EB-5 Source-of-Funds Documentation: The Practitioner Checklist

The source-of-funds package is the single most likely place an I-526E petition fails. Not the project, not the job creation methodology, not the at-risk requirement. The source-of-funds trail. This is because USCIS scrutiny on lawful source has tightened steadily since the Reform and Integrity Act, and because investors and their counsel routinely underestimate what USCIS wants to see. The statutory standard is that the entire $800,000 (or $1,050,000) must be traced to lawful sources by a preponderance of the evidence. In practice that means continuous documentary trail from a primary income source to the U.S. escrow account, with no gaps and no unexplained transfers. Below is the practitioner-side checklist. It is what counsel walks through with an investor before drafting begins. Gray trust tier. ## The five document categories A complete source-of-funds package covers five categories. Missing any category triggers an RFE; missing two or more typically signals a denial...