What are Regional Centers?

“Regional Center” is the designation granted by USCIS to entities, organizations, companies, or agencies that focus on a specific geographic area within the United States in order to promote economic growth within that area. The regions are usually in targeted employment areas (TEAs): rural (cannot have a population greater than 20,000), or have an unemployment rate that is at least 1.5 times higher than the national average. Regional Centers work to increase export sales, improve regional productivity, create new jobs, and increase domestic capital investment.

If a Regional Center project is located in a TEA, then the minimum investment amount is $500,000 and the jobs must be created in the TEA. Regional Centers have the important benefit of being able to count both direct jobs (e.g., construction) and indirect jobs (e.g., suppliers of construction materials).

For more information about regional centers and your EB-5 visa application, contact the EB-5 attorneys of White & Associates at 818-730-3540.