Hello there. I jointly own a residential property with my parents that is worth $650,000. We have received a working capital 5-year term loan against a residential property worth $270,000. Of the received amount, my mother gifted $20,000 to my wife and another $250,000 to me. These funds were then invested via a regional center for a total investment of $500,000. Also, my parents paid off the administrative fees (totaling $75,000) on my behalf directly to that regional center. Per our country’s laws, one cannot invest more than $250,000 per person per year. Hence, we need to make the investment to the regional center as I stated above. I am the primary applicant for the EB-5 Program, along with my wife. Is this a permissible way to invest through the program? Also, the property on which the working capital 5-year term loan against residential property was purchased 7 years ago from the date of filing the I-526 petition. We took out a loan to purchase that property and the rest was paid by us, but it is proving difficult to get all the necessary bank records related to this payment. We do have the bank loan statements, though, as we are still making regular payments to it. How far back in our records do we need to go to prove that the property was acquired from a legitimate source of funds? What kind of professionals can help us in this process?
Answers
Julia Roussinova
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyYou should obtain a consultation with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney to review the facts in your case and advise you whether you qualify to file I-526 petition. It is important to understand that EB-5 investment is an individual investment in the US economy, not a family investment. If some funds are gifted to you, this source of funds must be fully traced and the person gifting the funds to you must also demonstrate how he or she originally acquired or earned these funds. If any portion is a loan, it must be secured by collateral you (EB-5 investor) personally own and the collateral must be of the value equal to or exceeding the amount loaned to you for EB-5 investment. Generally, there is no specific timeframe to track the records for the lawful source of funds. If there are gaps in primary documentation, they may be explained by declarations with secondary evidence to support that the source of funds is lawful.
Charles Foster
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyYour question is somewhat complicated and you really need to seek the advice of experienced immigration law counsel, hopefully, Board Certified in immigration law by his or her state bar association with substantial experience in representing individual EB-5 investors as well as EB-5 projects. Remember, the investment is an individual investment and is not a family investment. Thus, if you wish to qualify, you would have to show that you met the minimum $500,000 investment as well as proving a lawful source of funds. Under certain conditions, those funds may be borrowed as long as you have put up an equal amount of collateral. In the end, whether it is your funds that you have earned or funds that are borrowed or gifted, those funds must be in your name prior to the investment.
Bernard P Wolfsdorf
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyIn order to use a loan for EB-5, it must be 100% collateralized with the investor's own property. I am guessing the $250,000 per year is for India? My understanding is the amount is restrictive as to investing abroad. As for proving the money was purchased with legally earned funds, this is very important. They never used to go beyond 7 years, but they often do now so one must prove how the funds were earned legally. If there are missing records, it's more important than ever to fill in the gaps with evidence that can include declarations although we do advise to provide a complete picture so the government can see it was lawfully earned.
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