How difficult is it to find EB-5 direct $1 million investors?

Question

Our company began working with a regional center that is no longer in business. We have a renewable energy project with all of the USCIS and econ analysis completed, but are wary of working with another regional center. We are searching for ten $1 million investors. The question is, how difficult is it to contact marketers directly or to find EB-5 direct $1 million investors ourselves? Would we be better off affiliating with another regional center?

A Olusanjo Omoniyi · Answer

While it is understandable that you have experienced a disappointment, I would advise that you should review potential regional center(s) very well based on a host of criteria: experience, how long a center had been in existence, performance records, familiarity with the industry, etc. In essence, a good and thorough due diligence is needed. Do not write off working with another regional center. Without a clear definition of what "marketers" are, caveat emptor, depending on your approach and location (i.e. country by country) rules and regulations, a host of these marketers are required to register as securities dealers in order to be able to solicit for investments. Working with an EB-5 attorney with a team of other professionals can certainly help.

Fredrick W Voigtmann · Answer

It is very difficult because almost all of your competitors (other regional centers) are offering $500,000 EB-5 investments. It is doubtful that the terms of your deal are so much more attractive than your competitors as to offset the required investment amount being that much higher.

Ed Beshara · Answer

In the current EB-5 market it will be difficult to find EB-5 investors who will invest $1 million dollars. Please note a regional center affiliation allows the loan model and indirect employment creation to satisfy the requirement of 10 investors per investor. In addition, not every regional center has the ability to find qualified investors. Finding investors and paying finders fees are controlled by the SEC and the USCIS.

Yevgeny Samokhleb · Answer

A pooled $1 million project differs from a regional center project in more ways than just the required investment amount. Depending on how your project is currently set up, you may not be able to count all the jobs toward EB-5 purposes if you change its structure now. You are probably better off affiliating with another regional center.

Oliver Huiyue Qiu · Answer

You may be better off contacting anther regional center. Based upon my limited understanding of the market, potential investors who are willing to put up $1 million, instead of the almost uniform $500,000 investment requested by regional centers, are extremely rare. In addition, without a household name for your project, you may not earn much confidence from those investors, regardless of how noble or profitable the project could be.

Jinhee Wilde · Answer

I think the only regional center who has actually done a $1 million dollar project is CMB Export. There are a lot of benefits to a $1 million dollar project for the investors: no concern with whether the project is actually in a TEA, for example, and higher interest paid out to the investors. However, it is harder for people to document the legal source of funds for $1 million and also having that much liquidity to invest. Nevertheless, there are plenty of really wealthy people who could do that. Good luck.

Salvatore Picataggio · Answer

There are many EB-5 offerings in the marketplace, and the majority are in TEAs and can allow for the lower investment amount. A project that may not have been in a TEA previously could be found to be in one today.

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How difficult is it to find EB-5 direct $1 million investors?

Answers

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Ed Beshara

Yevgeny Samokhleb

Oliver Huiyue Qiu

Jinhee Wilde

Salvatore Picataggio