How can my wife and I invest individually but qualify for EB-5 as a family?

It is best to aggregate before you invest, especially if you married in community. Then it is joint property and should qualify you both.

Both of you may not qualify as the principal EB-5 investor with a $250,000 investment. There can be only one EB-5 investor who invests $500,000 in a qualifying regional center project in the U.S. Your wife may gift $250,000 to you or vice versa. The second person who transfers money out the country does not need to be the investor, but you will need to comply with your country&#39s funds transfer rules and properly trace funds. You should work with an EB-5 immigration attorney who will be able to properly structure the transactions and ensure your I-526 complies with USCIS requirements. Your wife and your children under age 21 (if any) can be part of your I-526 petition as derivatives.

If the $500,000 is in your name then you can be the principal applicant. You can transfer $250,000 of these funds and your wife can transfer $250,000 of those funds out of your country. You must follow all applicable laws concerning these transfers.

Each EB-5 investor must qualify individually. If you wish to invest as a family, one spouse or the other must loan or gift the funds to the other spouse so that one spouse can make a minimum $500,000 investment. You say your concern is that your country has an outward remittance limit of $250,000 per person, but once those funds are transferred to the U.S., there is nothing that would prevent one spouse or the other from transferring their $250,000 to their spouse so that one spouse would be the principal EB-5 investor to file the petition on Form I-526. No, you cannot have a joint or co-applicant petition.

You need to invest the full requisite minimum investment amount (i.e. $500,000 for TEA and $1 million for non-TEA) before you can file for the EB-5 petition. Either you or your spouse can be the investor and the other will be included in the green card process as a derivative beneficiary. No need to be a co-applicant. You will be included in the green card processing as the immediate family member and will both receive your green cards/lawful permanent residency.

Generally, a transfer by your wife as co-applicant is acceptable. Advisably, consult an EB-5 attorney for proper arrangement with the regional center.

That should work. Set up an account here or at the regional center. The center should be able to tell you what it will accept.

A simpler option maybe for either of you to be the primary applicant and let it be known that the husband and wife share income/assets jointly (presuming that is true) and both transfers are part of the same petition. Alternatively, you may be able to file your I-526 with $250,000 and the remaining $250,000 as a promissory note (with the funding schedule detailed above). An experienced EB-5 attorney should be able to guide you through the process.

Yes, there are ways to resolve this issue. All investors from your country face this issue; your I-526 attorney will guide you.

The only way this would work is to have you give your wife $250,000 or she gives you $250,000 to be the principal EB-5 applicant/investor. The person transferring the money out of your country does not have to be the investor. An attorney can help you with the paperwork to make sure everything complies with USCIS requirements.

Just because both you and your wife must wire separately does not mean you are both investors. There can be only one investor who will become part of the limited partnership in which you will invest. Your wife and children are all part of your investment and the immigration benefit under EB-5 as a derivative family.

You could do it that way if structured properly.