What documents do I need to prove that I am an accredited investor for the EB-5 program? - EB5Investors.com

What documents do I need to prove that I am an accredited investor for the EB-5 program?

Do I need to have a certain amount of net worth to be eligible for the EB-5 program? Do I have to meet the requirements of an accredited investor? If so, what documents do I need to provide?

Answers

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The term "accredited investor" is not an EB-5 immigration requirement, the main financial requirements for investors is that they must invest the appropriate amount of either $500,000 or $1 million and your fund must be coming from legal source(s). All documents relating to how you obtained or earned the investment fund must be documented. Please note that if you were to invest after Nov. 21, 2019, the investment funds will be either $900,000 or $1.8 million. Advisably, depending on when you proceed, consult your EB-5 attorney.

Julia Roussinova

Julia Roussinova

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

USCIS does not require that you be an accredited investor to qualify for an EB-5 visa. This is rather the U.S. securities law requirement. Under the current U.S. securities laws, a company that offers or sells its securities must register the securities with the SEC or find an exemption from the registration requirements. Under current U.S. securities laws, companies are given several exemptions from the registration requirements. To that end, any approved regional center or other securities issuer, such as a lawful business entity offering a business interest for sale, may use an exemption to offer you, as an investor, an equity interest. One of the common exemptions from the registration requirement in the EB-5 regional center context is offering an equity interest for sale (generally, a limited partnership interest or unit) to an EB-5 investor who qualifies as an accredited investor under Securities Regulation D. In this context, to be an accredited investor, you must meet either one of the following requirements: (1) have an individual net worth or joint net worth with your spouse of more than $1 million at the time you purchase an interest (excluding the value of your primary residence, i.e., your main home), or (2) have an annual individual income of more than $200,000 or annual joint income with your spouse of more than $300,000 in each of the preceding two years and a reasonable expectation of the same level of individual or joint income in the current year (values are in U.S. dollars). Regional centers will generally require that you complete specific documentation and forms to attest you are an accredited investor. Preparing an I-526 petition is a complex matter and documentation varies on a case-by-case basis. To that end, it is highly recommended that you consult and engage the legal services of an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney to advise you and prepare your I-526 petition for filing with USCIS.

Lynne Feldman

Lynne Feldman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Some regional centers require this. Tax returns and similar bank statement or other asset statements can satisfy this requirement.

Daniel A Zeft

Daniel A Zeft

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Under current law, you must have $1 million to invest or $500,000 to invest if your investment is in a targeted employment area. Please note that new EB-5 regulations will go into effect on Nov. 21, 2019. Under the new EB-5 regulations, you must have $1.8 million to invest or $900,000 to invest if your investment is in a targeted employment area.

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Almost all projects require you to be an accredited investor and meet these standards. You need earned income that exceeded $200,000 (or $300,000 together with a spouse) in each of the prior two years (and reasonably expect the same for the current year) or have a net worth over $1 million, either alone or together with a spouse (excluding the value of the person&#39s primary residence).

Charles Foster

Charles Foster

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You may need to have a certain amount of net worth to be a credited investor for securities purposes, depending upon a variety of factors, including whether or not your EB-5 project is being marketed in the U.S. by a registered broker dealer.

Hassan Elkhalil

Hassan Elkhalil

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Yes, you have to show that you are financially able to invest. The proof is bank statements, tax returns, list of assets, balance sheet, etc.

BoBi Ahn

BoBi Ahn

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You would qualify as an accredited investor if you either have a net worth of more than $1 million (either alone or jointly with a spouse), or have an annual income of at least $200,000 individually or $300,000 jointly with spouse in each of the preceding two years. Regional centers require investors to be an accredited investor in order for them to be exempt from the SEC regulations in offering securities to investors. If you are doing a direct investment, this is not a requirement.

Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You need to provide an affirmative statement, but no documents are required to substantiate it.

Marko Issever

Marko Issever

EB-5 Broker Dealers
Answered on

In the United States, to be considered an accredited investor, one must have a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding the value of one&#39s primary residence, or have income at least $200,000 each year for the last two years (or $300,000 combined income if married) and have the expectation to make the same amount. As long as you have proof to be in one of those two categories, you should be fine. In other words, you either have to pass the income test or the net worth test to be qualified as an accredited investor. Whether you need to be an accredited investor to be able to participate in an EB-5 investment is another issue. Rule 506 of Regulation D allows the U.S. company to sell private placements to up to 35 non-accredited investors. The regional center could take the position that if you heard of the investment opportunity while you were outside the United States, and file your application while you are outside the United States, you technically do not need to be accredited. By the way, the whole accreditation requirement issue is not immigration-related. It is strictly a securities law issue. If you already pass the accredited investor test, there is no problem. If you do not, and would still like to invest in a specific EB-5 project, discuss your specific case with the regional center and finally make sure to get securities attorney advice before proceeding with your I-526 petition. Best of luck!

Charles Kaufman

Charles Kaufman

Securities Attorneys
Answered on

You do not need to be an accredited investor for the EB-5 program. However, the offer and sale of EB-5 investment opportunities falls under U.S. securities regulations. To comply with those regulations most EB-5 project sponsors require that any U.S.-based investor - and sometimes all investors - are "accredited" under the definition contained in Rule 501 of Regulation D. For individual investors, that means having at least $1 million in net worth (excluding your principal residence but including joint assets with your spouse) or income in each of the last two years of at least $200,000 as an individual or $300,000 jointly with your spouse. The money you invest in the EB-5 opportunity will count toward you net worth, but if you are investing $500,000, that is only half of what you need to satisfy the Rule 501 net worth test. The supporting documents you need to provide will depend on the specific rules the sponsor is relying on. In some cases you do not need to provide any evidence but can simply certify to the sponsor that you are accredited. However if the sponsor is required to verify that you are accredited, you will need to provide documents. The documents most commonly requested to verify accredited investor status are tax returns (to verify income), and bank accounts, brokerage accounts and real property documents (to verify net worth). If those document do not exist, sponsors can generally accept other types of documentation if it is reasonable to rely on them. Keep in mind that in addition to being accredited for securities law purposes, you will need to show the USCIS evidence of the source of funds for your EB-5 investment. That&#39s a different requirement, and you need to show only the sources of the $500,000 investment. However, the USCIS documentation requirements are quite rigorous. If you have sufficient assets or income and you are well prepared to document your source of funds to USCIS, you may already have the documentation necessary to verify that you are an accredited investor as well.

Vaughan de Kirby

Vaughan de Kirby

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

If you reside in the U.S. and the transaction takes place in the U.S., you will need to be an accredited investor. The regional center or your general securities principal will work with you on this question.

Dale Schwartz

Dale Schwartz

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Most regional centers will merely take the word of the investor that they are an accredited investor. You don&#39t have to prove anything to most of them.

Phuong Le

Phuong Le

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The accredited investor questionnaire will generally lay out what&#39s necessary (proof that you have a net worth of over $1 million, evidence of certain annual income for the past few years), or if they use a site such as verifyinvestor.com, they&#39ll clearly lay out the requirements that you&#39ll need. All depends on your issuer.

Stephen Berman

Stephen Berman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

No, an EB-5 applicant does not need to prove he or she is an accredited investor.

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