IN THIS GUIDE · Invest money you have actually received, not money you are still owed
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
A sale on terms is not the same as a sale for cash
Hypothetical example: an Otonabee-South Monaghan couple sell their dairy operation, quota and land, taking part of the price in cash and the balance under a vendor take-back mortgage payable over seven years. The cash portion is available capital now. The mortgage is a receivable: real, valuable, but not money that can be irrevocably committed today. Before choosing a project or a filing date, work out precisely how much is in hand and when the rest arrives, because the investment requirement is met with funds, not with entitlements.
Every source needs its own documented chain
Proceeds from milk quota, from land and from machinery are three separate sources and each needs its own evidence: the sale agreement, the closing statement, the deposit, and the movement of funds afterwards. Where farm income over many years contributed to savings, tax filings and financial statements do the work. Where a lender is involved, the loan agreement and its security matter, because borrowed funds may qualify only where the investor is personally and primarily liable and the loan is not secured by the assets of the new commercial enterprise.
Ten jobs, and who is counted
The enterprise must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers, meaning citizens, lawful permanent residents and certain other authorised immigrants, but not the investor or the investor's immediate family. In a regional centre project, indirect and induced jobs may be counted under the applicable methodology; in a direct investment they generally may not. That distinction alone often decides which structure a family uses, and it should be understood before capital moves rather than explained afterwards.
Conditional residence is two years of obligations, not a formality
Approval produces conditional permanent residence for the investor, the spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one. The conditions are removed by filing Form I-829 with evidence that the capital remained invested and that the jobs were created or will be created within a reasonable time. Sustaining the investment through that period is a requirement, not a recommendation, and a family that needs its money back at the two-year mark has chosen the wrong route.
Conditional residence and the second filing
After the petition come visa availability, then an immigrant visa abroad or an adjustment you are genuinely eligible for, conditional residence, and ordinarily an I-829 filed within the ninety days before the second anniversary. Keep one dated list of events with their sources, because the two calendars merge by accident easily: subscription signed, funds transferred, petition filed, petition approved, admission or adjustment, conditional residence beginning, and the filing window before its second anniversary. Contractual investor repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded; an enterprise’s sole-discretion buyback exception remains subject to sustainment and other requirements. A high-unemployment-area designation that expires after the qualifying investment does not by itself require the investor to increase the investment; confirm that the reduced threshold applied at the legally relevant time.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.