Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Explain the inheritance and money path
Use relevant estate, ownership and banking records to describe the lawful origin, entitlement and actual transfer into the investment. The required evidence depends on the real history; do not invent a single mandatory estate-document package for every jurisdiction. Begin with the document that gives the applicant the right to the asset, then obtain the estate account statement, sale or distribution record, and the receiving account statement. If a lawyer, executor, or family member temporarily holds money, the file should identify that person’s role and show the outgoing and incoming entries on both sides. Hypothetical example: a View Royal applicant inherits shares in a commercial refrigeration distributor, and the estate administrator proposes to sell the shares to a third party. The applicant must decide whether to pursue EB-5 before or after the sale closes. A valuation or an unsigned purchase offer does not show capital received. The share register, grant of probate, executed share-sale agreement, estate ledger, and bank credit decide the issue. Filing after the proceeds are actually distributed can produce a complete path; filing while the offer remains conditional asks the case to rely on money the applicant does not yet control.
Preserve the capital and residence requirements
Generally US$1.05 million, or US$800,000 for qualifying TEA or infrastructure cases, is required, with statutory adjustment from January 1, 2027. Investment risk, ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy-formulation participation remain necessary. Petition approval is not residence. I-829 generally falls in the 90 days before the second conditional-residence anniversary; filing does not automatically remove conditions or guarantee repayment. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 may qualify as derivatives. Verify the current filing-date capital threshold before any money moves. Capital must remain subject to the venture’s business risk rather than be protected by a guaranteed return or redemption arrangement. The business plan should connect the contribution to the required employment outcome, while later payroll, tax, and organizational records show what occurred. Admission or adjustment after petition approval gives conditional permanent residence; it is not the same as unconditional residence. The investor should therefore calendar the residence stage and preserve investment and job records from the beginning instead of reconstructing them near the I-829 filing window.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
The investment must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers, and the methodology for counting them differs between a direct investment and a regional centre project. Assess at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor under the applicable standalone or regional-center method, without allocating the same jobs twice. An enterprise-only discretionary buyback has a limited statutory exception; exercise requires petition withdrawal unless applicable sustainment and other requirements are fulfilled. A regional-center project may count indirect and induced jobs shown by an economic model, and the investor's role can be limited to policy matters permitted by the structure. Direct positions require at least 35 hours weekly; contractors, nonimmigrants and the investor, spouse, sons or daughters are excluded from qualifying employees. Within the ninety days before the second anniversary, Form I-829 must be filed showing the capital remained invested and the jobs were created or will be within a reasonable time. Compare the offering documents with the evidence needed later: job methodology, deployment terms, escrow release conditions, investor rights and exit language.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.