When can a regional center begin accepting EB-5 investors? - EB5Investors.com

When can a regional center begin accepting EB-5 investors?

What if my project and the EB-5 documents for my project are ready, but my regional center approval is not ready yet? How can we start accepting EB-5 investors?

Answers

Ed Beshara

Ed Beshara

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Under the circumstances of your case you can prepare an EB-5-compliant direct project to receive equity investors in the job creating entity. When the regional center is approved, then the investors can sign the offering documents and invest in the new commercial enterprise.

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There is no clear rule on this point, so a regional center may accept investors at any time. For investor eligibility issues, however, it is important to have the designation letter in place before any I-526 petition is submitted because the petition will rely on the indirect job creation projected in the regional center&#39s I-924 application package, which likely contains the business plan and economist&#39s report. If an exemplar or actual project, these documents would be granted deference by the USCIS when it adjudicates each I-526 petition. In practice, regional centers wait until they have a USCIS designation letter (even if only a hypothetical or dummy project) before they go out and raise EB-5 money.

John J Downey

John J Downey

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You would have to hold all monies in an escrow account; no funds could be placed until regional center approval.

Salvatore Picataggio

Salvatore Picataggio

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

While, technically, you can begin the subscription process, and perhaps even begin to accept the investments themselves, you cannot file any I-526 petitions until the regional center is approved, and you may also have trouble finding investors willing to make their investment in a pending regional center when there are hundreds of approved regional centers, many of which with active projects.

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