How can EB-5 investor get his investment back at the I-829 stage?

USCIS allows for return of the EB-5 investment to the EB-5 investor after the I-829 petition has been pending for more than six months. However, your signed agreement with the regional center determines the timing of when your EB-5 investment will be returned to you.

Whether you can get your money back at this point depends on the agreement. If the agreement allows or clearly states your investment fund should be returned once the I-829 is filed, you are likely to receive it. However, if the agreement is silent on the issue or perhaps clearly states that you must wait until I-829 is approved, the regional center may deny your request.

No, you do not wait until it is approved but the terms of repayment are laid out in your investment documentation. So once you have filed you may be able to get your money back as far as immigration is concerned, but you need to check the terms of any payment detailed in your investment documentation.

Review your project&#39s offering documentation to see the terms of your exit strategy and when EB-5 investors may receive their EB-5 capital back.

A new policy published last year allows the investor to obtain the return of his investment as long as the funds have been at risk for two years during the conditional permanent residency. So after you have your conditional residency and have maintained the funds at-risk during that time, you may be refunded the funds.

You should wait until the I-829 is fully processed/approved before receiving any of the initial invested capital back.

That depends on the documents you signed when investing originally. Different projects have different repayment procedures. Some are OK with repayments when filing the I-829. Others wait for I-829 approval. Others still wait for all I-829 petitions for all investors to be approved. Check the documents.

After you have filed your I-829 petition to remove conditions, you could request a return and given the fact that you are having difficulties and it may take time, there is no reason not to proceed. You should check the conditions upon which the regional center/project is required to return the funds. You do not need to wait until the I-829 is approved to start the process for determining when you can obtain the funds and to start receiving payments. Given the difficulties you have encountered, the sooner you start the better.

You must remain invested until the I-829 process is completed.

No, USCIS policy released June 17, 2017, states that you only need to have your money at-risk for the sustainment period, which is the two years listed on your conditional green card. If you filed the I-829 six months ago, your sustainment period is over. However, whether you and others could get your money back depends on what your subscription and limited partnership agreements say. Review those carefully and work with your lawyer who helped you, as she or he should be your advocate.

The "sustainment period," which is the period of time you must maintain your investment, is throughout the two-year conditional residency period. Therefore, after that period, once your I-829 petition is filed, you can safely exit the investment. At that point, it is between you and the project you invested in as to if, when and how they will exit you from the investment.

That would be best to have the I-829 approved first.