What is the process for renting a regional center?

"Renting a regional center" is just a clever, but not entirely accurate way, to describe the practice of some developers who only have one project or who are not able/interested in applying for designation as an EB-5 regional center on their own. There is no "rental agreement" per se, but rather the EB-5 regional center will contract with the developer to sponsor, if you will, the developer&#39s project. That way, the regional center benefits from having someone else do the work on the project (albeit under the regional center&#39s supervision) and the developer benefits from receiving EB-5 capital from foreign investors under the auspices of the regional center&#39s USCIS designation. As long as BOTH sides do the necessary due diligence on each other prior to establishing any relationship and raising capital, there is a good opportunity for a win-win.

There is no general checklist on renting a regional center (RC). However, renting is usually acceptable starting point by new RC operator prior to filing their own application, which may take several months. It also affords the operator good experience and knowledge of an RC work. Disadvantageously, you will have to operate within the limits of what the owner of the RC permits even if it means you may have to put on hold some of your plans for an RC.

You need to find a regional center which will associate with your proposed EB-5 projects.

The only reason one would want to "rent" a Regional Center is that it is not only a quicker way to market an EB-5 project, but it also has the added advantage that an experienced Regional Center can also help with marketing and other aspects of the project. First of all you would have to determine which Regional Centers have been approved with a jurisdiction that covers the location of your Regional Center project; that would be key. Secondly, you would have to identify those Regional Centers that market third party projects as opposed to their own project. Third, you would have to enter into negotiations and pay a base fee as well as a per-investor fee. The amount would be subject to negotiation as there is no fixed amount and would depend upon a variety of factors.

First step in the process of renting a regional center is a thorough due diligence of the regional center (ie., performance track record, history of the management, USCIS track record, financials, corporate structuring, litigation history, etc). Then, you should consult with an attorney for review and understanding of the rental terms/agreement (ie., cost, indemnification, rights and obligations under the agreement, oversight, etc).

You will probably speak with several regional centers to find one that you want to work with. It will depend in part on what services you need from the regional center - license only or help with fundraising, admin etc. The regional center will need to learn about your company, the developer and the project. The project docs will need to be prepared before the regional center will sign.