How long must an investor be involved with an EB-5 project after they receive their green card?

The entire investment must be made before filing the I-526 petition. The involvement in the project should continue until I-829 approval.

You can use the loan proceeds from a mortgage on your property and show they are your personal funds to be invested in an EB-5 project. Your investment funds have to be 100% at-risk and be sustained until you have received an approval of the I-829 petition.

This idea may work but it requires a well-detailed business plan. If it turns out that the plan is too speculative, it may not work for EB-5. Prior to putting this idea into operation, consult an EB-5 attorney and try to finesse an accompanying business plan for a more realistic review.

Loan proceeds may be used if the loan is secured by an EB-5 investor''s personal assets. Currently, the minimum investment threshold in a direct case is $1 million unless it is located in a targeted employment area. Amounts will most likely be increased soon. Generally, a business can be sold after an EB-5 investor obtains a permanent green card and the 2-year condition is removed. Right now, this process takes, on average, 5-6 years.

The minimum investment amount is currently $1million unless the project is located in a high-unemployment area or rural area, in which it may be reduced to $500,000. The loan must be secured by his personal assets. Generally, the business can be sold after he gets a green card, a process that presently takes about 5-6 years.

The investor must be involved in maintaining his investment in order to obtain his Lawful Permanent Residency by having made an EB-5 investment and filing a petition on Form I-526 for the duration of the legal process that starts with filing the Investor Petition on Form I-526 and a Petition to Remove Conditions on Form I-829. As a practical matter, that whole process could take 4-5 years or even longer during which the 10 jobs per investor must be maintained along with the maintenance of the business. It is only after all investors have obtained their Lawful Permanent Residency without conditions that the investment can be sold. It may be possible for your brother to use a loan from a bank or credit union, provided that same is secured by an equal amount of collateral owned by the investor.

The loan cannot be secured by the business itself but can be secured by other personal assets of your brother or other family members. He would need to operate the business at least until the I-829 is approved.

In order to qualify for EB-5 Immigrant Investor processing, the immigrant investor must invest at least the minimum requisite capital ($500K if the business is located in a designated Targeted Employment Area, if not must be >$1million), and the investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for United States residents/citizens. After 2 years of being granted conditional permanent residence under the EB-5 petition, your brother must show at that point that the investment resulted in the 10 full-time jobs among other EB-5 requirements. So, for direct investment, the safe bet is to keep the money in the business at least until the 2-year conditional permanent residence has been filed and approved.

You cannot do it with a loan; he will not qualify.