EB-5 Investor Visa: A Green Card Through Investment
For investors worldwide seeking the direct route to a permanent US green card through a substantial investment. Attorneys based in Frankfurt advising clients internationally.
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The EB-5 investor visa leads directly to a green card through a substantial capital investment: whoever invests in a new commercial US enterprise that creates at least ten full-time jobs for US workers can obtain permanent residence for themselves, their spouse and unmarried children under 21. The required investment is USD 1,800,000, or $900,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) — a rural region or an area of high unemployment. Unlike the E-2, the EB-5 is an immigrant visa: it does not end with the business but leads to the green card.
This page sets out who the EB-5 fits, how the process runs step by step, what evidence decides between approval and a request for more, what government and legal fees to expect, and when a different program — the E-2 in particular — is the smarter first step. It is not investment or tax advice; we handle the immigration side.
This page is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. We assess the governing requirements against your own situation and do not provide investment advice.
- Investment: $900,000 in a TEA, otherwise $1,800,000 — each held “at risk”
- At least 10 full-time jobs for US workers
- A direct route to a green card for investor, spouse and children under 21
- Conditional green card for 2 years first, then permanent (I-829)
- A lawful source of funds is the central point of scrutiny
- Nationality plays no role — there is no treaty-country requirement
- For a faster, cheaper entry, consider the E-2 first
Who is the EB-5 investor visa for?
The EB-5 fits people who can invest a substantial, lawfully-sourced sum and whose goal is the green card itself — not merely a temporary status.
For most investors the decisive point is rarely the capital itself but the proof of a lawful source of funds. USCIS requires a complete paper trail of how the invested wealth was earned — from the sale of a business stake through salary and dividends to inheritance or gift. Where wealth is drawn from several sources across different jurisdictions, this evidence chain is the most demanding part of the process. Someone who built their wealth over decades from company stakes, property sales and securities must trace every single source back to its origin — not just show the latest account balance.
The investment must be “at risk” — it must carry genuine commercial risk. A guaranteed repayment or a mere loan to the project does not satisfy the EB-5 requirement. We review the structure for immigration purposes but do not replace an independent assessment of the project itself.
Kari Foss-Persson, US-licensed attorney in Frankfurt: “I tell investors to keep the immigration review and the commercial review of the project strictly separate. Whether a project is a good investment is not my call — whether it meets the EB-5 requirements very much is. Start the source-of-funds file the day you decide to invest, not after the regional center sends the subscription documents — that timeline gap is where most delays come from.”
The core question is not whether you can invest but whether the source of funds and the job creation can be documented cleanly. Once both hold, the EB-5 is the most direct route to a green card.
Our practice in numbers
Direct investment or regional center — which fits?
The difference decides control, evidentiary burden and workload: with a direct investment you run the enterprise yourself; with a regional center you take a passive stake in a pooled project.
Both routes lead to the same green card but ask very different things of you. The choice belongs at the very start because it shapes the entire evidentiary case.
- Direct investment
- You invest in and run your own commercial enterprise. You hold full control but must evidence the ten full-time jobs directly and yourself — only directly employed workers count, no indirectly created positions. This gives you entrepreneurial freedom but places the whole job-creation and operating burden on you.
- Regional-center project
- You take a limited-partner stake in a USCIS-designated project that pools several investors. Your role is passive; the project evidences the jobs, and indirectly created positions count too — which in practice makes the ten-job threshold easier to reach. The price is less control and dependence on the quality and integrity of the project sponsor.
Regional-center projects in a TEA lower the investment threshold to $900,000 and let indirectly created jobs count. Direct investments give you more control but require you to evidence the ten full-time roles yourself.
How the passive regional-center route works in practice is shown by the following case:
- Situation
- A Dutch national who had lived and worked in Germany for over a decade wanted the green card without running a company herself, and her wealth was split across a German employer pension, Dutch investment income and a small inheritance.
- Approach
- A stake in a TEA regional-center project at the reduced $900,000 threshold, each of the three income sources traced separately through German and Dutch records, indirectly created jobs shown through the project.
- Outcome
- I-526 petition approved after one supplemental request on the pension documentation, and entry as a conditional green card holder.
How do you prove the source of funds?
The origin and the complete path of the invested capital must be documentable — unclear or incomplete source-of-funds evidence is the most common reason for extensive requests for evidence on the EB-5.
USCIS examines not only that an investment was made but where the money came from and that it was lawfully acquired. It requires a closed evidence chain from the origin of each individual source of capital through to the investment project. Typical evidence, wherever you are based:
- Origin of the wealth: sale proceeds from a company stake, payslips, dividends, inheritance or gift — each supported by the relevant tax assessments, audited accounts or notarial deeds from your home jurisdiction
- Transfer path: bank statements showing the flow from the source account through any intermediate stops to the project account in the US, without gaps
- Tax compliance: evidence that, where taxable, the correct tax was paid on the funds; an untaxed source can unsettle the entire chain
Loans can serve as a source of investment but must not be secured against the assets of the investment enterprise itself — such a loan shifts the risk away from the investor and therefore does not count.
The most common practical error: a single payment in the chain without a documented origin. If just one transfer cannot be evidenced, the whole record wobbles. Assemble the evidence chain completely before you file Form I-526.
How such an evidence chain is built for a direct investment is shown by the following case:
- Situation
- An entrepreneur based in Hamburg had sold his stake in a family GmbH and wanted to invest the proceeds in his own US enterprise with direct control.
- Approach
- Direct investment structured, source of funds from the share sale evidenced without gaps through German tax assessments and the notarial sale contract, business plan with ten directly created full-time roles prepared and I-526 filed.
- Outcome
- Conditional green card for the family; later removal of conditions via I-829 once job creation was shown.
How does the EB-5 process work, step by step?
The process begins with a petition to USCIS (Form I-526), moves through a conditional green card granted for two years, and ends with the removal of that condition once job creation is proven.
- 1
Project selection and structure review
You choose between your own enterprise (direct investment) and a regional-center project. We review the immigration structure; the commercial due diligence on the project rests with independent advisers.
- 2
Source-of-funds evidence
We document, without gaps, that the invested funds were lawfully acquired — the most demanding and most frequently scrutinized point, especially where wealth spans several jurisdictions.
- 3
I-526 petition with USCIS
You act as the petitioner yourself and file Form I-526: the investment, the job-creation plan and the source of funds are evidenced.
- 4
Conditional green card (2 years)
After approval you apply for the immigrant visa at the US consulate in your home country — or adjust status inside the US if you are already there.
- 5
Removal of conditions (I-829)
Before the two years lapse you file Form I-829 and show that the investment was sustained and the ten jobs created. The green card then becomes permanent.
The EB-5 program is capped at roughly 10,000 visas per year — including family members. Because visas are allocated by country of chargeability (usually your country of birth), high-demand countries can face multi-year backlogs, while applicants born in most other countries face little or no wait. The investment must lead to the creation of the ten jobs within roughly two years of receiving the conditional green card.
Chargeability normally follows your country of birth, not your current residence or citizenship. Where a spouse was born in a different country, cross-chargeability can sometimes place the family under the more favorable backlog. We assess which chargeability applies to your family early, because it shapes the realistic timeline.
Conditional green card and removal of conditions (I-829)
The first green card is conditional for two years — only Form I-829 turns it into permanent status, and that second step is not automatic.
Once the I-526 petition is approved and you enter, you and your immediate family receive conditional permanent residence for two years. This condition is no formality: within a 90-day window before the two years lapse, you must show with Form I-829 that the investment stayed “at risk” throughout the period and that the ten full-time jobs were actually created. Only when the I-829 is approved does the condition fall away and the green card become permanent.
For families the key point: spouse and unmarried children under 21 are included in both petitions — I-526 and I-829 — and receive the same status. Children who turn 21 during the multi-year process may, under the Child Status Protection Act, still qualify as a child in certain circumstances; that is a point worth checking early where teenage children are involved.
“Capital at risk” applies across the entire two-year period, not only at the moment of entry. If the capital is returned early or the project unwinds before the jobs are proven, the I-829 removal can fail — with loss of the conditional status.
Common pitfalls
Most EB-5 requests for evidence stem not from the investment sum but from avoidable gaps in source of funds, project structure or job-creation proof.
- Gaps in the source of funds: A single unevidenced payment or an untaxed source in the chain can invalidate the whole record.
- Capital not genuinely “at risk”: A guaranteed repayment, a mere loan, or an early return of capital breaches the program’s core condition.
- Job-creation proof on a direct investment: Only directly created full-time roles count; failing to fill the ten roles on time and durably jeopardizes the I-829 removal.
- An un-vetted regional-center project: A project’s immigration eligibility says nothing about its commercial soundness — both reviews must be done separately and seriously.
- A wrongly secured loan: A loan secured against the investment enterprise itself does not count as the applicant’s investment.
- Missing the I-829 deadline: The 90-day removal window before the two years lapse is tight; missing it risks loss of the conditional status.
When is the E-2 the smarter first step?
Not everyone aiming for a green card should begin with the EB-5 — for many entrepreneurs the E-2 is the faster, cheaper entry, provided your nationality qualifies.
Unlike the EB-5, the E-2 depends on nationality: it is open only to nationals of countries that hold a qualifying treaty of commerce with the United States. The US maintains a public treaty-country list at travel.state.gov, and many European countries appear on it — check your own passport against that list before treating the E-2 as an option. The EB-5 itself carries no such requirement.
The E-2 is a nonimmigrant visa with no direct path to a green card, but it renews indefinitely and can be granted in weeks — while the EB-5 requires a substantially larger, documented investment and a multi-year process. Many treaty-country clients therefore start with the E-2, build the US business, and switch to the EB-5 later once the capital and source of funds are robustly prepared. In the first consultation we map your case to these routes before any preparation begins.
How such a switch from a temporary E-2 status to a permanent green card unfolds is shown by the following case:
- Situation
- A German E-2 entrepreneur had built his US business over several years and wanted to convert the temporary status into a permanent green card before his E-2 renewal came up again.
- Approach
- Source of funds assembled from the retained earnings of the E-2 business and a property sale in Germany, direct investment topped up to the EB-5 threshold, job-creation proof carried to ten full-time roles and I-526 filed.
- Outcome
- Transition from the temporary E-2 status into the conditional green card for the whole family.
What does the EB-5 investor visa and the consultation cost?
Beyond the investment itself, government fees run from roughly USD 4,675; the legal fee is a flat rate agreed after the first consultation, depending on case complexity and structure.
These government fees cover the USCIS fees of the process (including Form I-526 at currently $3,675) and are a minimum — the investment itself of $900,000 or $1,800,000, the project and administration fees of the regional center, and the costs of the business plan and economic report all come on top and vary considerably by project. The legal fee is a flat price for the immigration-side guidance — no hourly billing, no hidden costs. You receive the full cost breakdown before any work begins.
The consultation costs EUR 75 (plus VAT) for 30 minutes and is credited in full toward your fee if you engage us. In it we clarify whether a direct investment or a regional center fits, how robust your source of funds is, and what evidence USCIS will expect in your case.
Kari Foss-Persson, US-licensed attorney in Frankfurt: “With the EB-5 it almost never comes down to the sum but to proving where it came from. Building the source-of-funds record early and completely spares you the most demanding request-for-evidence loop of all with USCIS. Wealth built up over twenty or thirty years across several countries is normal for our clients — plan for the paper trail to take real time to assemble.”
The EB-5 imposes no treaty or nationality requirement — it is open to investors of any citizenship. What decides the case is the source of funds, the investment amount and the job creation. Where a country of birth faces a backlog, cross-chargeability through a spouse is worth assessing early.
Frequently asked questions
Quoted before work begins
Investor visa cases are quoted at a flat rate that covers the entire legal process. We provide a full cost breakdown — including government fees, which are substantial for EB-5 cases — before any work begins.
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