Questions & Answers

How do I prove EB-5 source of funds as a freelancer?

I own a website and work as a freelancer with different clients. I accept payment through “payoneer” – a global payment receiving platform. My web site is registered as a company with “payoneer” and I get money withdrawn by them to the bank account of my company. It has been just 3 months since I started the business and it is going very well. I am earning about $300,000 a month. How do I prove the source of fund for EB-5 purposes in this case? How long do I have to wait to pay taxes for this income and can I invest in EB-5 now?

Answers

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on March 19, 2018

  Generally, you would need to show contracts, invoices, or receipts for business earnings, registration records for your website and also must demonstrate that any equivalent income or equivalent taxes are or will be paid by applicable due dates under applicable law. Please consult an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney to review your source of funds and advise you what type of primary and/or alternative documentation will support your I-526 petition.

• Fredrick W Voigtmann

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on March 5, 2018

  You will need to document the legitimate business activities of your company as the lawful source of your EB-5 funds. If you have contracts, invoices, receipts, and bank statements this will help greatly. A tax return is not necessarily required right away if you can prove that it is more likely than not the capital was lawfully obtained. You will eventually have to prove that any income tax or other taxes related to your business were paid. You should consult with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney for more details.

• Daniel A Zeft

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 27, 2018

  You must pay tax on revenues from your new business before U.S. CIS will view these funds as legally obtained for EB-5 purposes. For revenues earned in 2017, you will pay tax on these revenues at the appropriate time in 2018. For revenues earned in 2018, you will pay tax at the appropriate time in 2019.

• Tomas Resendez

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 22, 2018

  This is a very specific question that you should ask an experienced immigration lawyer. I can think of a few relatively easy ways, but I would recommend you schedule an appointment with an immigration lawyer so that you get an exact checklist of what is needed.

• Belma Chinchoy

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 22, 2018

  The best thing you can do is engage an attorney to do a review. What are the local tax laws? Have you filed taxes before (in the past 5 years)? Would you be able to produce contracts with clients? Is your company property registered with regulating authorities? If tax filings are not available, then you would focus on other evidence but an attorney needs to evaluate your case.

• BoBi Ahn

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 22, 2018

  You can provide copies of your and your business income tax return(s) to show the lawful source of your funds.

• A Olusanjo Omoniyi

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 22, 2018

  The standard for source of funds in EB-5 is that the source of fund you want to use for the EB-5 investment be legal or lawful. With regards to an operating business entity you need to follow good accounting practices showing cash flows in terms of revenue and costs of the business. In essence, you need be able to provide legal cash flow of your business. Consult an EB-5 attorney for the legal work and seek and employ an accountant who can help you set up thorough, reliable and transparent accounting practices of your business. The records of your accounting practices will be the main source of proving your earnings for so that the eventual EB-5 investment is legal.

• Blake Harrison

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 21, 2018

  To prove the lawful source of your investment funds, your application should include documents related to your professional background, services rendered, payments received, and accumulation of funds sufficient to make an EB-5 investment ($500,000 for projects in a TEA or $1,000,000 for projects not in a TEA). While you should consult with a tax advisor regarding tax payments, you could make an EB-5 investment now, if you have saved enough funds to do so.