Nine Questions to Ask a Regional Center Before You Wire $800,000

An EB-5 regional center offering is a private securities offering. The investor is buying an interest in a new commercial enterprise, usually a limited partnership, which in turn finances a real estate or operating project. The immigration outcome depends on that project creating jobs. The financial outcome depends on the project succeeding and repaying.

Investors who would never buy an $800,000 stake in a private company after reading a brochure regularly do exactly that in EB-5, because the conversation is framed around the green card. These nine questions reframe it.

1. What has USCIS actually reviewed?

The RIA requires a regional center to file Form I-956F for each project, covering the business plan, economic analysis, and offering documents. Ask whether the I-956F is filed, pending, or approved, and ask to see the approval notice if one exists. An approved project means USCIS has reviewed the project's eligibility. It does not mean USCIS has endorsed the investment.

Timing matters too. Under the USCIS EB-5 fee rule (91 FR 61940, September 30, 2026), the Form I-956F fee rises from $17,795 to $42,675 for filings postmarked on or after November 30, 2026. If the project's I-956F has not yet been filed, ask who absorbs that increase and whether your administrative fee is fixed in the subscription documents.

2. Is the regional center in good standing?

Confirm the regional center's designation is current, that it has filed its annual statements on Form I-956G, and that it has paid its annual EB-5 Integrity Fund fee. A center that falls behind on compliance can have its designation terminated, and that risk falls on its investors.

On the same date, the Form I-956G annual statement fee falls from $3,035 to $2,165, and the regional center's annual Integrity Fund fee rises to $11,000 (20 or fewer investors) or $22,000 (more than 20).

3. Where does EB-5 money sit in the capital stack?

Ask for a sources and uses table. In most projects EB-5 capital is structured as mezzanine debt or preferred equity, subordinate to a senior construction lender. Understand how much capital is senior to yours, how much sponsor equity sits below yours, and what the loan-to-value or loan-to-cost ratio is at the EB-5 tranche.

Sponsor equity is the single most telling figure. A developer with meaningful cash of their own at risk behind the EB-5 investors has aligned incentives. A developer financing nearly everything with other people's money does not.

4. How many jobs per investor, and how much cushion?

Each investor needs ten qualifying jobs. Ask for the economic impact report and compare total projected jobs to the number of investors the offering is sized for. A project projecting 11 jobs per investor has almost no margin for construction delays or a smaller-than-expected scope. A project projecting 20 has room.

Also ask which jobs depend on construction spending and which depend on operations, and when each category is expected to be created.

5. What is the exit, and who controls it?

The capital must be expected to remain invested for at least two years. 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A)(i). Beyond that, the offering should describe how and when the enterprise expects to be repaid: refinancing, sale, or operating cash flow. Ask what happens if that event is delayed, and whether the general partner can extend the term unilaterally.

6. What happens if repayment comes early?

If the project repays the enterprise before investors' immigration processes are complete, the capital may need to be redeployed to remain at risk. Ask whether the partnership agreement permits redeployment, what kinds of investments are allowed, and who bears the risk of the redeployed capital.

7. What are all the fees?

List every fee: the administrative fee paid at subscription, any ongoing management fees, marketing agent or migration agent compensation, and any fees paid by the project to affiliates of the regional center. Fees paid out of the project reduce what is available to repay investors. Compensation paid to agents who referred the investor is also a conflict of interest worth understanding.

8. Who is on the other side?

Identify the developer, the regional center operator, and every affiliate involved. Look at their track record on prior EB-5 projects: were investors repaid, and on time? Were there I-829 approvals? Search for litigation and regulatory actions. Ask whether the regional center and the developer are related parties.

9. What reporting will you receive?

Investors in a limited partnership should receive regular financial reporting. Ask what the enterprise will provide, how often, and whether financial statements are audited. Ask whether a fund administrator or independent party controls disbursements from escrow and from the enterprise to the project.

Separate the questions

A useful discipline is to evaluate the investment as if no visa were attached. Would you make this private placement at this return, with this risk, for this term? If the answer is no, the green card is carrying the entire decision, and that should be a conscious choice.

Legal counsel reviews the offering for immigration compliance. The financial review above is a separate exercise, and an investor may want an independent financial or securities advisor to perform it.

Gerardo Kloss is the firm's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer and is not an attorney.