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PELHAM · EB-5 FIELD GUIDE

Does a favorable project report establish my EB-5 eligibility?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. It may assess particular project facts, while individual capital, lawful source, participation and the applicable job requirements still need evidence.

Identify the report’s limits

A commercial assessment is not an immigration decision. Do not imply the adviser has established facts outside the report’s actual scope.

The immigrant investor category requires an investment of the qualifying amount in a new commercial enterprise that creates at least ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers, made with capital the investor obtained lawfully, with the investor engaged in management or policy formulation. The reduced EB-5 capital amount applies to investments in a targeted employment area or a qualifying infrastructure project, and neither status follows automatically from a project being rural or geographically remote. The lawful-source requirement then follows the money back through the donors, which is why gifted-funds cases are usually longer files than self-funded ones: two sets of tax records, two sets of asset histories, two sets of bank statements. Approval leads to conditional permanent residence, and the conditions are removed only on a later petition showing that the capital remained invested and that the required jobs were created, or where permitted will be created within the applicable period.