This article discusses the top tips for EB-5 developers.

EB-5 investor capital is a popular source of financing for developers. Traditional lenders are still hesitant to loan project developers large amounts, but EB-5 capital offers them a low interest alternative to complete their construction financing goals.

What are the top tips for EB-5 developers?

Find an already established Regional Center with a strong reputation.

Forming your own Regional Center may sound intriguing, but it requires you to learn an entirely new business. If your primary goal is to develop a certain project, find an already established Regional Center and save yourself time and stress.

Consult with EB-5 experts.

Spending the time learning the ins and outs of the EB-5 Program may not be time well spent for a project developer. The EB-5 Program is complex. Hiring experienced experts who can advise you so that everything is completed correctly and efficiently the first time around will save not only time, but also money.

Don’t skip the due diligence.

In the long run, it’ll be worth your time to conduct due diligence into the regional center you’d like to use and the experts that regional center’s hired. Do you know the right questions to ask? Does the regional center have USCIS designation? Have you spoken to their former client’s and learned about their reputations and strengths? How many projects have they completed? Were their projects completed on time? What were their strategies? Did you hire your own EB-5 attorney to review all the prepared documents?

Take advantage of Regional Center job creation benefits.

EB-5 investors have two years from the time they receive their conditional permanent residency to show that their project has created 10 full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers. If they cannot show that job creation, they will not be able to change their status and remove the conditions on their green card. Does your project take advantage of a Regional Center’s ability to count indirect and induced job creation in additional to direct job creation? Are you counting construction jobs? Do you have a job creation buffer? Are the jobs being maintained throughout the two years of the investor’s conditional residency or until the investors I-829 Petition is filed?

For more tips and information about the EB-5 Program, send us a message.