Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

How often can an EB-5 investor visit a regional center project site?

I am already in the United States on a student visa. I would like to invest through a good EB-5 regional center where I can check up on the progress of the project I put money into. My plan is to move closer to the actual project site. Would I be allowed to visit the project as often as I wanted? On average, how often do EB-5 investors visit the site of a regional center project they invested in?

Answers

• Ed Beshara

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 31, 2015

  A regional center EB-5 project can allow you to visit the site as many times as you like. Some EB-5 regional center projects have live video cameras on site that you can view through a website.

• John J Downey

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  Yes, you should be able to visit the project as often as you wish. You may want to include a clause in your agreement to that effect. Most investors don't visit the project as they apply from outside of the United States and cannot afford regular trips to view the progress.

• Lynne Feldman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  Some not at all and many prior to investing and maybe annually thereafter. More often if you live closer. Since you would be a limited partner in the project, I don't see why you can't visit as often as you want.

• Salvatore Picataggio

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  That is something you can work out with the regional center and project principals. Many investors try to visit the site at least once before making a final decision, but sometimes a project has not yet broken ground, so a visit to the management's offices may be the only place to go.

• Shahzad Q Qadri

  RC Creator

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  There are no prescribed limitations or legal bars from you visiting the site. This is something you would need to arrange with the regional center or the developer.

• Jinhee Wilde

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  Most of the good regional centers install a webcam on their construction site that shows the activities 24/7, and they will give you quarterly or at least an annual report of how things are progressing. However, whether they will allow you to visit in person is unclear. While I am sure that you could see the project from across the street or something, I am not sure that they will actually allow you to go into the construction site for safety reasons, as you are not a member of the construction crew. You should make arrangements with the regional center, who is your general partner, to see the site and how often. There is no set rule for visiting and most of the investors never have to - it is one of the benefits of working through a good regional center, as you could live and work anywhere without having to be at the business/project site constantly monitoring.

• Rachel Lew

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  The most common entity of the new commercial enterprise that an investor invests into a regional center project is a limited partnership or a limited liability company (LLC). An EB-5 investor must demonstrate his/her active involvement in the project enterprise. This does not mean that an investor is required to reside near the project site or make visits to the project site to be considered actively involved. As a matter of fact, 8 C.F.R. 204.6(j)(5)(iii) states in part: "For purposes of this section, if the petitioner is a limited partner and the limited partnership agreement provides the petitioner with certain rights, powers, and duties normally granted to limited partners under the Uniform Limited Partnership Act, the petitioner will be considered sufficiently engaged in the management of the new commercial enterprise." Like limited partnerships and corporations, a limited liability company is recognized as a legal entity separate and apart from its "members." However, unlike in a limited partnership in which the participation of limited partners in the management of a limited partnership can result in a loss of limited liability protection for that limited partner, there is no similar restriction on the ability of a LLC member to participate in the management of the LLC. In other words, all LLC members can participate in the management and control of the LLC by the rights and powers granted in the LLC's Operating Agreement, in addition to the rights, powers, and privileges normally granted to LLC members under the Revised Limited Liability Act of the state in which the project locates. In sum, being a limited partner of a limited partnership or a member of an LLC will have satisfied the active involvement requirement in the I-526 petition, and an investor is not required to reside near the project site or make frequent visits to the site, nor is there any restriction on the frequency of site visits. But if by doing so will give the investor peace of mind, it is highly likely that the regional center can accommodate the investor's request for a site visit, which may be subject to the safety guidelines at the construction site.

• Daniel P Hanlon

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  You could visit as many times as you would like, by law. Any high-quality regional center would welcome an investor's visits on a reasonably frequent basis.

• Dale Schwartz

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 27, 2015

  You may visit as often as you like. I have never heard of a regional center denying an investor the right to visit a site.