How can I meet the EB-5 lawful capital requirement?

You must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence, i.e., that it is more likely than not, that the capital you are investing was lawfully obtained. An inheritance is a legal means of obtaining capital. You may be able to document receipt of such funds, even if a large amount, with just a few pieces of evidence. You should consult with an experienced immigration attorney who can advise you on what is needed for your situation.

Inheritance may be accepted, but you are correct in that documentation is key. Showing how the deceased earned their money may be required, as well as any documentation showing your right to any of those assets.

The USCIS EB-5 training materials for its adjudicators specifically states that an applicant can provide documents regarding inheritance to identify the source of capital.

Volumes of documentation are not always necessary to clarify your source of funds. In your case, you may just need to carefully document where, from, why, and how you received the funds.

If you lack the financial documentation, then I would obtain notarized affidavits from competent sources explaining the source of the funds. If the inheritance was from a will, then the attorneys involved could be a good source for you to utilize.

Inheritance is one of the easier ways to show a lawful source of income. They might ask for some information on how the decedent earned income, but producing source documents would be unrealistic.

Inherited funds can be used as a source of investment capital for EB-5. Your investment immigration attorney can give you a detailed list of the documentation necessary for your filing with USCIS.

Inheritance may be used as the source of investment capital. You must provide evidence of the inheritance. Documents would include the will, evidence of probate, evidence of the transfer of the funds, certified letters from the person(s) that probated the estate, and, quite possibly, take it a step further back and see what you have available from the person that left the funds to you.

If you have inherited the funds, then we will look to the source of who provided you the funds. So, the answer to your question is, yes, you can qualify even if you do not have a foreign business. We would need documentation that shows you inherited the funds, and how the testator (the person who made the will) lawfully earned the funds used for your EB-5 investment.

If you have little documentation/evidence, then proving a legal case becomes very difficult. If you have inherited a lot of money, we should start with documenting that inheritance through inheritance tax or probate court order, etc. We, then, need to show how your relative who gave you the inheritance gathered the money to give to you. All this is a tedious and very detailed exercise of gathering documents/evidence to corroborate what you are stating - that your money was obtained through a legal source.