IN THIS GUIDE · When the capital is a gift from parents, the file has to prove two people's money, not one
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
The two halves of a gifted-funds file
The first half is the donors. Their income history, the purchase and sale of the duplex with closing statements, the brokerage records showing when the shares were acquired and sold, and tax filings covering the relevant years all establish that the money was lawfully obtained. The second half is the transfer. A signed gift instrument stating that the funds are given irrevocably and without repayment or security, the bank records showing the money leaving their accounts and arriving in hers, and evidence that no side agreement returns it. A gift that is really a loan is a different case with different consequences, and describing it wrongly is worse than disclosing it.
Amounts, and the two projects that are not the same thing
The programme requires qualifying capital of one million and fifty thousand United States dollars, reduced to eight hundred thousand where the investment is in a targeted employment area or an infrastructure project, and those figures come from the 2022 legislation and should be re-verified before any money moves. Where the capital is invested changes more than the number. A regional-centre project generally allows the investor to be a limited partner whose obligation to engage in management is met through statutory partnership rights, while a direct investment in her own enterprise requires that she actually manage or set policy. For a person whose career is remote software work, that difference is the practical one.
Ten jobs, and who counts them
At least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers must be created, and the method of counting depends on the structure. Direct investment counts actual employees of the enterprise, evidenced by payroll and tax filings, and the investor carries that risk personally. Regional-centre investments may count jobs using economic methodologies, which shifts the burden onto the project's documentation and makes the choice of project the most consequential decision in the file. Either way the jobs are proved at the second stage, when the conditions on residence are removed, so a project that is behind schedule at that point is the investor's problem regardless of who prepared the projections.
Two years of conditional residence, then the second filing
Approval leads to permanent residence granted on a conditional basis for two years, and Form I-829 must be filed in the statutory period before the second anniversary to show that the capital remained invested, that it stayed at risk throughout, and that the jobs were created or will be within a reasonable time. Her spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one are included as derivatives, subject to the age rules and the protection the Child Status Protection Act provides. Between the two filings she should keep her own records rather than relying on the project to keep them, because the second petition is hers to prove and the project's cooperation is not guaranteed years later.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.