Form I-526 for a Standalone EB-5 Investor

The investor files the petition on the investor's own behalf.

Form I-526 is the immigrant petition used by a standalone EB-5 investor seeking classification under INA section 203(b)(5). The investor files it on the investor's own behalf and must establish eligibility as of filing. The petition should connect the investor's capital contribution, the new commercial enterprise, the proposed or existing employment, and the investor's management role into one coherent record. Approval classifies the investor for EB-5 purposes but does not itself grant permanent residence, create visa availability, or eliminate the separate adjustment or immigrant visa requirements that follow.

Post-RIA pooled regional center investors use a different form and project structure.

USCIS instructs an investor to use Form I-526 when the investment is not being pooled with one or more additional EB-5 immigrant investors. Post-RIA investors participating in a pooled regional center offering instead use Form I-526E and rely on the associated regional center project filing where the statute permits. The distinction should be resolved before filing because the forms, project structure, job-creation framework, and supporting record differ. A standalone case should not attempt to use Form I-526 merely because the investor owns an interest in the enterprise if the investment is actually pooled with other EB-5 investors.

Amount, lawful source, path, at-risk investment, and the new commercial enterprise should be documented.

The petition must establish the required amount of qualifying capital and show that the investor has invested or is actively in the process of investing it in the new commercial enterprise. The record should document lawful source and lawful path, ownership and control of the capital, the transfer into the enterprise, and the at-risk nature of the investment. Post-RIA law also requires lawful source and lawful means for administrative costs and fees associated with the investment. Bank records, transaction documents, tax records, and source-specific evidence should reconcile with the amount claimed on the form and in the business plan.

A Matter of Ho compliant business plan can support prospective job creation when the positions do not yet exist.

A standalone EB-5 investor generally must establish creation of at least ten qualifying full-time jobs through the new commercial enterprise under the direct-employment framework applicable to the case. When the jobs do not yet exist, a credible comprehensive business plan can support prospective job creation if it explains the positions, hiring timetable, operating activity, staffing need, and financial assumptions. The plan should be commercially plausible and internally consistent with the investment and projected operations. At later stages, USCIS can compare the original plan with actual employment evidence, so job projections should be supportable rather than merely designed to reach the statutory number.

Governing documents and actual business responsibilities should support the claimed role.

The investor must also satisfy the EB-5 management requirement. A standalone investor commonly does so through a managerial role or through policy formulation, depending on the enterprise's legal structure and the facts of the case. The governing documents should identify the investor's rights and responsibilities, and the business plan should describe how those responsibilities fit the enterprise's actual operations. A nominal title without meaningful authority can create questions, while passive ownership alone does not satisfy the statutory framework. The management evidence should therefore be consistent across organizational documents, ownership records, the petition, and the investor's description of the business.

• Current Form I-526
• Correct filing fee
• Investment evidence
• Source and path evidence
• Business plan
• Job evidence
• Management evidence
• Supporting civil records

The filing package should be assembled using the current USCIS form edition, filing location, fee schedule, and instructions in effect on the filing date. Beyond the form itself, the record normally includes identity and ownership evidence, investment and transfer records, lawful source and path documentation, business-plan evidence, job-creation evidence, and proof of the investor's management role. The petition should also identify any facts requiring explanation, such as multiple funding sources or unusual transfers. Filing an organized record at the outset reduces ambiguity and helps USCIS connect each exhibit to the specific EB-5 element it is intended to establish.