The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires that EB-5 investors prove (1) that the invested capital is “lawful”, and (2) that the investor has a “level of income” that has allowed the investor to accumulate sufficient wealth that would enable the investor to invest the necessary minimum funds of $500,000 in the EB-5 program. An EB-5 immigration lawyer is tasked with painting a picture of who the investor is and how he or she is able to make a significant investment of more than 3.4 crore Indian Rupees so the entire application has to make sense from an investment and immigration perspective.
Source of funds, i.e., how the money to be invested was earned/accumulated must be properly, thoroughly and convincingly documented and presented. An investor should submit all (or as many as possible) of the various types of documentary evidence relating to source of funds for both the investor and the investor’s spouse and from any additional sources such as banks and relatives in case all or part of the funds were obtained through a loan or gift.
An Indian EB-5 investor should provide as many of the financial documents as possible including but not limited to:
- Income tax returns whether individual and/or business;
- Financial statements audited or unaudited by an Indian Chartered Accountant;
- Copies of all investment and/or stock brokerage accounts;
- Stock certificates;
- Bank statements;
- Business/Company related documents;
- Real Estate related documents such as purchase and sale deeds and mortgage documents;
- Real estate appraisal, assessment or market valuation reports;
- Employment related documents;
- Any documents relating to inheritances received;
- Gifts – all documents relating to gifts;
- Loans – all loan documents, including bank loans or personal promissory notes.
PATH OF FUNDS
In addition to documentary proof of the lawful source of the EB-5 investor’s funds, the USCIS insists on documentation that links the invested funds to the investor and shows the funds were in the investor’s name, control and/or possession. It is crucial to be able to provide every document necessary to trace the invested funds from their source overseas (or in the U.S. if the funds are remitted from the U.S.) to the investment in the U.S. This is called tracing the “path of funds.”
An Indian EB-5 investor can provide the following documents to meet this requirement:
- Bank Wire transfers receipts;
- Deposit receipts;
- Bank statements showing withdrawal of the funds from one account and deposit of the funds in another account;
- Letter from the escrow bank confirming the funds transfer into the Regional Center escrow account;
- Any Reserve Bank of India (RBI) documents relating to the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).
Given the recent demonetisation move by the Indian government and the apparent increased scrutiny of bank transactions especially those involving large sums of money, an Indian EB-5 investor should be extremely prudent about each and every document that he or she submits to the USCIS that is related to their EB-5 U.S. Immigrant Investor Visa Investment.
Further Read: How to choose an investment | President Trump and Modi Effect
DISCLAIMER
The information within this post represents my opinions only. This information does not reflect the opinions and/or policies of NMS Capital Advisors, its affiliates or any other firm I am contractually employed.