IN THIS GUIDE · Keep project promises and personal funding evidence in separate review files
Identify capital that meets the investment requirements
EB-5 requires qualifying capital to be placed at risk, alongside the applicable investment and job-creation requirements. An administrative charge or other payment connected with immigration is not automatically investment capital. Assess the actual agreement and funding arrangement rather than equating every dollar transferred with a qualifying investment or treating a promotional return as guaranteed. For gifted or borrowed capital, establish lawful source and a good-faith arrangement that does not circumvent restrictions on permissible capital sources. Capital exchanged for a contractual repayment right or a guaranteed rate of return is excluded. An option exercisable solely at the new commercial enterprise’s discretion has a narrow exception: exercising it requires petition withdrawal unless the applicable sustainment period and other requirements have been fulfilled. For direct employment, a qualifying permanent full-time position requires at least 35 hours weekly; independent contractors, nonimmigrants and the investor, spouse, sons or daughters are excluded from qualifying employees. The investor must participate through day-to-day managerial control or policy formulation; qualifying policy rights can meet that condition without daily operation.
Record what the project is claiming
Identify the proposed structure, the investment requirement being relied on and the evidence concerning qualifying job creation. Ask the reviewer which claims need supporting records. Keep answers from the project provider with the documents they refer to. A promotional description should not become the sole evidence for a conclusion merely because it is repeated in several brochures.
Reconcile the investor's funding history
Begin with the event that produced the money and follow the actual payments. A business sale, gift or distribution may involve records held by several parties. Note missing documents and who can provide them. Preserve real dates, deductions and transfers rather than simplifying an inconvenient history into one unexplained deposit.
Plan the household using individual dates
Bring family circumstances and any child-age issue to the initial assessment. Do not derive a move date from an investment payment or a project's advertised schedule. Immigration stages and visa availability must be considered separately. The reviewer should explain which dates need monitoring and what new information may change the family's assessment.
Understand obligations beyond the first approval
Include later immigration stages and removal of conditions in the planning discussion. Keep commercial risks, refund terms and professional engagements visible in the budget. Receiving conditional residence is not a promise that every later requirement has already been satisfied. Continue preserving the records relevant to the case rather than treating the initial milestone as the end of preparation.
Apply the capital, job and residence rules
As checked September 7, 2026, the standard capital minimum is US$1,050,000, reduced to US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure projects. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027; confirm the amount for the filing. The investment must support at least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs, with direct and regional-center methods assessed under their applicable rules. An initial investor petition does not itself grant residence: the applicable immigrant-visa or adjustment process follows. Conditional residence is followed by removal of conditions, with Form I-829 generally filed during the 90 days before its second anniversary. Conditional residence begins at immigrant admission or adjustment approval, not at investment or petition approval.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.