IN THIS GUIDE · Fund EB-5 from a share sale only with the tranche that has actually been paid
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Count only capital that exists
Capital means the investor's own assets placed at risk. Money that may arrive in three years if targets are met is a contingent right, not capital, and a petition built on it will fail the investment requirement. Compute what the closing payment delivers after tax and after the holding company distributes it, and compare that with the threshold that applies to the chosen project. If the closing tranche alone is short, the remaining amount must come from other documented assets or the petition must wait.
Trace the path through the holding company
The purchaser paid the holding company, which then paid the investor as a dividend or return of capital. Each step needs its own document: the share-purchase agreement, the closing statement, the holding company's bank statement and resolution authorizing the distribution, the investor's personal statement receiving it, and the wire to the new commercial enterprise or its escrow. Lawful source also reaches back to how the investor originally acquired the shares, which may mean incorporation records and early tax returns from years ago.
Understand what the regional center provides
Investing through an approved regional center allows job creation to be counted using economic modelling of direct, indirect and induced jobs, rather than the direct payroll evidence a stand-alone investment requires. It also satisfies the engagement requirement through a limited-partner or member role with policy-making rights under the organizing documents. 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.
Follow the residence sequence
Approval of the investor petition is not residence. Immigrant-visa processing or adjustment of status follows, subject to visa availability. Residence is conditional for two years; Form I-829 is filed during the ninety days before the second anniversary to remove conditions, with evidence that the capital stayed invested and the jobs were created. Spouse and unmarried children under 21 are derivatives with their own age and admissibility questions.
Standalone counting differs from a regional center
How jobs may be demonstrated differs between standalone investments and eligible regional-center structures. If construction spending supports a regional-center job analysis, ask how the financing plan affects the expenditures assumed. In either structure the investor must engage in management or policy formulation; EB-5 does not invariably require hands-on day-to-day involvement where qualifying policy rights suffice. At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers are required, with the applicable standalone or regional-center method assessed. Direct and regional-center methods differ; a phase-wide headline is not itself the relevant allocation or calculation. Document the positions and workers under the applicable rules rather than simply adding hours or payments. Direct and regional-center cases use different permitted job methods; explain what the actual analysis counts.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.