EB5 Projects | EB5 Investment Options

What are the options available for choosing an EB5 Project or an EB5 Regional Center (RC)?

An EB-5 applicant has the choice to make a direct investment (i.e. in a project directly which is wholly or partially owned and managed by him) or through a USCIS approved Regional Center. The difference between the two can be read here .

As of mid-2020, USCIS’s official records confirm a total of 650+ regional centers. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there are 650 different projects in the market. The total available regional centers would have to be adjusted for the following factors to get a count of eb5 projects suitable for eb5 investment:

• Eliminate regional centers which have already executed projects & not inviting investments any more
• Eliminate redundant regional centers, for e.g., there are many groups which have more than one RC and some of them do not have launched projects
• Eliminate regional centers which are allegedly out of business
• Eliminate regional centers which are not experienced, and are probably doing their 1st project
• Eliminate regional centers which have proven experience of construction / execution but have zero proof of any I-829 approvals or for that matter I-526 approvals so far

Once you apply the above 5 filters, less than half of what was originally on the plate would not exist. The most important filter in addition to the above is the project’s eligibility to classify itself under the new TEA regulations. On November 21, 2019, the new EB5 regs came into effect which has not only enhanced the erstwhile investment limit of US$ 500,000 to US$ 900,000, but also redefined the way a project can classify itself under a Targeted Employment Area (TEA). Due to this, significant majority of the projects have lost the TEA status, and which means that an investor would need to invest double, i.e. US$ 1.8 million, in order to make an EB5 application. This issue has not been paid due seriousness because most minds are occupied in the difference between $500K & $900K, but actually $900K would be $1,800K if the project is not having the TEA designation, and which most projects won’t because the new TEA rules have the ability to exclude projects in most of the following locations:

• New York
• LA
• Chicago
• Florida
• Dallas
• Philadelphia
• San Diego
• Houston
• San Jose
• Boston

[above list is as an example only for the purposes of explanation; actual determination is by DHS]

Majority of the fancy hotel project locations in above areas will not 100% hold true as a TEA under the new regulations and the worst part is that a project cannot be certain about the status because that would be declared only at the time of adjudication, not in advance as it used to happen earlier (readers willing to learn more on the specific subject of TEA and its importance in project selection can go to: .

Once all the filters are applied, an investor should be able to weed out and make the right choice of an EB5 RC.

This answer has been written by the team at EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd. and is intended for educational purposes only. eb5EXPERT is the financial services division of EB5 India Advisory Pvt. Ltd., which is an India based EB5 consulting firm with a 100% exclusive focus on EB5 visa program with offices at Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ghaziabad, & Rajkot. Feel free to meet any of our team members comprising of Chartered Accountants, US CPA, Certified Fraud Examiners, Lawyers, Ex-bankers, FEMA Consultants.