IN THIS GUIDE · Choose funding assets using evidence and investment requirements
Separate value from usable proceeds
Hypothetical example: an investor compares liquid savings, securities and expected proceeds from an asset sale. Record current ownership, liabilities and the steps needed to make funds available. A valuation is not a completed sale or evidence that capital has reached the enterprise. Create an asset ledger showing ownership, encumbrances, sale steps and net proceeds. It prevents a headline valuation from being mistaken for deployable capital.
Identify the evidence history for each source
Trace relevant acquisition, financing, sale and transfer records for the actual proposed capital. Mark genuine gaps instead of choosing a source merely because its history seems easier to summarize. A final bank balance does not establish every relevant source-and-path fact. Trace each transfer with the underlying contract, tax or financing record, not only account statements. The file must explain why the funds exist and how they travelled.
Review the project and capital requirements
Confirm the current applicable threshold, qualifying capital at risk and actual project structure. Assess qualifying job creation under the appropriate standalone or regional-center method, generally ten jobs. Separate professional and administrative charges from investment capital rather than combining all spending into one number. Ask whether the project’s method supports the jobs being counted and when those jobs must exist. The investment amount and the job analysis are related but not interchangeable.
Compare risk and household consequences
Consider commercial risk, repayment uncertainty, visa availability and individual eligibility separately. Family age and any CSPA issue need an actual assessment; filing does not automatically freeze age. No choice of funding asset guarantees approval or a residence date. Compare downside risk, liquidity and the household’s remaining reserves without describing a commercial outcome as an immigration assurance. Individual derivative questions need their own calendar.
Use the current capital, job and residence conditions
As checked September 7, 2026, the standard capital minimum is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027; confirm the filing-date amount. At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs are required, with the applicable standalone or regional-center method assessed. The investor petition does not itself grant residence: the applicable immigrant-visa or adjustment process follows. Conditional residence then requires removal of conditions, with Form I-829 generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary. A conditional resident must later seek removal of conditions. Keep the investment and job evidence organized from the outset for that later review.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.