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I-829 Filing
Best Practices
- File in the 90-day window before the second anniversary of the investor’s admission or adjustment as a conditional permanent resident. Missing this window is one of the few unforced errors that can derail an otherwise qualified case.
- USCIS assesses two core questions: (1) Was the required capital sustained at risk during the conditional period? and (2) Were at least 10 full-time jobs created per investor (directly or, in regional center cases, indirectly/induced under accepted models)? Evidence types and adjudicative standards are detailed in the USCIS Policy Manual.
- While the case is pending, USCIS extends conditional status via the I-829 receipt; USCIS has announced that receipt notices extend Green Card validity for a prolonged period (commonly referenced as 48 months). Always rely on the latest USCIS notice language accompanying the specific filing. USCIS
USCIS expects the I-829 to read like an audit-ready, source-document dossier—not a marketing deck. Organize the entry points of proof around the legal elements.
1) Capital Sustained “At Risk”
Show that the full qualifying amount was invested and remained at risk through the conditional period (and, if applicable, any sustainment period implicated by project timing):
- NCE evidence: executed subscription/operating or limited partnership agreement excerpts; wire confirmations into the NCE; NCE bank statements reflecting receipt and downstream transfers; NCE federal tax returns (Form 1065), K-1s; general ledgers tying investor capital to use of proceeds.
- Use-of-proceeds controls: fund administration agreements, escrow instructions, and draw approvals demonstrating that disbursements followed governing documents.
- If redeployment occurred: board/manager resolutions, redeployment policy excerpts, wire trails and bank statements into the redeployed asset, and updates from the fund administrator.
- Create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers.
USCIS’ manual emphasizes contemporaneous, primary documentation showing the capital truly remained at risk—not subject to guaranteed returns or redemption rights.
2) Job Creation: Credible, Document-Backed Counts
USCIS accepts different evidence depending on job type. The evidentiary menu (drawn from regulation and the policy manual) looks like this:
- Direct jobs (W-2 employees of the job-creating enterprise): payroll registers; Forms W-2/W-3; quarterly wage reports (state unemployment insurance filings); IRS Forms 941; I-9s (kept per I-9 rules); organizational charts and hiring records.
- Indirect/induced jobs (regional center filings): an updated economist report (RIMS II or IMPLAN) that ties modeled jobs to actual, qualified expenditures; detailed cost ledgers; AIA pay applications (G702/703); construction contracts and change orders; lien waivers; third-party inspection reports; permits and certificates of occupancy; and a sources-and-uses to model crosswalk so every job-credit dollar can be traced to a qualifying category.
Regulatory and policy authority recognize payroll/tax/I-9 proof for direct jobs and “economically or statistically valid forecasting devices” for indirect/induced jobs. Congress.gov
Packaging For Clarity
01
Exhibit map and cover letter. Begin with a fact-pattern summary (dates of investment, I-526E filing/approval, CPR start date, filing-window dates, NCE/JCE roles), then a numbered exhibit list keyed to each legal element (capital at risk, 10 jobs, sustainment). Keep the cross-references tight—USCIS should be able to locate every assertion’s proof in one click.
02
Job-creation reconciliation table. Include a one-page table that: (a) states the job requirement, (b) shows modeled or direct jobs per investor, and (c) demonstrates a buffer above 10 to absorb variances. For construction-driven models, indicate percent-complete and spend-to-date compared to the economist’s inputs.
03
At-risk timeline graphic. A simple timeline (investment date → transfers to JCE → construction milestones → current status) helps adjudicators visualize the sustainment narrative.
04
Consistent entity naming. Use the same legal names (NCE/JCE) used in governing agreements and the economist report; inconsistency is a common RFE trigger.
Evidence Hygiene And Version Control
- Lock your ledgers. Export general ledgers and cost reports to static, date-stamped PDFs and reference the hash or version in the cover letter.
- Reconcile across documents. Budgets in the economist report must tie to the JCE’s contract values and to the NCE’s “use-of-proceeds” schedule; if a change order moved costs between qualified and non-qualified categories, show the math.
- Mind the model vintage. If your I-956F used a specific RIMS II or IMPLAN vintage, have the economist either (1) update to the current vintage with a variance explanation or (2) explain why the prior vintage still controls and how actuals map to it.
Dependencies And Derivatives
Derivatives can be included on the principal’s I-829; where a spouse/child cannot be included, a separate I-829 may be required. Track family circumstances (marriage, age-outs) and align the filings so no one falls out of status for want of a check-box. WR Immigration
Interviews, RFEs/NOIDs, and Adjudication Flow
Interviews at I-829 are discretionary. Whether or not USCIS schedules one, plan as though you will need to walk an officer through the job math and sustainment story using primary documents. If an RFE/NOID arrives, respond with clean deltas (what changed, why, and where it is proven) rather than re-submitting the entire file. USCIS’ own guidance stresses the centrality of contemporaneous evidence that verifies at-risk capital and qualifying jobs.
Regional-Center Specifics And Project Readiness
For regional-center cases, adjudicators will expect project-level records to be audit-ready:
- I-956F filing/receipt/approval and any material-change disclosures.
- Fund-administrator attestations that disbursements matched documented uses.
- Construction percent-complete tied to job-credit categories.
- If applicable, documentation that any termination or reorganization did not impair investors’ ability to meet I-829 criteria (with updated evidence mapping). Again, the governing standard is the Policy Manual’s I-829 chapter.
Practical Timeline Management
- Backward plan from the 90-day window. Start data-gathering six months before the window opens so vendors can deliver wage reports, final pay apps, and lien waivers in time.
- Coordinate with the economist early. Do not wait until month 23 to commission the final job letter; the model needs actuals, which often require reconciliation.
- Track traveler status. If the principal or derivatives will travel internationally while the I-829 is pending, carry the unexpired passport and the I-829 receipt extending status; check the receipt’s extension language for validity length. USCIS
Common Pitfalls
01
Thin job buffers
Submitting a model that projects 10.1 jobs per investor leaves no cushion for late spend or re-scoped costs. Build headroom.
02
Unmapped cost shifts
If value engineering moves dollars from a qualifying hard-cost line to a non-qualifying bucket, update the economist table and explain the impact.
03
Sustainment gaps
Early repayment or guaranteed redemption undermines the “at-risk” element; align maturities and redeployment with the conditional period.
04
Inconsistent entity data
Names, EINs, and bank accounts must match across exhibits; mismatches generate avoidable questions.
05
Late window filings
Overnight couriers miss flights; e-filing outages happen. Do not test the deadline.
Submission Checklist
- Cover letter with issues-and-evidence roadmap and exhibit index.
- Investor identity/status docs (CPR card biographic page, I-94/approval notices).
- NCE governing docs; subscription/LP or LLC operating agreement excerpts; evidence of investment and at-risk status (wires, bank statements, fund-admin attestations).
- NCE and (if applicable) JCE tax returns and financials for the conditional period.
- Job-creation proof:
- Direct: payroll/W-2/941/state wage filings, headcount schedules.
- Indirect/induced: updated economist report plus qualifying cost evidence (contracts, pay apps, lien waivers, permits/COs), with a sources-to-model crosswalk.
- Job-creation proof:
- Derivative family inclusion or separate filings, as applicable.
- Any material-change or redeployment documentation and impact analysis.
Prepared this way, an I-829 reads less like a narrative and more like a well-tabbed audit file: every assertion proven once, with primary evidence, and every calculation reproducible from the documents you’ve provided.
Sources
- USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 6, Pt. G (Investors), Ch. 5 (Removal of Conditions) — filing window; evidence frameworks for capital at risk and job creation; documentation principles.
- 8 C.F.R. § 216.6 / Congressional Research Service overview of EB-5 — accepted evidence types for direct and indirect/induced jobs. Congress.gov
- USCIS update on extended validity of Permanent Resident Cards for I-829 filers (receipt-notice extension during pendency). Always verify the current extension language on your receipt. USCIS
- Derivative filing nuances (separate filings when not included with the principal). WR Immigration
This guide is provided for general informational purposes only and complements, but does not replace, counsel’s advice on strategy, procedure, or evolving adjudication trends. Contact us to be connected with a seasoned immigration attorney for individualized legal advice.
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