Is EB-5 Regional Center financing right for my project?
Last Updated: October 12, 2025
Directory of Professionals
AIIA has curated a list of the top professionals from attorneys, investment specialists, to business plan writers to support all all EB-5 stakeholders
Directory of Professionals
AIIA has curated a list of the top professionals from attorneys, investment specialists, to business plan writers to support all all EB-5 stakeholders
Will your regional center project create enough jobs?
If you are a large-scale project sponsor looking to bring in more than one EB-5 investor into your project, will your project create enough direct, indirect or induced jobs to meet their immigration needs? You should conduct an economic analysis with a qualified EB-5 business plan writer to predict job creation, based on your project’s current expenditures and budget.
Remember that 10% (or at least 1/10) jobs must be directly employed by the project to fulfill job creation needs. Also keep in mind, investors are more likely to pick projects which maintain more than the minimum required amount of jobs. . The regional center model is a better match for large EB-5 projects (particularly real estate) which can create numerous jobs and handle large quantities of investors. Real estate developments, for example, are particularly well-suited for regional center investment.
Is the project located within a TEA?
If yes, the minimum qualified investment for each immigrant national is $800,000. If the project does not qualify for the minimum investment amount, each EB-5 investor must deposit a minimum of $1,050,000 into the investment project. Foreign investors are less willing to invest in projects which do not qualify as TEA projects for obvious reasons, including cost and longer immigration queues.
Do you have the funds required to finish the project with or without EB-5 capital?
Is there a need to ascertain supplementary funding? There is always the risk that your project offering may not meet its fundraising goals, therefore supplementary funding options should be arranged to mitigate risk.
Will your project be attractive enough for foreign investors?
EB-5 investors each have interests of their own when selecting projects to invest in. Investors may want to see significant developer equity or a senior loan from a well-respected bank in the project’s capital stack. . Many investors may not want to invest in a project that has yet to receive its permits or licenses, has not yet started construction, or has unfavorable terms for their investment.
Is EB-5 financing the best fit for your project?
In some cases, traditional financing may not be cheaper than EB-5 capital, but significantly easier to obtain from third party lenders. EB-5 financing comes with the headache of marketing to, soliciting, and consistently engaging with individual foreign investors that have strict filing requirements with USCIS.
If you answered yes to most of these questions, EB-5 may be a good fit for your development project. Although these guidelines outline some of the large scale difficulties project developers may encounter, speaking with experts in the field will be the best way to judge whether EB-5 is a good fit for you.
For Developers, Business Owners, and Governments
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EB-5 Program Logistics: Direct vs Regional Center
EB-5 investments are direct or regional center types; regional centers pool funds and count indirect jobs, while direct requires active management and counts direct jobs only.
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