The Immigrant Investor Pilot Program was created by Section 610 of Public Law 102-395 (October 6,1992).
EB-5 requirements for an investor under the Pilot Program are essentially the same as in the basic EB-5 investor program, except the Pilot Program provides for investments that are affiliated with an economic unit known as a Regional Center.
Regional Centers have several advantages over the previously described options.
- Less restrictive job creation requirement allowing for the creation of indirect jobs
Indirect jobs result from the economic impact of the investment, instead of being full-time employment opportunities created by the investment.
For example, indirect jobs can be considered increased purchases in gas stations, restaurants, retail stores, etc. leading to more employment. - Less restrictive management requirements
The investor need not manage them and can even reside in his home country for a period of time.
Most of the time Regional centers collect an administrative fee for management. - Less burden of proof
The investor need not provide any documentation, the investment is made in an already approved Regional Center, which has already taken care of that.
Regional Centers are created by a variety of experts that submit several documents to USCIS: business plans, feasibility analysis, etc.
At the moment of this writing, USCIS had approved 745 Regional Centers in several states, however this does not mean that it endorses them, the investment is always at risk. See here.
Of course, Regional Centers fail and some indulge in fraud, investors must very carefully analyze each Regional Center.
Nevertheless, there is a way to protect the investment and that is what we will explain in the next section.