After closing a home equity loan, I will gift the $800K to my sibling for EB-5. It will be a direct investment in a rural area. Should I transfer the money to her personal account then to the business account, or directly transfer the money from my account to a business account as long as I notarize a gift letter first? Also, my mom is a naturalized citizen. She can petition for my sibling, although the visa bulletin shows a long wait (March bulletin shows an action date of 01DEC14 for unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens). Is it a good idea to file for EB-5 (consular processing) and I-130 around the same time? What steps should we take?
Best to transfer the money to her personal account and your mother can also file an I-130 petition. As you point out, the waiting line is long, but always good to have a backup plan in case the project does not create the requisite number of jobs, etc.
Is the gift for an EB-5 private project or Regional Center? I would transfer to her and then she can invest in the project and support with a loan agreement from you to her and identify any security (it cannot be the project she is investing in.) Yes, an I-130 may be filed concurrently with the I-526 for EB-5.
You should transfer the $800,000 to the personal bank account of your sibling. Your mother can file an I-130 petition on behalf of your sibling. There can be one permanent residence case based on the EB-5 investment and a second permanent residence case based on the I-130 petition.
I-130 petition can be filed independently from I-526 petition. Gift funds must be wired from you to your sibling''s personal bank account. Your sibling will wire to direct EB-5 entity as EB-5 investment. Source of funds and funds tracing must be documented. Hire an experienced immigration attorney to prepare I-526 petition.
Definitely wire the funds to your sibling''s account first. And then she can wire to the business account. I-130/I-526 can be filed at the same time.
The funds you give to the EB-5 investor should be remitted to her personal account, if possible. When she remits funds to the NCE''s bank account, they have to come from her own personal bank account. It is a good idea to have the I-130 on file - it is a simple application and it definitely makes sense to pursue it alongside EB-5.
