IN THIS GUIDE · Document a life-insurance payout's origin as carefully as any other capital source
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Document the policy and the reason for the payout
Hypothetical example: a Tecumseh-area applicant received a life-insurance payout following a family member's death and intends to invest a portion in a regional-center project. Retain the policy documents, the claim, and the insurer's payout confirmation.
Confirm the project's own qualifying basis
Assess the target independently of the insurance payout. EB-5 generally requires US$1.05 million, or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure investments, with statutory adjustment beginning January 1, 2027 and the filing-date rules determining the amount. The capital must qualify as at risk with lawful source and path, and the applicant must participate in management or policy formulation. Ask how at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor will be supported; receipt of insurance proceeds establishes none of those project conditions by itself.
Trace the funds from payout to investment
Show the payout deposit and every subsequent transfer to the investment, keeping amounts and dates clear rather than presenting a single current account balance.
Plan the multi-stage process with the applicant's own family in view
Bring the applicant's own family circumstances into the plan early, since visa availability and CSPA questions require individualized review regardless of how the investment was funded. Petition approval alone is not residence or employment permission. After conditional residence begins, I-829 generally must be filed during the 90 days before its second anniversary. Filing does not automatically remove conditions or guarantee return of capital.
Engagement in management or policy formulation is still required
Determine whether the proposal is standalone or regional-center based and obtain the relevant offering and investment documents. In a regional centre project that role is usually structured through a limited partnership interest with defined rights. A direct investment counts jobs created directly by the new commercial enterprise, including through qualifying wholly owned subsidiaries; a regional-centre investment may also count indirect jobs under an approved economic methodology, which is why the same restaurant group can look different under the two structures. Engagement in management or policy formulation is still required and is commonly framed through the rights the investor holds under the partnership or operating agreement, so the governing documents deserve careful reading rather than a summary. The core decision is whether the documents support an immigrant investment case as filed, rather than whether the project marketing material uses the word 'participation' or forecasts a large economic benefit. Do not count the investor, spouse, sons or daughters, nonimmigrant workers or independent contractors as qualifying direct employees; existing jobs need the applicable new-job or troubled-business analysis. For a direct investment, identify which payroll positions are expected to satisfy the requirement; for a regional-centre structure, understand the economic methodology and the records expected later. Contractual investor repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded from qualifying capital; an enterprise’s sole-discretion buyback exception remains subject to sustainment and other requirements.
Use the correct capital threshold and evidence
Ask which method the project uses, how many jobs it allocates to each investor, and how many investors it plans to admit. The investor must decide whether the offering’s project location and supporting designation evidence match the reduced threshold claimed for the filing. Read the offering documents for how jobs are attributed to each investor, what happens if the project creates fewer than projected, and whether capital is redeployed after the job-creation period.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.