EB-5 Source of Funds from Salary and Savings

Employment contracts, employer letters, payroll statements, bonus records, and government wage records can establish earnings.

Salary and wage income can be a straightforward EB-5 source when the investor documents the employment relationship, compensation, and actual receipt of earnings. Useful evidence can include employment contracts, employer letters, payroll statements, bonus records, government wage reports, pension records, and bank deposits that correspond with the claimed income. The record should identify the employer, role, period of employment, compensation structure, and any significant bonuses or commissions. When the investor worked for a closely held or family business, independent corroboration can be especially useful because the source analysis must establish that the compensation was genuinely earned rather than merely transferred for the petition.

Post-RIA law expressly calls for applicable tax returns from the past seven years.

Where compensation materially predates that period, older records may still be useful if needed to prove the actual accumulated source.

Tax records should corroborate the salary history when the governing jurisdiction required income reporting. Post-RIA INA section 203(b)(5)(L) expressly calls for applicable tax returns, and older records may still matter when they are necessary to establish how substantial savings accumulated. The petition should compare reported income with payroll and bank evidence and explain material differences caused by bonuses, deferred compensation, foreign tax treatment, or non-taxable items. If a return was not required, the filing should explain why and provide other reliable evidence. Tax records support the source narrative but do not replace proof that the investor actually received and retained the earnings.

USCIS can consider whether the documented income could reasonably generate the claimed savings after normal expenditures or other known financial obligations.

An investor claiming long-term savings should show that the documented earnings could reasonably produce the amount invested after ordinary living costs, taxes, major purchases, debts, and other known financial obligations. USCIS does not require a household budget in every case, but the overall accumulation should make economic sense. Long-term bank or investment statements, account balances, savings certificates, and financial records can demonstrate gradual growth. If the investor earned substantial income but the EB-5 funds appeared suddenly from an unrelated deposit, that deposit should be explained separately. A chronology of earnings and account growth can make the accumulation theory more credible and easier to follow.

Longer account histories are useful when they show gradual accumulation rather than an unexplained recent deposit.

Bank history can connect recurring salary deposits to the savings ultimately used for EB-5. The necessary period depends on the facts; there is no automatic requirement to submit every statement from an entire career. The record should be long enough to establish the material accumulation and explain large transfers, account changes, or conversions affecting the invested funds. If savings moved among checking, savings, brokerage, or fixed-deposit accounts, the petition should trace those movements rather than treating the final account as the beginning of the source history. Currency exchange and international transfer records should be added when they form part of the path.

The petition should allocate and trace each source clearly when more than one source contributes to the investment.

Salary savings can be combined with other lawful sources such as a gift, property sale, business distribution, securities liquidation, or inheritance. Each source should be identified separately and traced into the total investment so USCIS can understand the contribution made by each component. Mixing sources in one account does not make them unusable, but it increases the need for clear reconciliation. A transaction table can show opening balances, salary deposits, other source deposits, transfers, exchange transactions, administrative-fee payments, and the final EB-5 wire. The narrative should not attribute the full investment to salary if part of the capital actually came from another source.

• Employment contracts
• Payroll statements
• Tax returns
• Employer letters
• Bonus records
• Bank statements
• Investment account statements
• Transfer records

A salary-and-savings package should link lawful employment, reported earnings, accumulation, and the final transfer into the new commercial enterprise. Depending on the case, useful exhibits include employment contracts, employer verification letters, payroll records, bonus statements, tax returns, government wage records, bank statements, investment account records, currency exchange documentation, and wire confirmations. The filing should highlight the documents that prove the material steps rather than overwhelm the record with repetitive statements. Where older documents are unavailable, the investor should explain the gap and use credible secondary evidence that still demonstrates the earnings and accumulation history.