Compare versions before signing
Identify amendments to the project, financing, capital terms and use of proceeds. Ask for an explanation of their effect on the business and job evidence. A short amendment can change a consequential obligation even when the marketing summary retains the same title. Read the operative business and subscription documents together. Identify the new commercial enterprise, the investor’s required contribution, the deployment terms, fees and refund provisions. An attractive summary cannot replace the signed arrangements.
Confirm the applicable capital threshold
The current statutory amounts are generally US$1.05 million, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project, with statutory adjustment scheduled for January 1, 2027. Determine the rule applicable to the filing and the project; a discounted advertised price does not establish eligibility. Build the money trail in chronological order. Tax returns, sale records, gifts, loans, account statements and transfers should show how each material amount was earned, received and moved. A late explanation may not cure an undocumented transaction.
Review jobs and investor allocation
EB-5 generally requires at least ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers per investor. Regional-centre cases can use permitted methodologies subject to the applicable rules. Lawful source and path, capital at risk, and investor management or policy-formulation participation remain separate requirements. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 may qualify as derivatives and receive two-year conditional permanent residence, with Form I-829 filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary. Choose the job evidence method before relying on projections. Direct cases and regional-centre cases use different evidentiary approaches. The business plan, economic materials and employment records should all be consistent with the selected framework.
Separate immigration from repayment
Capital must satisfy the at-risk and other EB-5 requirements. A projected exit is not a government guarantee of repayment or approval. Review the investment’s terms and the applicable sustainment requirements without assuming that a particular immigration milestone automatically releases money. Keep the conditional-residence stage in view. The later removal-of-conditions process tests continuing requirements and evidence; petition approval alone does not eliminate that later work. Record key project and personal immigration dates from the outset.
Check whether an amendment changes your participation
An amendment may affect more than the investment schedule. Identify any change to management or policy-formulation rights, which remain relevant to the investor’s required participation. Qualifying limited-partner rights can be sufficient; personal day-to-day operation is not universally required. Commercial changes deserve prompt assessment because a revised project can alter both risk and evidence. Ask for source documents, not only a sponsor’s summary, and compare them against what the investor originally relied upon.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.