IN THIS GUIDE · Investing through wholly owned companies: ownership, authorized distributions and a documented path of funds.
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Company ownership is not a personal balance
In this hypothetical case, the investor owns three operating companies. Company shares and the company's bank balance are different assets. Before U.S. funding, establish ownership of the money, authority to apply it to the individual's investment, and the legal treatment of each transaction. A dividend, loan, or authorized direct payment requires analysis of its actual structure; a stop in a personal account is not presumed mandatory in every case. Hypothetical example: an investor considers a citrus-peel processing facility whose presentation combines expected hiring with an attractive return. The first decision is whether the offering documents identify the investor’s actual capital deployment, the job methodology, and the downside risk separately rather than blending them into a sales forecast.
Authorized distributions leave a paper trail
A transfer out of a company is an event the company itself should be able to explain. Board or shareholder approval, the resolution or written consent behind it, the ledger entry, and the outgoing wire together describe one authorized distribution. Corporate evidence can be relevant to eligibility, so treat these records as part of the filing rather than as internal bookkeeping. Build a source-and-path ledger before money moves. It should connect the original source record, intervening accounts, exchange records, gifts or loans where applicable, and the transfer into the enterprise. A balance statement alone rarely answers why the funds were available or how they reached the investment.
Lawful source and lawful path both close
Source explains how the money was earned; path explains every account it crossed on the way to the project. Corporate structures lengthen the path, since a distribution from one company that was itself funded by another adds a link. Prescribed historical tax records may be required, so do not assume any particular filing year is beyond the scope of a document request. Ask for the record that permits the job claim to be tested: budget assumptions, construction or operating timetable, payroll model, third-party agreements and the method used to count qualifying positions. The reader must decide whether the proposed evidence supports the claimed jobs, not merely whether the economic story sounds plausible.
What the investment itself must still do
Funding mechanics never replace the program's own tests. The qualifying amount is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a targeted employment area or infrastructure project, with statutory adjustments starting January 1, 2027 that should be rechecked before a later filing. Capital stays at risk, at least ten qualifying full-time jobs are required, and the investor, spouse and children are not counted among them. Sequence business commitments around the route’s immigration stages. The investment and job evidence must support the petition; conditional residence is not the end of the compliance record. Preserve the documents needed later to show that the capital remained at risk and that the required employment result was achieved.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.