How can I ask a Regional Center if they paid their mandatory fees?

Verifying that the regional center is in good standing is not an unreasonable request.

You want to check or ask for the Regional Center’s approval notice form I-956f. Generally, if they have the notice of approval for this form this means that they are in compliance.

I think that is a valid question to ask.

You should ask for evidence of payment of the mandatory fees as well as approval of the I-956F project in which you intend to invest. Go to the USCIS list of approved regional centers. Your risk is if a regional center fails to comply with USCIS requirements in the future. All you can do is perform due diligence on the regional center as well as the project to be comfortable you are dealing with reliable people with a history of success.

The best way to address is to evaluate the projects with your immigration attorney. Many of them have decades of experience in the field. I have 25 years of experience in EB5 cases and 35 years in immigration cases. I assist what investor in obtaining information from the projects that the investor should rely on.

Simply ask them. You can ask to see a copy of their annual compliance filings as well. Legit regional centers will be happy to share this information with you.

This is a very legitimate concern and, as a practicing attorney, I wish all the clients express it at the beginning of their process. Yes, you absolutely can ask the administrators of the Regional Center about their licensing status and whether the RC remitted the payments to the Integrity Fund. Moreover, if you are relying on a broker to select a project for you, this inquiry must be a part of the due diligence process. In addition, it is always prudent to check the list of the terminated projects published by the USCIS at their site. As a general rule, if you are being conservative in your project selection, you may wish to consider Regional Centers with longer track of compliance and more prominence in the industry, even though they may not offer you the most lucrative opportunities for the financial gain.

I have been practicing EB-5 law since 2008. As a professional who has first hand experience dealing with regional centers, I can't emphasize enough the importance of due diligence on the project. Due Diligence means to verify everything the regional centers present and more. It's not advisable to make a decision without a thorough background check on the company and the operators behind the scenes. I do not know if you have a lawyer. If you do, please ask the lawyer to think beyond immigration law. If you don´t, please consider hiring a business-immigration lawyer, a lawyer with knowledge in both immigration and business law.

You can ask whatever you want, but truth be known, I think its beyond the capacity of any individual investor to do a thorough job of investigating the reliability of the Regional Center they are investing in. In my opinion, track record is the only reliable means of knowing whether you can rely on a particular investment organizer. Therefore, in my opinion, the only meaningful question to ask of a company soliciting your investment is 1) How many of your investors have received unconditional permanent residence (that is to say, their forms I-829 have been approved) and 2) how many have received a return of their investment funds.

There has been a lot of media buzz lately regarding a number of EB-5 Regional Centers being terminated for not paying the administrative fee. I suspect that a number of the recent terminations is a result of the almost 2-year hiatus that was imposed on them while Congress re-wrote the law authorizing the Regional Center program. That 2-year pause, plus the substantial fee increases, likely caused a number of Regional Centers to voluntarily cease operation. You definitely can (and should) ask the Regional Center for documentation that it is in compliance with the USCIS requirements related payment of the administrative fee. You can even ask to see a copy of the payment receipt. However, this is an annual administrative fee. You will need to request this for each year that your EB-5 case is languishing in the long processing queue.