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Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

How can I use lottery winnings as a source of income?

If, for example, I win the lottery jackpot tomorrow and would want to apply for an EB-5 investment opportunity, how do I come up with the five year tax statements, etc? This is assuming that I have been unemployed (or perhaps not gainfully employed) prior to coming across a huge sum of cash. Would it be difficult to apply for EB-5 if this were the situation?

Answers

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    Reza Rahbaran

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    You may use lottery winnings as your EB-5 investment. Documentation of the lottery winnings will be necessary.

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    Shahzad Q Qadri

    RC Creator
    Answered on

    No, if your net worth meets the investor qualifications as proposed by the SEC, and you can source your funds, there should not be an issue.

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    Philip H Teplen

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    If you win the lottery, you will be able to qualify for EB-5. I will be glad to help you.

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    BoBi Ahn

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    Yes, as long as you can show documentation for your winning the lottery, payment from the lottery to you, etc. The fact that your source of funds is a windfall of winnings from the lottery should not make it more difficult for the EB-5 processing.

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    Ed Beshara

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    The EB-5 requirement is that the investor has to invest personal investment funds into the new commercial enterprise. The investment funds have to be proven to come from a lawful source. The lottery is a lawful source and the winnings may go to you as a personal source for the EB-5 investment.

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    Jinhee Wilde

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    Gambling or lottery winning cannot be used for EB-5 case. In order to qualify as an EB-5 investor, you must show that you either have earned more than $200,000 per year for three years or have net asset of $1 million.

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    Fredrick W Voigtmann

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    If you win the lottery and can document the lawful source of the funds, then you don''t need to show five years of tax returns. By the way, if you are planning on winning the lottery, call me first and share your numbers!

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    Salvatore Picataggio

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    As gifts from family/friends can be acceptable sources of EB-5 investment funds, prize winnings may also be used with the proper information and documentation (as collected, reviewed, and prepared by an EB-5 attorney). One consideration is that many regional centers request investors to be accredited as per U.S. SEC regulations. Those regulations measure the person''s overall wealth beyond the $500,000 investment.

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    Margo Chernysheva

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    As long as you can prove the source of funds and how you did not need to file any tax return due to no-income before, you will qualify.

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    Ying Lu

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    An EB-5 petitioner who is a lottery winner should prove that he/she won the lottery (i.e. the occurrence of the fact), the deposit of the prize in his/her bank account and that sufficient money has remained in his/her account until he/she makes the EB-5 Investment.