Traceability of Funds for EB-5 Investments:
For the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, the traceability of investment funds is a must. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), requires clear evidence that the funds being invested originate from lawful sources. This includes inheritance, business operations, and documentation, which must explicitly establish the legitimacy of these sources.
The petitioner’s invested capital must not derive, directly or indirectly, from unlawful means. 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(e), (j). The record must trace the path of the funds back to a lawful source. 2 Matter of Ho, 22 I&N Dec. 210-11 (Assoc. Comm’r 1998); Matter of Izummi, 22 I&N Dec. 195 (Assoc. Comm’r 1998). To show the lawful source of the funds, an investor must submit, as applicable, foreign business and tax records or documentation identifying any other sources of funds. 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(j)(3). Bank letters or statements corroborating the deposit of funds by themselves are insufficient. Ho, 22 I&N Dec. at 210-11; Izummi, 22 I&N Dec. at 169, 195.
Funds for investment can come from the sale of a property, earnings from a business, gifts, inheritance, and other lawful sources. However, for each type of fund, the investor must demonstrate a clear and verifiable path to its origin. For example, if you have worked, purchased a property, sold it, then bought a larger property, and later sold that to invest a portion in a new commercial enterprise (NCE) in the USA, you must provide detailed documentation tracing these transactions.
Hundreds of investors have failed to adequately document the source of funds for their investments, leading to the USA issuing Requests for Evidence (RFE) to clarify the origins of these funds. For instance, if you are an Iranian-Canadian living in Canada and own a property there, and you took out a mortgage on that property to fund a new business in the USA, you would be required to provide documentation tracing the source of funds used to acquire your original property in Canada.
In MATTER OF D-M- (USCIS Administrative Appeals Office, 2019), the petitioner indicated that the funds for his investment derived from a mortgage loan taken out on a house that he owned jointly with his father. He received a request for evidence (RFE) to submit documentation establishing that his investment was lawfully sourced as required at 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(e), (j). The petitioner failed to provide the documents he was asked to include and thus his petition failed.
Contact our experienced U.S. immigration lawyers at YA Law Corporation. Based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, we specialize in navigating the complexities of U.S. immigration law, including EB-5 Investor Visa applications.
– Expert Guidance on Source of Funds Documentation
– Compliance with USCIS Requirements
– Tailored Legal Solutions for Investors
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