Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

How do I know whether or not an EB-5 project is part of a Regional Center?

How do I know whether or not an EB-5 project is part of a Regional Center? I would like to know whether the Washington Bridge and transit hub project was approved by a USCIS Regional Center. Is the project is now functioning?

Answers

• Mona Shah

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 13, 2013

  There is no public data. You can contact the regional center directly. If you are referring to the George Washington Bridge project, please contact NYCRC directly.

• Reza Rahbaran

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 11, 2013

  You should ask your attorney to request the project approval letter from the regional center. For further information please contact Rahbaran & Associates.

• Ying Lu

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 8, 2013

  You can ask the project to provide documentation to prove that this project is within or associated with an approved regional center. You can also find a complete regional center list at http://www.uscis.gov/eb-5centers

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 6, 2013

  You should request documentation directly from the project to ensure it is a project within the regional center, which has a designation letter from USCIS as well as the project is within the approved geographical area/industry of the regional center. You can also check online at uscis.gov/eb-5centers and use the search function for the approved regional centers. You should not invest in a project unless you have conducted thorough due diligence about a specific regional center and its projects and whether the regional center/project is functioning.

• Lynne Feldman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  USCIS has a list of the approved Regional Center EB-5 projects on their website: uscis.gov/eb-5centers

• Lei Jiang

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  You can ask for USCIS approval letter and related documents.

• Toni L Castel

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  You would check out the website of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (uscis.gov/eb-5centers). This is the most up-to-date list of EB-5 regional centers available. There is a search function available for you to search specifically for the project. Best of luck.

• Jeffrey E Campion

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  I''d recommend your contacting them directly re those issues.

• Jinhee Wilde

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  It is my understanding that Washington Bridge project was being promoted by Washington Regional Center, but I don''t think it worked out as EB-5 appropriate project. As far as I know, USCIS has not approved I-924 for that project and no I-526 based on that project has been approved.

• BoBi Ahn

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  You need to do thorough due diligence on a project before you make the decision to invest and hopefully obtain your EB-5 Immigrant Visa. One of the important steps in doing your due diligence is to make sure that if the EB-5 Project claims to be a part of a Regional Center, that it provides you with a copy of the Regional Center Designation Letter issued by the USCIS, and that the project that your will be investing in falls within the geographic area for which the Regional Center Designation was approved. That would determine whether or not an EB-5 project is a part of a designated Regional Center.

• Charles H Kuck

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  USCIS maintains an active list of certified regional centers at uscis.gov/eb-5centers.

• Anthony Ravani

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  That is up to the Regional Center to provide you with evidence.

• Clem Turner

  Securities Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  Typically, an EB-5 Project will have to tell you if it is sponsored by a regional center, as the job creation numbers will be counted much less favorably if it is not. This is probably information "material to your investment decision," so the securities laws would require that you be given this disclosure. Are you specifically concerned about the George Washington Bridge Project in New York City? If so, this project was sponsored by the New York City Regional Center. You can find information about this project on their website.

• Roberto Ortiz

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  The best thing that you can do is go to the USCIS website. It is www.uscis.gov and put EB-5 Regional Centers on the Search. It will show all of the approved projects. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

• Fredrick W Voigtmann

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  Ask the project developer for a copy of the designation letter; also you can check it against the USCIS list of designated EB-5 regional centers.

• Boyd Campbell

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  Project developers may show you the securities offering which will contain information about the regional center, if one is involved.

• Taher Kameli

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  You need to ask the project to send you a letter from the regional center to verify that the project is part of the regional center.

• Daniel P Hanlon

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  The USCIS publishes a list of EB-5 Regional Centers, whose programs it has approved. You may wish to consult www.uscis.gov for that information.

• Emre Ozgu

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  EB5 projects typically have a website with contact information. Reach out to the project liaison to find out more. New York doesn''t really have a list of Regional Centers so it is hard to find out information.

• Mark Urbanski

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  The best way is to contact the Regional Center directly to confirm. If you receive information about an EB-5 Regional Center project, it will list the name of the Regional Center behind the project.

• Neville M Leslie

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  If it is an eb-5 project, it is part of a regional center.

• Stephen Berman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 5, 2013

  To check, go to http://www.uscis.gov/eb-5centers. I checked and there is no site by that name on the current list.