IN THIS GUIDE · EB-5 capital when a business sale is paid in installments
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Sale price is not the same as committed capital
The qualifying amount is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 where the project is in a qualifying targeted employment area or is an infrastructure project. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027, so the figure should be rechecked when the petition is actually filed. A signed sale contract states a price; an unpaid installment is a receivable. What counts is capital placed at risk under the applicable rules. Before using sale proceeds, reconcile the contract price to amounts actually received, deposited, and available for the contribution. A simple schedule should flag any installment not yet due, any amount subject to a holdback, and any tax or business obligation that reduces what the individual can contribute. This turns a headline transaction into a document-backed funding decision.
Source and path both have to be shown
Both the lawful source of the funds and the path they travelled must be documented. For an installment sale that means the purchase agreement, the payment schedule, ledgers showing each credit, and evidence of how the investor owned the business before selling it. Prescribed historical tax records may be required in a given case. Company profits are not personal liquidity; a documented distribution or transfer is what moves value to the individual. Trace one payment at a time from the buyer to the seller, through any personal account, and into the investment account. If the business was sold, keep the documents establishing ownership before the sale alongside the contracts and bank evidence after it. The first review should identify any unexplained jump in value or account balance before it becomes a later request for evidence.
Jobs and the structure behind the capital
Each investor must account for at least ten qualifying full-time jobs. The investor, the investor's spouse and their children are excluded from that count; other relatives are not automatically excluded. Permitted counting methods differ between a direct investment, filed on Form I-526, and a regional center investment, filed on Form I-526E. Regional center designation is a status granted to the center, not an endorsement of any project or a promise of approval. Choose the job-evidence method before relying on a total. For a direct enterprise, that may mean preserving hiring records, payroll, hours, and the position chart; a regional-center case can require different economic and allocation evidence. The reader should be able to see which record supports each job, when that record is expected to exist, and whether another investor has already claimed the same activity.
If an installment is missed before the money is invested
If a buyer misses a payment needed for the proposed contribution, determine whether the case can still meet the capital requirements and timing. Replacement funding needs its own lawful source and path evidence; postponing or changing the plan may also require review. A payment default on proceeds not needed for an already sufficient investment presents a different issue from a shortfall in the promised qualifying contribution. Hypothetical example: an investor proposes capital for a factory making reusable transit-cart components, with ten positions shown in a forecast but only three hires scheduled before a key supplier contract expires. The executed supplier agreement, the hiring schedule, and payroll records resolve different parts of the plan. The investor must decide whether the evidence still supports the claimed jobs and at-risk contribution, or whether the project timetable has changed too much to rely on the forecast.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.