Civitas Capital Group’s Mine Ekim Co-Authors One-Year Update on EB-5 Regional Center Audits

Mine Ekim, Managing Director, Legal & Head of Investor Experience at Civitas Capital Group, has co-authored an article in the Fall 2026 issue of IIUSA’s Regional Center Business Journal revisiting USCIS audits of EB-5 regional centers one year after the Fall 2025 roadmap she co-authored – and finding that these compliance reviews have moved from exception to routine.

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Written again with Jessica A. DeNisi of Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP, the article draws on successive audit rounds to show how the USCIS audit process has matured, with advance notice, entrance and exit conferences, and closeout notices, and how its scope has deepened. Document requests now trace sample investments through every account from investor to job-creating entity, examine fund administration NCE by NCE, and test whether EB-5 regional center controls work in practice, not just on paper.

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The authors offer ten practical steps for EB-5 regional centers preparing for their next audit, and call on USCIS to publish an audit framework, issue brief written closeout summaries, and clarify the finality of closed audits.

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Read the full article (pp. 12-15).