

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

To answer that question is to get into complicated areas of securities law. In other words, it must be done correctly with the correct licenses to be appropriate. Feel free to call us directly to discuss your case.

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