The main advantage of investing through a regional center is that USCIS allows the project to count indirect and induced jobs as well as direct jobs to determine the amount of job creation. Using economic models approved by USCIS, the regional centers can determine the number of indirect jobs based on the construction expenditures and operations revenue of a project. This is an easier and more reliable method of satisfying the job creation requirement for a green card than maintaining direct jobs (i.e. W-2 employees) for 2.5 years.

The regional center program is more popular than a direct EB-5 investment, too, because the EB-5 investor need not be involved in the day-to-day management of the business. Instead, it is a more passive investment where the EB-5 investor is a limited partner of a limited partnership or a member of a limited liability company. Moreover, by not being tied directly to managing the business, the EB-5 investor is free to live, work or study anywhere in the United States. The EB-5 investor is not limited to the location of the EB-5 regional center or project.