The plaintiff’s attorney in Zhang et al v USCIS has convinced the judge that borrowed money is an acceptable source of funds to use for EB-5 investment.

USCIS has been fighting this argument after they denied the plaintiff’s EB-5 petitions after they obtained cash for their EB-5 investment through a loan. USCIS claimed that this was not cash but indebtedness.

The plaintiff’s attorney successfully argued that the loan was not indebtedness. Prior to this ruling, EB-5 petitions investing in a new commercial enterprise using cash obtained from a loan were denied just like investments using cash from illegal sources of funds were denied.

Applicants to the EB-5 Direct Program and Regional Center Program must invest a minimum of $500,000 into an at-risk job-creating new commercial enterprise in order to petition for green cards for themselves and their spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 years. Investment capital can come from inheritance, gifts, sale of assets, income, and now loans.

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