What is the timeframe for fully investing funds for EB-5 direct investment?

It is advisable to invest the entire amount before filing your I-526. While technically you can show you are in the process of investing, the funds must be fully identified and you are awaiting currency control authorization, for example.

You should invest or be in the process of investing the required amount of capital at the time the I-526 petition is filed, and probably should have invested all of it before the I-526 is approved (before an RFE is issued). Investing during the two-year conditional period is asking for trouble.

The investment amount must be completed by the time of I-526 approval. However, it is recommended to complete the total investment within a shorter timeframe, closer to 6-12 months, where you identify the plan for the remaining funds in the initial I-526 petition.

The exact wording of the EB-5 regulations does leave open the possibility that USCIS could approve an I-526 while some of the funds have not yet been invested. In its guidance on the I-829 (Removal of
Conditions), USCIS' exact language is: "The petition must be accompanied by evidence that the immigrant investor invested or was actively in the process of investing the requisite capital." The term "actively in the process of investing the requisite capital" suggests that USCIS could potentially approve an I-526 with somewhat less than the full amount invested, because the I-829 instructions allow for
this phrase. However, this language pre-dates the Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, which tightened up many aspects of the investment time frame. Most regional center projects and investors these days aim to have all of their minimum required capital clearly invested before the adjudication of the I-526, in order to minimize a possible avenue of denial.

You will unlikely have your I-526 petition approved without the entire amount of required capital committed to the NCE. You will likely receive an RFE prior to the I-526 approval to ask for this confirmation.