IN THIS GUIDE · Keep the capital history intact through a staged asset sale
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify the applicant’s actual proceeds
Hypothetical example: an asset is jointly owned and its sale proceeds first enter a joint account. Explain ownership, the sale and the basis on which funds belong or become available to the investor. Do not assume the full sale price is the applicant’s capital without reviewing the relevant documents and transfers.
Preserve the path through intermediate steps
Document receipts, conversions, transfers and any gift, distribution or borrowing relied on. Explain the lawful origin with records appropriate to the facts. A final balance statement does not necessarily explain how funds were earned, owned or transferred, particularly when several transactions connect the original asset to the investment.
Assess the investment separately from its funding
Review the actual project structure, capital commitment and at-risk terms. EB-5 generally requires at least ten permanent full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers; the applicable evidence differs between arrangements. Regional-center designation does not guarantee project performance, capital return or immigration approval. For each investor, establish at least ten qualifying full-time jobs, generally at least 35 hours per week, using direct evidence or an applicable regional-center methodology. The investor must participate in management or policy formulation. Neither receipt of proceeds nor a project designation eliminates the at-risk investment requirement. Direct qualifying employees exclude independent contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters. Contractual investor repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded from qualifying capital; an enterprise’s sole-discretion buyback exception remains subject to sustainment and other requirements. Gifted or borrowed funds must be provided in good faith and not to circumvent permissible-capital restrictions.
Plan for the immigration stages and household
Distinguish the investor petition, visa or adjustment stage when available and later removal of conditions. Review visa availability and each family member’s eligibility. Child Status Protection Act questions require individual analysis; neither a property sale nor an investment payment should be treated as an automatic freeze of a child’s age. The residence chronology starts at immigrant admission or adjustment approval, creating the two-year conditional period. The ordinary I-829 filing window runs through the 90 days before the second anniversary. Neither petition approval nor I-829 submission alone completes removal of conditions or makes the capital repayable.
Investment amount, targeted employment area and job creation
Ask which specific positions are counted, whether they are construction or operational, over what period they are filled and sustained, and what the methodology assumes. Where the money goes through a regional centre, indirect and induced jobs may be counted using reasonable economic methodologies, which is why so many investors choose that route. The reduced amount is the reason most offerings describe themselves as targeted-employment-area projects, and that description is a legal designation resting on unemployment or rural criteria rather than a sales point. A standalone case usually means direct involvement in an operating business and direct responsibility for its records; a regional centre case usually means reliance on a sponsor's reporting. A promoter's assertion that a site is rural or high-unemployment is a claim to be verified against the current designation, not a fact established by the marketing deck.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
- USCIS — EB-5 investor program
- USCIS — business and investment visa overview
- USCIS — Child Status Protection Act
- Department of State — Visa Bulletin
- USCIS — fee schedule
- U.S. Code — INA 203(b)(5), investment thresholds and adjustment
- USCIS EB-5 policy manual
- USCIS I-829
- 8 USC 1153 — permissible capital and jobs
- 8 CFR 204.6(e) — qualifying employees only