IN THIS GUIDE · Proving where money came from when it was assembled over three decades of land transactions
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
The amount, and the date on which the amount changes
Qualifying capital is US$1,050,000, reduced to US$800,000 where the investment is in a qualifying targeted employment area or in an infrastructure project, and those figures are subject to a statutory adjustment beginning 1 January 2027. Sunniva should treat that date as a planning fact rather than a deadline to panic about, because the amount that governs is fixed by the rules in force when her investment and petition are made, not by what the market was charging when she started looking. The reduced amount is not a discount available on request: the project must genuinely sit within a qualifying targeted employment area or qualify as infrastructure, and the designation is evidence somebody has to produce. Confirm the current figures from the official program page before any transfer, since published amounts change and an underfunded investment is not curable by topping up later without consequences.
Lawful source and lawful path are two separate showings
Source explains how the money was lawfully earned or acquired. Path shows every account and instrument it passed through on its way to the new commercial enterprise. Sunniva's file needs registered deeds and transfer records for each severance, the statements of adjustments from each closing, appraisals or comparable evidence of value, the discharge of any mortgage, and the tax treatment of the gains as filed. Where a bank has been amalgamated, its successor can usually produce historic statements, and where records are genuinely gone, an affidavit is worth something only when it sits beside whatever documentary fragments do exist. Inherited property adds a further step, because the estate's own paperwork becomes part of the chain. The rule of thumb is unforgiving and simple: every dollar must be traceable from the activity that generated it to the account that receives it.
Ten jobs, a real role, and two years of conditional residence
The investment must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers, and the enterprise must be a new commercial enterprise into which the capital is placed at risk. Sunniva must also be engaged in the business through management or policy formulation, which a limited partnership interest in a regional-centre project can satisfy in a way passive share ownership does not. Approval brings conditional permanent residence for two years for her and for derivative family members, with Form I-829 filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary to remove the conditions, at which point the jobs and the sustained investment are examined again. That second examination is where optimistic projects fail, so the questions asked before signing should be about job creation methodology, the escrow and release terms, and what happens to the investment if the project stalls.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
- USCIS: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
- USCIS: Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor
- USCIS: Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status
- eCFR: 8 CFR 204.6, Petitions for employment creation aliens
- U.S. Code: 8 U.S.C. 1153, Allocation of immigrant visas
- USCIS: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule