How are EB-5 investors actively involved in a regional center project?

This works because EB-5 investors in a regional center project are involved in policy formation or voting on major business matters, such as liquidation, change in business purpose, etc.

As a member or limited partner of the new commercial enterprise (not the regional center), the investors will have voting rights on policy matters. That generally meets the criteria for active management roles.

The regional center concept does not require your direct day-to-day direction of the new commercial enterprise. The projects in the EB-5 regional center are typically the product of an investment fund that the potential investor would invest in. In essence, you do not necessarily have to directly manage the projects in the regional center.

The wording in the statute is that the investor must have "an active participation" in the project. When we queried USCIS regarding this, they answered that the same participation required under the Uniform Partnership Act. We then just made the investor a limited partner in the project and that was enough to show "active participation."

For regional centers, they are usually limited partners involved in policy development.

Most regional center projects are set up as limited partnerships or limited liability companies. The EB-5 laws and regulations confirm that limited partners or parties with similar rights (to review the accounting books, remove general partner, advise on policy, etc.) are sufficiently engaged in the management of the new commercial enterprise for EB-5 purposes. While many of these projects are sold and held out as passive investments, technically and legally, they are not. In almost all regional center cases, the general partner or managing member handles almost all of the management duties.

The regional centers usually form a limited partnership of the investors; all the investors have voting rights re the nature of operations of the limited partnership. This gives them limited control of the management of the affairs of the new commercial enterprise and suffices to meet the requirement of being actively involved.

In most instances they hold the position of limited partner. This is a question that you can review in detail with your investment immigration attorney.

The EB-5 investors in a regional center project form a limited partnership to be involved in the project. The limited partners are actively involved in the business through a policy setting and oversight role of the project, and their active role is proscribed in the Limited Partnership Agreement that is governed by the Uniform Limited Partnership Act.