IN THIS GUIDE · Capital assembled from a business sale and a home-secured loan, and the trail it leaves
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
The qualifying amount and where it comes from
The statutory investment is one million fifty thousand United States dollars in the standard case, or eight hundred thousand where the investment is in a targeted employment area or a qualifying infrastructure project, as set by the 2022 reform legislation and subject to adjustment, so the current figure should be verified on the official program page before anything is committed. The capital must be the investor's own and must be placed at risk in a new commercial enterprise. Capital includes cash and, within limits, other assets and indebtedness secured by assets the investor owns, provided the investor is personally and primarily liable and the assets of the enterprise are not the security. Confirm the applicable amount and project designation from current official material before subscribing. Sales material may describe a location without resolving the legal classification of the investment.
Lawful source is a story; path of funds is a chain
Two separate showings are required and families routinely prepare only the first. Lawful source explains how the money was earned: the fleet sale agreement, the closing statement, the tax filings reporting the gain, and the years of business records that show the company was real. Path of funds shows the money's journey: statements for the account that received the proceeds, the transfer into the family's account, the loan advance arriving, and the wire into the project's escrow. Every account the money touches needs statements covering the period. A gap of one account with no records is enough to produce a request for evidence. Create a source-and-path index before any wire, with one entry for every account and transaction. The best time to explain an unusual transfer is while the bank records are accessible.
A home-secured loan can qualify; a project-secured one cannot
Borrowed funds may count as the investor's capital where the investor is personally and primarily liable and the loan is not secured by the assets of the new commercial enterprise. A mortgage on the family's own Quebec home meets that description: the family owns the asset, they are liable, and the enterprise is not the security. A loan from the project itself, or one secured against the project's assets, does not count, because the enterprise would in substance be funding its own capital. The loan documents, the security instruments and evidence of the property's ownership and value all belong in the file. Read loan security terms closely to determine what asset supports repayment. The collateral facts matter independently from the borrower’s general financial strength.
Ten jobs, engagement, and the two-year conditional period
The investment must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers, counted according to the rules applicable to the type of investment. The investor must be engaged in the enterprise's management or policy formulation rather than holding a passive interest, which in a regional centre structure is ordinarily satisfied through the rights of a limited partner or member. On approval the investor, spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one receive conditional permanent residence for two years, and the conditions are removed by filing Form I-829 with evidence that the capital remained invested and the jobs were created. Decide how the selected structure will document employment creation through the conditional period. A later filing depends on records kept during operations, not only on projections prepared at subscription.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.