New Regional Center (OK, TX)

The USCIS list of Regional Centers was updated today 2/2 with one new Regional Center.

Southern Star Regional Investment Center LLC
Website: www.eb5southernstar.us
Investment focus: Oil and gas field development in Texas and Oklahoma

I’m interested to note that this Regional Center was apparently approved for two whole states. I’ve seen several Requests for Evidence recently that questioned requests for a large geographic area, pointing out that the RC program was established to encourage concentration of investment within a limited area. But this application succeeded in making a multi-state argument, and also suggests a surprisingly diverse range of investment options: “We expect our investments will typically be in oil and gas leases, in-field development drilling opportunities, royalty interests, mineral rights, completion activities and other energy investments identified, sponsored and structured by us.” (Regarding geographic area, note the helpful comment to this post by Joe Whalen.)

New Regional Centers (AZ, CA)

The USCIS list of Regional Centers was updated today 1/26 with a  repeat listing and two new Regional Centers.

ARIZONA

Arizona Alternative Energy Center, LLC
Website: http://arizonaenergycenter.com
Investment focus: solar power generation, wind power generation, water retrieval

CALIFORNIA

Hollywood Regional Center
Website: http://www.hollywoodregionalcenter.com/
Investment focus: internet gaming

As usual, this info is thanks to Google and the Regional Centers and no thanks to USCIS and its insufficient names-only list. I’m keeping my Regional Center list up to date with as much info as I can collect.

New Regional Centers (KS, WA)

The USCIS list of Regional Centers was updated today 1/19 with a couple repeat listings and (apparently) two new Regional Centers. The list includes nothing but the names and my Googling hasn’t turned up any additional information.

Kansas Regional Center
Website: ?
Geographic Scope: ?
Industries: ?

Seattle Regional Center
Website: ?
Geographic Scope: ?
Industries: ?

If you are behind either of these centers, please email me with some information to share with the community. Otherwise people are going to get confused with Kansas Bio-Fuel Regional Center and American Life’s Seattle Regional Center (or is that the intention?)

If I were a scammer, I’d choose some nice Regional Center name off the approved list and go around claiming I was associated and soliciting investments. Since RCs’ actual contact info and other details aren’t officially listed, who could catch me?  A disaster waiting to happen!  Please USCIS, bring back the detailed Regional Center list.  And Regional Centers, please be proactive about getting your accurate information out on the internet.

New RCs in 2011

As we reach the end of 2011, a few comments on Regional Center approvals this year:

• USCIS approved 74 new regional centers across 27 states in 2011. As of 12/31/2011, there were 211 entries on the USCIS list of approved Regional Centers (including duplicate listings for centers spanning more than one state).
• The greatest number of new centers was in California (28, or 38% of the total). Texas came in second with 9 new centers approved in 2011, followed by Washington (5 new centers), New York (4 new centers), Illinois (3 new centers) and Florida (3 new centers).
• A number of states added two new centers each, including Georgia, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Utah.
• States with one new center each include Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Ohio.
• An average of six new centers were announced per month, distributed throughout the year as follows:

Month (2011)	# of Centers Approved
January	2
February	0
March	7
April	5
May	7
June	7
July	5
August	11
September	13
October	6
November	4
December	7

• USCIS reports 176 initial RC proposal filings from 10/2010 to 09/2011, and 83 applications pending as of 06/2011. We’re still seeing applications from the 11/2010 rush making their way through the system, but I’ve also seen  faster approvals (for example applications approved in 09/2011 included one filed in 03/2011 and another filed in 05/2011).

New Regional Center (NY, NJ)

The USCIS list of Regional Centers has been updated with one apparent name change (from Oregon Regional Center to American United EB-5 Regional Center) and one new entry:

NYC Metro Regional Center LLC (www.nyeb5.com)
Investment Focus (info from website):
New York Metropolitan area encompassing New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Richmond and 13 New Jersey metropolitan counties.
Entities or projects including office buildings, retail stores, public parking, hotels, commercial loans and mixed-use (commercial and residential) projects

I’m interested to know whether this center’s approval ratified the diversified investment strategy described in the website.

New Regional Centers (CA, MD, TX)

The USCIS list of Regional Centers has been updated as of 12/20 with three new entries. I lament again that USCIS no longer publishes details and we’re left with sources such as Facebook and Lookup or no information at all. If you’re behind one of these centers and don’t wish to stay in the shadows, please publish some info online so that the community can welcome you, or alert me to relevant links that I’ve missed.

California
ACS Regional Center (facebook listing)
Maryland
Oriental Dolphin EB-5 Regional Center
Texas
Great Texas Regional Center, LLC (lookup listing)

New Regional Centers (CA, TX)

The USCIS list of Regional Center names has been updated as of 12/12 with two new entries:

California
FreeMind Films Regional Center, LLC
Texas
DC Partners Regional Center

And that’s all the information we get. No indication of industries or geographic area and no way to tell who is behind these centers. Since FreeMind Films’ legal name is given I can at least look it up and find that it’s registered with the CA Secretary of State and has an address at a private residence in Chapel Hill North Carolina. Otherwise whatever these new centers are and do — whether excellent or shady — is under the radar so far as the EB-5 community is concerned. I’m not comfortable with that situation at all. If you have information to share please do!

List of Regional Centers

Since www.uscis.gov/eb-5centers now lists Regional Center names only and no longer functions as a directory, I have added a page to my website  (RC List) with more helpful information including the web address and approved geographic area/industries for each center.

New Regional Center (CA)

The USCIS list of Regional Centers has added two entries (up to 204), but I think just accounting for multi-state centers. However I notice one new center I previously neglected to report:

USA Continental Regional Center (www.usacontinentalregionalcenter.com)
Geographic Scope: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura Counties
Investment Focus: Construction of commercial and office infrastructures