Documents proving both where the money came from and how it travelled: business financial statements and tax filings, sale or dividend records for whatever was liquidated, loan agreements with their security terms, and bank statements connecting each transfer from origin to the enterprise account.
The path matters as much as the origin
Applicants often prepare well for the first half of this and neglect the second. Establishing that a drayage business earned the money over fifteen years is achievable with financial statements, corporate tax returns and, where relevant, an independent valuation. Establishing the path means showing every step the funds took afterwards, including any account in another name, any intermediate holding company, and any currency conversion.
Gaps in that chain generate requests for evidence more reliably than any other issue in a file. Two practical points reduce the risk. Move money in as few transactions as possible and keep the confirmations.
Where funds were gifted or lent by a relative or a company, the source of the giver's or lender's funds is examined as well, so those records have to be gathered at the same time rather than after a question arrives.
- USCIS: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
- 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5): employment creation immigrants
- eCFR: 8 CFR 204.6, Petitions for employment creation aliens
- USCIS: Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status
- USCIS: Child Status Protection Act
- Department of State: Visa Bulletin