Foreign nationals interested in participating in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program can fund their investments and the associated fees and costs using many different sources of capital. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) allows investors to use loans, stock assets, real estate sales, salary payments, cryptocurrency sales, and inherited funds to finance their EB-5 projects. Gifts can also be used as a source of EB-5 investment capital. It is common for parents to gift their children funds so the latter can obtain permanent resident status through the EB-5 program. In other cases, foreign residents may receive the gifted funds from wealthy relatives or close friends.
USCIS requires all EB-5 investors to document the source of their funds in a detailed manner. EB-5 investors who use gifted funds must show USCIS that (i) the funds were sourced legally and (ii) the gift was legitimate; that is, that the investor is not expected to repay the funds. Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, must be accompanied by evidence that proves these two criteria.
Several documents will be needed to prove the legality of the gifted funds. These include a capital source statement from the investor that identifies the gift giver and explains how the gifted funds were originally acquired. The gift giver must also submit a capital source statement outlining how they obtained the funds; the information on this document must be in complete agreement with the investor’s capital source statement. Additionally, EB-5 investors must submit bank statements proving that the funds were deposited. It may also be necessary to provide documents such as loan agreements, investment records, tax returns, or records of salary payments to prove that the gift giver obtained the funds legally.
To show that the funds were indeed a gift, EB-5 investors must submit a gift agreement signed by both the investor and the gift giver. This agreement must show that the gift is irrevocable. If the gift giver does not know English, the gift agreement must be written in their language and then translated into English.
