With the number of foreign investors showing interest in the EB-5 program, establishing your venture as a regional center is a surefire way to find funding for your operations. However, the process of establishing your venture as a regional center project is not exactly an easy one. While regional center EB-5 visa applicants do not need to provide a business plan with their visa application, entrepreneurs looking to establish their venture as a regional center for the purpose of securing EB-5 funding need to submit a business plan with their application. However, the type of business plan submitted with your application will differ depending on where your venture stands in the process of development. There are, in fact, three different types of EB-5 Regional Center business plans: Hypothetical, Exemplar, or Affiliate.

A hypothetical plan is written when a project is not yet fully developed but the investor wishes to establish their venture as a regional project. So, let’s say you want to build a hotel using funds from EB-5 investors, and you have already secured your land, but you are still pending the finalization of construction permits, construction plans, contractors, and licensing. However, despite being early in the development of your project, you are looking to establish your future hotel as a Regional Center. In this case, your business plan would be hypothetical and would be heavily dependant on assumptions and market trend projections.

If you are further in the process of development, and your project is shovel-ready, then you would need to write an exemplar business plan. In the case of our hotelier, had he chosen to wait until all contracts are secured and construction is ready to begin, he would need to draft an exemplar business plan, which is also occasionally referred to as an “Actual” business plan. The Exemplar business plan also focuses on projections as far as financials are concerned, but a greater portion of the data comprised within the business plan is based on actual, factual information as well as current market details.

Once a Regional Center has been established, other projects can sign on as affiliate projects. These affiliate projects work in conjunction with a predefined Regional Center, drawing funds from the center’s own pool of investors. These types of projects can save the project owner’s time, costs, and administrative duties, as it allows them to piggyback off an already established Regional Center designation, but they typically seek significantly lower investments to be made in their venture.

Regardless of which type of EB-5 Regional Center Business your project requires, this thorough and detailed document must still be a Matter of Ho compliant plan that explains the specifics of your venture. Creating a Matter of Ho-compliant business plan, including project marketing materials and financial models, is essential to successfully structure EB-5 regional center projects and be confident in their success. These plans inform the capital structure and job impact analysis and will shape the investor’s appeal for your project. This document is so crucial in your center’s application, in fact, that future EB-5 investors will be able to piggyback off of it and do not need to submit a separate business plan with their own visa application.