IN THIS GUIDE · Administrative fees versus qualifying capital in an EB-5 offering
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
What the qualifying amount is, and what sits beside it
The thresholds are US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for investment qualifying for the reduced amount, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027. Separately charged administrative fees should not automatically be added to qualifying investment. A capital-account entry is insufficient by itself: counsel must verify the actual treatment under EB-5 rules. The decision is whether a charge buys an ownership interest or pays for a service. Subscription documents, the limited partnership or operating agreement, bank instructions and the issuer’s accounting should identify the treatment consistently; a label on a marketing deck does not decide it.
Reading the allocation instead of assuming it
Some offerings bill the administrative fee on top of the subscription; others draw it from funds already wired. Neither pattern is universally correct, and neither is automatically fatal. Review the subscription agreement, the fee schedule, the escrow instructions and the capital account statement together, then identify the exact figure credited as the investor's contribution. Corporate records can be relevant to eligibility, not merely commercial paperwork. Build a transfer ledger before funds move. For each link, retain the sending account, recipient, date, amount, purpose and supporting record; gaps between a sale, gift, loan or distribution and the wire to the enterprise require explanation rather than assumption.
Capital at risk and the regional centre question
The capital must be at risk. Contractual refund or repayment rights may exist, but immigration approval never guarantees recovery of money, and refund rights are not always impossible to negotiate either. A regional center's designation is not an endorsement of the investment and not a guarantee of approval. A standalone investment supports Form I-526; a regional center investment supports Form I-526E, and permitted job-creation methods differ. Capital must remain subject to the possibility of gain or loss during the required period. Review redemption language, side agreements and guarantees together, then decide whether any promised protection changes the commercial risk the investor is actually bearing.
Before the petition goes in
At least ten qualifying full-time jobs must be attributable to the investment, and the investor, spouse and children are not counted among them. Lawful source and lawful path of funds are both examined, and prescribed historical tax records may be required. Where the fee allocation is unclear, obtain a written correction before filing rather than explaining a discrepancy afterwards. Current counsel review remains essential. The job analysis should identify each qualifying full-time position, who will occupy it, when it is expected to exist and which records will later verify it. EB-5 approval leads first to conditional permanent residence, so job evidence and the continuing investment record must be planned for the later removal-of-conditions stage as well.
Connect the reported phases with the applicable job evidence
Begin with the offering materials and business plan, then match the employment method to payroll records, economic inputs, or other project evidence as applicable.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.