What is the most challenging part of the EB-5 process?

All of it - you need to get quality partners who will advise you accurately. There are only a few.

There is no specific part of the EB-5 application process one should either ignore or be overly concerned about. What matters is that each and every part of the application process must be fully completed, answered truthfully, and complied with so as to get an approval. Advisably, get in touch with an EB-5 attorney to ensure that your applicable is approvable.

The EB-5 process has two distinct and equally important components at the I-526 stage: (1) is the business side of the documents that must prove that the proposed business has a more than likely chance to succeed in creating 10+ full time, permanent jobs per each investor, which is a substantial amount of business and securities documents; (2) is tracking dollar for dollar the legal source of funds from start to finish, from the original income source to investments back to the bank that will ultimately wire the funds to the EB-5 business. This could be 10-20 years of financial documents depending on the circumstances of how the investor obtained the funds. For an immigration attorney preparing the I-526 petition, the detailed and careful tracking of the source of funds is most challenging if the investor is working with an established regional center with a great approval track record. However, if the investor is doing a direct investment or working with a new regional center that may not have prepared the business side document to be EB-5 compliant, then making sure that the EB-5 business will have a good likelihood of successfully sustaining and creating the requisite number of jobs will be very challenging.

The following are the two most difficult aspects of an EB-5 case: 1. Source of funds can be tricky at times as usually they involve the local laws of a country where the alien investor resides. It is important for an attorney to do thorough research of the foreign laws or take opinions of local counsel re the legality of source of funds and remittance laws. 2. Regional center project due diligence. There can be multiple things that can harm an investor or jeopardize the return of investment. The project documents run into thousands of pages and need properly structured finance and immigration due diligence.

Probably the basic business plan. There are many projects that simply do not fit into the EB-5 process. A thorough preparation and initial plan will save a lot of problems from arising.

The EB-5 program is a complex one, so many aspects are difficult. One area though that clients find particularly challenging is the source of funds requirement where the applicant must show that the funds came from a legitimate source. While this may appear straight forward, it is usually a complex and frustrating part of the process.

Interesting question! Patience is always challenging, as the processing times continue to increase. The process can be more straightforward with a good team of professionals and the project principals being willing to listen to their professionals.