Every investor
- Five years of personal tax returns (and business returns if you own a business)
- Passport, birth certificate and marriage certificate
- Details and disclosure of every intermediary that handles the transfer, including money changers and payment agents
- Records of any civil or criminal judgments involving you
- Complete bank statements for the accounts holding the funds
The principle: every dollar must trace to a lawful source, and amounts, dates and accounts must match across documents. The gaps between documents are where requests for evidence usually come from.
Business profits and dividends
- Company registration and shareholding records, for every layer of the structure
- Audited financial statements for the relevant years
- Board resolutions declaring the dividends, and distribution records
- Company tax returns, and personal returns reporting the dividends
- Bank records of the dividend moving from the company to your personal account
For profits accumulated over many years, explain where the business income came from. Assets held through offshore companies must be traced to the ultimate beneficial owner.
Sale of real estate
- Sale and purchase agreement and completion documents
- Where the original purchase money came from, plus mortgage and repayment records
- Title records (for example, land registry extracts)
- Evidence of tax paid on the sale
- Bank records of the sale proceeds arriving in your account
USCIS usually asks where the purchase money came from, so prepare documents for both the purchase and the sale.
Salary and savings
- Employment verification and pay records over the years
- Personal tax returns showing income consistent with your savings
- Long-run bank statements showing savings building up
Securities and investments
- Brokerage statements showing purchases and sales
- The original source of the money used to buy the investments
- Records of sale proceeds moving to your bank account, and related tax records
Gifts from family
- A gift letter confirming the gift is unconditional and needn't be repaid
- Documents proving your relationship to the donor
- The donor's own source-of-funds evidence, to the same standard as yours
- Bank records of the transfer from donor to investor
- Gift tax filings or exemption evidence where local law requires
A gift doesn't lower the evidence bar; it moves it to the donor.
Loans secured by personal assets
- A loan agreement showing you are personally and primarily liable
- Proof that the collateral is yours (it can't be a project asset)
- A valuation showing the loan doesn't exceed the collateral's market value
- Records of the loan proceeds arriving in your account
For a non-bank lender, the lender's own source of funds must also be documented.
Inheritance
- Will, probate or estate administration documents, or a court order
- Proof of your relationship to the deceased
- Estate tax filings or clearance
- Records of the distribution to your account
Path of funds
Beyond lawful source, you must show how the money moved from its source to the project's EB-5 account. Every transfer needs a matching bank record, and currency conversions need their own records. Funds must never move through undisclosed third parties or informal channels.
- Source accountWhere the dividend, sale proceeds or gift was received.
- Personal accountFunds gathered in the investor's own account, with complete records.
- Cross-border transferReported under local foreign exchange rules, with remittance records kept.
- Project EB-5 accountPaid as the subscription documents require, with a receipt confirmed.
Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China
Taiwan
- Income and property records from the National Taxation Bureau (綜合所得稅各類所得資料清單 and 財產歸屬資料清單)
- Conversions of NT$500,000 or more must be reported on a foreign exchange declaration form. Individuals may convert up to US$5 million a year by declaration; above that needs Central Bank approval. A single conversion of US$500,000 or more needs supporting documents.
Full guide for Taiwan investors
Hong Kong
- Inland Revenue Department individual tax returns and assessments
- Hong Kong has no currency controls, but banks run compliance reviews on large transfers, so allow time
Full guide for Hong Kong investors
Mainland China
- Tax records (納稅記錄) issued through the Individual Income Tax app or the e-tax bureau
- Individuals can buy US$50,000 of foreign currency a year; pooling quotas through relatives draws scrutiny, so large outbound transfers need a compliant route planned in advance
- For gifts, family relationships are usually shown with documents such as the household register (戶口本)
Full guide for mainland China investors
General information only. The documents you need depend on your circumstances and should be confirmed by your attorney.