Review what the released funds and binding commitments actually establish. A signed sale does not make every retained amount available, and an expected release date is not proof of receipt. Counsel should assess whether the present evidence supports filing or whether the remaining conditions leave a material gap. Decide what would change if you waited, and weigh that against what would change if you did not. A file resting on funds still subject to a release condition may draw a request for evidence that costs more time than the delay would have. Where the released portion already meets the requirement on its own, waiting buys little. That comparison, not the calendar, is the decision.
Coordinate two sets of deadlines
The holdback agreement controls its commercial release; immigration rules control the petition and required evidence. Neither timetable automatically changes the other. Also recheck the investment amount for filings on or after the statutory adjustment beginning January 1, 2027.
Avoid setting family travel or work dates on the assumption that a closing or an approved immigrant petition itself grants permanent residence. Money held back also raises a control question worth settling with the buyer. Ask who may draw on the retained amount, on what conditions, and what happens if the dispute it covers is never resolved.
Get the answer in the holdback agreement rather than in correspondence, because an escrow agent follows the document. Deciding that before signing keeps a commercial argument from becoming an immigration problem.