Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Reconcile the sale with actual receipts
Identify the seller, sale agreement, lawful source of the sold interest and each payment received. Explain deductions, liens and transfers before the funds reach the investment. A purchase price on paper should not be reported as cash already contributed. If the plan relies on future instalments, identify that dependency openly. Create a schedule that links each expected instalment to the sale clause, payer, receipt and onward transfer. Keep conditional earn-outs separate from fixed amounts already received. Explain deductions or amounts retained elsewhere so the final investment transfer can be reconciled with the source transaction. If a payment is delayed or reduced, identify which planned contribution depends on it; do not leave the highest possible sale price in the narrative as if nothing changed. The schedule should help a reviewer follow actual funds, not replace the contracts and records behind them. Assess the receiving enterprise independently, because a well-documented sale does not establish the project’s jobs, participation rights or qualifying capital terms.
Apply the capital and employment rules
Current EB-5 capital is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project; statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027, so use the amount for the filing. Establish lawful at-risk capital, at least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor under the applicable direct or regional-center method, and managerial or policy-formulation participation. Direct positions require at least 35 hours weekly; contractors, nonimmigrants and the investor, spouse, sons or daughters are excluded from qualifying employees.
Examine investor rights and residence milestones
Gifted or borrowed capital needs lawful-source evidence and a good-faith arrangement that does not circumvent restrictions on permissible capital sources. Contractual repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded. An option exercisable solely at the enterprise’s discretion has a narrow exception: its exercise requires petition withdrawal unless sustainment and the other statutory requirements have been fulfilled. Petition approval or payment is not residence or present work permission. Conditional residence begins at immigrant admission or adjustment approval; I-829 is generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary.
Engagement in management or policy formulation is still required
A credible EB-5 offering should include a formal targeted employment area designation letter or equivalent supporting documentation tied to the specific project location and the underlying unemployment data or infrastructure approval relied upon. Within the ninety days before that period ends, a Form I-829 petition must be filed to remove the conditions, showing that the required capital was invested and sustained and that the jobs were created or will be created within a reasonable time. A direct investment counts jobs created directly by the new commercial enterprise, including through qualifying wholly owned subsidiaries; a regional-centre investment may also count indirect jobs under an approved economic methodology, which is why the same restaurant group can look different under the two structures. A limited partner in a regional-center fund typically satisfies this through the rights the partnership agreement grants. Where the investment is made through a designated regional center, jobs created indirectly may be counted using accepted economic methodologies, which is why regional center offerings often satisfy the requirement more easily on paper. The investor must also be engaged in management or policy formulation rather than holding a passive stake, and that engagement should be reflected in the governing documents from the beginning. The investor still bears the risk of the project and must review its offering documents, the target-employment-area designation and the job-creation methodology rather than rely on marketing. 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.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.