IN THIS GUIDE · Funding an EB-5 investment from the sale of family farmland
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Lawful source is a documentary reconstruction, not a statement of honesty
EB-5 requires the investor to show that the capital was obtained through lawful means, and the evidence must trace the funds. For land proceeds, that means the original purchase records for the parcels, the deeds, any mortgages registered against them and their discharges, the agreement of purchase and sale with the neighbour, the closing statement from the lawyer, and the bank records showing the proceeds arriving and then leaving for the investment. If the land was inherited, the estate documents are part of the chain. If a refinancing years ago produced cash that was reinvested in equipment, an officer may ask about it. Tax returns for several years support the picture.
The amount and the targeted employment area designation are set by law and should be re-verified
Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the standard minimum investment is $1,050,000 and the reduced amount for a targeted employment area or an infrastructure project is $800,000, subject to periodic adjustment. Whether a project is in a targeted employment area is determined under the statute, and a regional center's assertion should be checked against the project's own designation evidence. Bohdan and Iryna should also confirm the regional center's current designation status with USCIS, because a lapse affects the investors. The capital must be at risk; an arrangement that guarantees return of the money is not a qualifying investment.
Ten jobs, counted the regional-center way, still have to be proven
The investment must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers. In a regional-center project, indirect and induced jobs shown by an accepted economic methodology can count, which is the main practical reason investors choose that structure over a direct investment. That does not make the requirement disappear: the project's business plan and economic report must be credible, and at the removal-of-conditions stage the investors must show the jobs were in fact created or will be within a reasonable time. Bohdan and Iryna should read the project's job-creation model and ask what happens to their petition if the project is delayed or scaled back.
Engagement, conditional residence and the family who come with them
An EB-5 investor must be engaged in the enterprise through management or policy formulation; in a regional-center limited partnership, the rights of a limited partner under the partnership agreement are generally accepted as sufficient. On approval and immigrant visa issuance, the couple receive conditional permanent residence for two years and must file Form I-829 in the ninety days before it expires to remove conditions. Their daughter, already an adult in the United States, is not a derivative; only a spouse and unmarried children under 21 at the relevant time can be included. Any younger child's age should be checked against the Child Status Protection Act rules.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.