Where should EB-5 investment funds be gifted from? - EB5Investors.com

Where should EB-5 investment funds be gifted from?

My son is already in the United States on a student visa. I want to give him $500,000 to invest in the EB-5 program and get a green card. Where should I transfer the money to him? Would it be better for him to apply for EB-5 if the money is already in the United States with him? Or is it better for him to come back home so I can give him the money here?

Answers

Ed Beshara

Ed Beshara

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The U.S. immigration EB-5 regulations and policies state that you can gift money to your son and this gifted amount can count towards the minimum personal investment requirement. You will still have to authenticate the source of your personal funds that were gifted to your son. A U.S. tax attorney and certified public tax accountant can assist and direct you as to the best location for the gift transfer.

Julia Roussinova

Julia Roussinova

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

It should not make difference unless you have issues with currency restrictions in your home country. You may gift funds to your son by wire transfer, properly documenting the gift and tracing the funds from you to his personal account in the United States. You must be able to demonstrate lawful source of funds for the gifted funds by documentation relevant to your specific situation. You should consult an EB-5 immigration attorney to ensure the transaction is documented properly for I-526 purposes.

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

It does not matter, but it may be more efficient if you give him the funds in the United States. Please remember that as the petitioner (principal investor), your son must establish both the lawful source of the funds and the physical path of the funds. If he receives the funds from you as a gift, you will need to provide evidence regarding your lawful source of funds and the path of funds from that source to you and eventually, to your son. There is no requirement that the transfer of gifted funds occur in any particular country.

Echo Meisheng King

Echo Meisheng King

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

It would be more ideal if you gift the funds to your son and wire the funds to his account in the United States. He can then transfer the funds from his U.S. account to the designated account of the investment project. It is not necessary for him to go back to your home country to receive the funds. When your son submits the I-526 to USCIS, he should include proof that the project he invested in already received the full amount of his investment capital. If your home country has any policy restricting the exchange and transfer of foreign currency, I would recommend thorough planning ahead of time in order to avoid a delay in the transferring process.

John J Downey

John J Downey

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The money must come from his account, so you may wire the funds to his account in the United States.

Salvatore Picataggio

Salvatore Picataggio

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

As long as the transfer is accomplished through legal means that can be tracked for the USCIS officer to understand, you can be anywhere. Please note that as the giftor, your source of the gifted funds would need to be authenticated.

Lynne Feldman

Lynne Feldman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

It is best that it comes to his account first either in or out of the United States. You will need to document the money trail in any case, including where your funds were earned.

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You need to do a source of funds report as to where you got the money, then you gift it to your child.

Jinhee Wilde

Jinhee Wilde

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Normally, we prefer that the gift come from the parents to the child's account before transferring in his name to the EB-5 business, so that we can clearly track the money movement from you as the gift to the child and then to the investment. If you have been sending money to your son over the years and you could document this through all the bank statements from you to him, then he could invest from what he already has. Please note that proving the legal source of funds will be done on you as to how you earned all that income to send that significant amount of money to him in the first place, and then tracking the money movement from you to him. Whether the movement of money is done within weeks or years depends on how you sent money to him.

Stephen Berman

Stephen Berman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

It should not make any difference if the money is in the United States or abroad.

Michael A Harris, Esq

Michael A Harris, Esq

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

It should not matter for EB-5 purposes. What matters is that it is legally transferred to him, through his personal bank account. You will also need to be wary of currency exchange rates; if the funds are transferred to him abroad and the currency is devalued, that might pose an issue. Once the funds are in a U.S. account, or in U.S. dollars, then he would be ready to make his investment in an EB-5 investment.

Shenila A Momin

Shenila A Momin

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You can transfer the money to his personal account in the United States. The funds have to be in the United States and invested prior to filing the EB-5. Please keep in mind that your son will have to provide immigration with the source of the funds and be able to prove how you accumulated the funds.

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