Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

How should EB-5 funds be gifted to avoid source of fund issues?

I am seeking an EB-5 visa by investing in a regional center at the $500,000 amount. All of the funds will be gifted to me from my parents, and are from employment earnings in CAD that were converted to USD. What is the best way for me to receive this gift so that I do not have problems later with source of funds proof on my EB-5 application? For example, would an ordinary personal check in my name work?

Answers

• Ed Beshara

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 15, 2016

  The parents may gift funds to their child, and the parents have to show their source of gifted funds came from lawful sources and the transfer to the child was lawful.

• Xiaosheng Huang

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on August 11, 2016

  There are a lot of documents that need to be provided and it shall be proved how your parents earned the money so that they are able to gift it to you.

• Charles H Kuck

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 29, 2016

  You can never avoid the source of funds issue. If money is gifted to you, then the person gifting you the money will have to show the source of their funds. Nice try though!

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 29, 2016

  You will need to document a gift as well as the lawful source of funds for your parents prior to the gift of funds to you. Funds must also be traced from your parents' accounts to your account and then to a regional center project's escrow account. It is highly recommended that you engage the legal services of an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney.

• Salvatore Picataggio

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 29, 2016

  You will need documentation to prove the gift is indeed a true gift, and not a loan or something like that.

• Charles Foster

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  A personal check or wire transfer from your parents to your personally owned bank account, along with a gift declaration, would be a good start. You or your attorney would also want to dig deeper in terms of gathering evidence that explains the source of the gifted funds.

• John J Downey

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  The funds must be transferred to you personally. Then your parents will have to provide the paper trail of how they obtained the funds.

• Bernard P Wolfsdorf

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  An ordinary check to you would be part of it, but the source of funds must be detailed in terms of also documenting your parents' lawful earning of the gifted funds.

• Rebecca Singh

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  The gift may be given to you from your parents by check or wiring of the funds to your personal account. You must trace the funds from your parents' account to your account. The funds must be in an account with your name prior to the transfer of funds to the project. In addition, a gift agreement is needed, signed by you and your parents. Further, your parents will need to source their funds.

• Ian E Scott

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  A personal check with the note "gift" would be fine, or a wire. You will also need a gift letter from your parents and the bank statements showing the transfers. Please make sure they transfer the money to your personal account rather than to a regional center. Finally, you will have to show where they obtained the funds from (e.g. tax returns if from savings).

• Lynne Feldman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  I would document the gift from your parents to you. Have a business attorney draw this up. You will also need to show where your parents earned their money to show it was lawfully earned.

• Margo Chernysheva

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  The best is to hire an experienced immigration attorney to assist in your case. Also, it is important that you have an attorney licensed in the jurisdiction where the gift is being given to make sure the gift documents are drafted according to the local rules. And note that since it will be a gift, the source of funds of your parents would have to be clearly shown. A personal check in your name with a gift deed properly structured under the local rules with all proper tax liabilities declared and paid (if any) would also need to be done. Hope this helps.

• Jinhee Wilde

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  Tracking source of funds is a quite detailed and arduous process. Getting the gift from your parents will be simple enough, but you need to track their income earnings to account(s) before and after they were converted to USD, then to you, and then finally to the regional center investment. You should work with an experienced EB-5 attorney to prepare and document the source of funds tracking for I-526 filing.

• Peter Zhang

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  You parents should document their source of funds before transferring the money. The money then should be transferred to your checking account and then wired to the project escrow. This way, USCIS would be less likely to raise any issues on possession of the investment funds.

• Raymond Lahoud

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  The method of transfer would not necessarily be relevant. Even if the funds are gifted, you will still have to source the funds back to show that they were lawfully obtained.

• Stephen Berman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  A personal check should work fine.

• Vaughan de Kirby

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on July 27, 2016

  Your investment immigration attorney will prepare an affidavit of gift for your parents to sign. He or she will then work with your parents to document the source of the funds that your parents use to make the gift to you. I recommend that before any funds are transferred, you consult with your attorney to see that all documentation is in place and properly planned.