IN THIS GUIDE · Separate cash sale proceeds from retained equity and contingent payments before funding EB-5
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Break the transaction into its actual components
Identify the cash paid at closing, liabilities discharged, any interest retained in the buyer or business, and conditional future payments. Do not count retained equity as cash in the investment account. If noncash property is proposed as EB-5 capital, its qualification and valuation need their own assessment rather than an assumed cash equivalence. The applicant must decide whether the available asset can be documented as qualifying capital rather than merely valuable property. Preserve appraisals, closing statements and ownership records that answer that distinct question.
Trace the investor’s lawful rights and funds
Connect the ownership and sale documents to settlement records and the subsequent path of the proposed contribution. Explain whether a payment belongs to the applicant or another owner or entity. A stated sale value does not prove personal entitlement to the whole amount, and a future payment should not be described as received. Build a dated funds trail from the sale through every account to the investment. Where money moved through a company or co-owner, obtain records that explain legal entitlement before calling it the applicant’s capital.
Apply the investment requirements to the amount actually proposed
Current general thresholds are US$1.05 million, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure project; statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027 under the applicable filing-date rules. Lawful source and path, at-risk capital, ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy-formulation participation remain necessary. The business sold in Canada does not itself supply the U.S. investment’s qualifying jobs. A business plan and hiring evidence should identify how the required jobs will arise from the U.S. enterprise, not from the Canadian sale. Capital must remain exposed to business risk; a guaranteed return is inconsistent with that requirement.
Keep the sale timetable separate from residence
Petition approval alone does not establish residence. Applicable immigrant admission or adjustment approval begins conditional residence; I-829 is generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary. Filing does not automatically remove conditions or repay capital. Visa availability and admissibility remain separate from the buyer’s payment schedule. Sequence the immigration steps separately from the investment transfer and any sale instalments. Conditional residence carries later obligations, including a timely petition to remove conditions supported by the enterprise’s continuing evidence.
Direct and regional center methods are not interchangeable
A regional-center offering allocates jobs to investors through an economic model; a direct investment counts only its own payroll. Each investor’s capital must be credited with creating at least ten full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers, which for regional-center projects may include indirect jobs shown through an accepted economic methodology. Read how jobs are allocated among investors, what happens if the project falls short, whether capital may be redeployed, and how the two-year sustainment period is measured.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.