What we handle
Advice on the choice itself, then the petition that follows.
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Project document review
Offering documents, business plans and economic reports, read for the immigration requirements.
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Regional center checks
Whether the center is designated and whether the project has filed its application with USCIS.
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Direct investment structures
Forming or buying the business, and the investor’s management role in it.
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Targeted employment areas
Whether a location qualifies for the lower investment amount.
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Set-aside categories
Rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure projects, and what they mean for visa availability.
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The petition
Form I-526E or Form I-526, depending on the choice.
How we help you choose
Five questions, in this order. The answers usually make the choice clear.
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What role do you want?
A direct investor takes part in managing the business. A regional center investor is usually a limited partner with a policy role.
Who: the investor
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How will the jobs be counted?
Regional center projects can count indirect and induced jobs, using an economic model. A direct investment counts only its own full-time employees.
Who: the firm, with the project’s economist
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Is the location a targeted area?
Rural areas and areas of high unemployment qualify for the lower investment amount, as do infrastructure projects.
Who: the firm
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What does the project disclose?
We read the offering documents for risk, escrow, use of funds and the plan for returning capital. We flag what an immigration petition will need.
Who: the firm; financial review stays with your advisors
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Decide and invest
Once the choice is made, we document the source of funds and file the petition.
Who: the investor and the firm
The choice side by side
Two main structures, and one variation many investors ask about.
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Regional center
Pooled investment in a designated project
Indirect jobs count, so one project can support many investors. Less control, and more reliance on the developer.
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Direct
A business you run
Only direct employees count, so the business must grow to at least 10 full-time positions per investor. More control, more work.
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Set-aside
Rural, high-unemployment or infrastructure
A share of EB-5 visas is reserved for these projects, which can matter for investors from countries with long waits.
Representative matters
A few recent matters, described without client names.
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Review
Advised an investor to decline a project whose economic report did not support jobs for all the investors offered.
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Rural
I-526E approval for an investor in a rural manufacturing project under the reserved visa category.
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Direct
I-526 approval for two investors in a restaurant group expanding to three new locations.
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Switch
Moved an investor’s plan from a direct investment to a regional center project when the business could not support 10 jobs.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts.