EB-5 Glossary

Standard EB-5 program terminology, alphabetized.

Accredited investor

An investor who meets SEC-defined income, net-worth, or professional-knowledge thresholds, often used as a qualification standard for access to private securities offerings.

Adjustment of status

The process by which an investor already lawfully present in the United States applies (Form I-485) to become a conditional permanent resident without leaving the country.

Administrative fee

A one-time fee, separate from the EB-5 capital investment, paid to the Regional Center or fund manager to cover offering, legal, and management costs.

At risk

A statutory requirement that EB-5 capital be subject to genuine risk of loss and potential for gain — it cannot be guaranteed or secured against loss in a way that defeats the at-risk requirement.

Bridge financing

Short-term financing used to fund a project before permanent or EB-5 financing is available, often repaid once EB-5 capital is raised.

Capital stack

The complete layered structure of a project's financing — developer equity, EB-5 capital, senior debt, and other sources — arranged by repayment priority.

Concurrent filing

Filing Form I-485 (adjustment of status) at the same time as Form I-526E, available only when a visa is immediately available and other eligibility conditions are met.

Conditional permanent residence

The two-year immigration status granted to approved EB-5 investors and their families before conditions are removed via Form I-829.

Direct, indirect and induced jobs

Direct jobs are created directly by the new commercial enterprise; indirect jobs result from the project's spending on suppliers; induced jobs result from employee spending in the local economy. Regional Center projects may count all three under an approved economic methodology.

Economist's report

A study prepared by a qualified economist estimating a project's job creation using an accepted input-output economic model, submitted to USCIS as part of the offering.

Escrow arrangement

An arrangement where investor funds are held by a neutral third party until specified conditions are met (such as I-526E filing or approval), before release to the project.

Form I-526E

The individual investor petition establishing EB-5 eligibility for Regional Center investors — see the Forms Glossary for detail.

Form I-829

The petition to remove conditions on permanent residence, filed near the end of the two-year conditional period — see the Forms Glossary for detail.

Form I-956F

The project-level USCIS filing confirming an EB-5 offering's structure and job-creation methodology — see the Forms Glossary for detail.

High-unemployment TEA

A Targeted Employment Area qualifying for the reduced $800,000 investment threshold because it sits in an area where unemployment meets the applicable statutory threshold — distinct from a rural TEA.

Investor

In this context, an individual seeking a U.S. immigration benefit through a qualifying EB-5 capital investment; used interchangeably with "EB-5 investor" throughout this website.

Issuer

The legal entity offering the security to investors — typically the New Commercial Enterprise (NCE) in an EB-5 offering.

Job cushion

The number of projected qualifying jobs above the regulatory minimum required for all investors in an offering, expressed as a raw number or a percentage buffer.

Job-Creating Entity (JCE)

The operating entity that directly develops or operates the project and is responsible for the employment that supports EB-5 job-creation requirements.

New Commercial Enterprise (NCE)

The for-profit entity that receives EB-5 investor capital and either lends it to, or holds an equity interest in, the Job-Creating Entity.

Priority date

The date an investor's Form I-526E is properly filed, used to determine their place in line for visa allocation if their category is not Current.

Priority processing

An expedited USCIS adjudication track potentially available to qualifying rural TEA petitions under current law and USCIS policy. It is not a guaranteed timeframe and is subject to change.

Private Placement Memorandum (PPM)

The confidential offering document describing a project's business plan, risks, use of proceeds, and legal terms, provided to qualified prospective investors.

Redeployment

The reinvestment of EB-5 capital into a new qualifying investment if the original investment is repaid before the investor's conditional residency period is complete, done to maintain the "at risk" requirement.

Regional Center

A USCIS-designated entity authorized to sponsor EB-5 investment offerings and pool capital from multiple investors, permitting the counting of indirect and induced job creation.

Reserved (set-aside) visa

A visa allocated from one of the statutory EB-5 set-aside categories — 20% rural, 10% high-unemployment, 2% infrastructure — reserved separately from the 68% unreserved category.

Rural TEA

A Targeted Employment Area generally located outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside any municipality with a population of 20,000 or more, qualifying for the reduced $800,000 investment threshold and the rural visa set-aside.

Source of funds

Documentation establishing how an investor lawfully earned or received their EB-5 capital — for example, salary, business income, property sale, gift, or inheritance.

Path of funds

Documentation tracing how EB-5 capital physically moved from its original source, through any intermediate accounts, to the EB-5 investment account.

Subscription agreement

The legal contract an investor signs to purchase a security in the New Commercial Enterprise, executed alongside the PPM.

Sustainment period

The period during which EB-5 capital must remain invested and at risk in the new commercial enterprise, generally through the investor's conditional residency period.

Targeted Employment Area (TEA)

A rural area or an area of high unemployment that qualifies a project for the reduced $800,000 EB-5 investment threshold, as opposed to the $1,050,000 standard threshold.

Visa Bulletin

The monthly U.S. Department of State publication showing which EB-5 categories are Current (visas immediately available) versus subject to a waiting list, by country of chargeability.

Visa retrogression

A situation where a previously Current visa category becomes unavailable again in a later Visa Bulletin, extending wait times for investors with later priority dates.

Sources

• USCIS: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program