IN THIS GUIDE · Sequence a Lévis family's EB-5 so the source-of-funds file is finished before the subscription is signed
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Start with the source of funds, because it takes longest
Hypothetical example: a Lévis couple who held shares in a family trucking and logistics company sold their stake to a sibling over three years, receiving payments through a holding company that also paid dividends. Every one of those events needs a document: the share sale agreement, the valuation, the holding company's financial statements, the dividend resolutions, the tax filings and the bank transfers. Begin assembling that file before selecting a project, since the project can be chosen in weeks and the file can take months.
Understand what job creation the project is actually promising
A regional-center project counts direct, indirect and induced jobs through an economic model; a standalone enterprise counts direct employees on its own payroll. Ask which method the project uses, how many jobs it allocates to each investor, and how many investors it plans to admit. A project that allocates its jobs too thinly leaves the last investors without the ten they need. This is an evidentiary question as much as a financial one, and it belongs in the diligence before subscription.
Read the offering as an investor, then as an applicant
The offering documents describe the return, the term, the fees and the risks. Read them first as someone who may lose the money, with independent financial advice, because the capital must genuinely be at risk and can be lost. Then read them as an applicant: how does the project document its spending, when will the jobs be counted, and what evidence will be available at the removal-of-conditions stage. A project that cannot answer the second set of questions creates immigration risk even if it is a sound investment.
Line up the immigration stages and the children's birthdays
The sequence is the investor petition, then an immigrant visa through the consulate or adjustment of status where available, then two years of conditional residence, then the petition to remove conditions. Visa availability for the investor's country of chargeability affects the timeline. A child close to 21 needs the Child Status Protection Act calculation done properly, because filing a petition does not simply freeze a child's age, and a child who ages out has to be planned for separately.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.