Can my brother, who is a U.S. citizen, gift me funds for my direct EB-5 visa and also be a partner in the business?

Anyone can gift you but the gift must be from a legal source. As long as your brother is willing to provide proof of funds and your attorney is able to trace the fund to a legal source, yes, your brother can gift you even though he is a 60% partner.

It’s absolutely fine for your brother to be an owner/partner of the U.S. business (or the LP/LLC). For the gift, he’d have to prove that he earned it lawfully and it complied with tax laws, but that should be doable if structured correctly.

Yes, he can legitimately gift the funds to you. Be careful as you need to have 10 full-time employees and that will cost millions in wages. You must have these employees by the time you file the I-829 removal of conditions, if not earlier.

The law does not prevent this arrangement, but you should discuss the pros and cons with your attorney.

Yes, that’s ok. I have done that before.

There is no law that’s against it, but I think there are risks. USCIS can question whether your investment is a bona fide “investment” if they suspect that the transaction is not an arm’s-length transaction.

That should work since he doesn’t need EB-5 as well and provided the gift is not secured by the business as a loan.

In my opinion, it would not be likely to work. Because he is not actually giving you any money at all; it''s all on papers.