IN THIS GUIDE · Decide which spouse is the EB-5 investor before treating the family file as interchangeable
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify the proposed principal and the actual capital
Explain who owns the relevant funds and the investment interest, and how the contribution reaches the enterprise. A joint bank account does not resolve every ownership question. Neither the person who clicked the transfer button nor the person listed first on a household spreadsheet is automatically established as the qualifying investor. Hypothetical example: A reclaimed-timber milling business receives money from both spouses, but only one signs the purchase and holds the membership interest. The decision is whether the records support that person as the investor or whether the transaction must be restructured before filing.
Review a proposed change before implementing it
If the couple now wants the other spouse to be the principal, assess the investment documents, ownership, immigration stage and required filing steps. Do not present the change as a simple administrative rename or assume the first person’s petition approval transfers to the other. Compare the proposed change against bank records, transfer documents, entity records, and any filing already made. A change of principal can alter whose source and path of funds must be proven, whose investment is exposed to loss, and which immigration history requires disclosure.
Retain the principal investor’s EB-5 obligations
Current general capital requirements are US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure case, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027 under applicable filing-date rules. Establish the principal’s qualifying at-risk investment, lawful source and path, ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and management or policy participation. Marriage does not replace that showing. The job analysis should identify which full-time positions are credited to this investor and why they are qualifying positions. A business forecast or a shared payroll total cannot be divided informally after the fact to satisfy separate investor files.
Rebuild the household timeline from the actual case
A qualifying spouse and unmarried children under 21 may seek derivative status, subject to individual eligibility and applicable age rules. Petition approval alone does not start conditional residence. The applicable immigrant admission or adjustment approval does; I-829 is generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary, not the date the couple informally selected a principal. Set calendar reminders from the actual conditional-residence start, preserve investment and job records throughout that period, and decide who will maintain them. The filing to remove conditions is a later adjudication step, not a promised result of the initial petition.
Standalone counting differs from a regional center
A standalone direct investment uses Form I-526; a regional center investment uses Form I-526E, and a regional center designation is not an endorsement or an approval guarantee for the project you buy into. A first review should identify whether the project relies on direct, indirect, or induced employment methodology and then trace every claimed position to the appropriate supporting record.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.