Guidance for investors and families planning a move to the United States. E-2 and EB-5 strategy, source of funds, children who are approaching 21, and the deadlines that decide which rules apply to your filing.
Consular officers read E-2 business plans to answer two questions: will this enterprise survive, and will it be more than marginal? The narrative matters less than whether the numbers hold together.
Gerardo KlossAccurate as of October 5, 2026Since the fall of 2025, most E-2 applicants must interview in person and apply in their country of nationality or residence. Add the January 2026 travel proclamation, and consular strategy has become part of the case.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of October 5, 2026E-2 dependents have more flexibility than most families expect, and one hard limit most families discover too late. What spouses and children can and cannot do, and how to plan around age 21.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of October 5, 2026An EB-5 investment must be genuinely at risk. Redemption rights, debt arrangements, and guaranteed buybacks have disqualified investors for nearly three decades, and the statute now says so directly.
Lidice Samper, Esq., Gerardo KlossAccurate as of October 5, 2026An EB-5 investment is two decisions at once: an immigration filing and a private placement. Most investors diligence the first and trust the second. A finance checklist for the investment side.
Lidice Samper, Esq., Gerardo KlossAccurate as of October 5, 2026The Gold Card program asks for a $1 million gift to the Treasury and rests on an executive order now in federal litigation. EB-5 asks for an investment and rests on a statute. Investors should compare them on legal footing, not just price.
Lidice Samper, Esq., Gerardo KlossAccurate as of October 5, 2026The E-2 treaty investor visa has no fixed dollar threshold, which means consular officers apply judgment. Three tests decide most cases: substantial, at risk, and not marginal.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 17, 2026The two investor paths are routinely compared on price. The better comparison is nationality, control, timeline, children's ages, and what the family needs the status to do in five years.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 17, 2026Most EB-5 requests for evidence are not about the project. They are about the money. How to reconstruct where investment capital came from, and how it moved, the way an auditor would.
Lidice Samper, Esq., Gerardo KlossAccurate as of September 17, 2026Regional center petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026 keep statutory protection if Congress lets the program lapse. That protection is narrower than most marketing suggests, and a rushed filing can forfeit it.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 17, 2026DHS removes the 2022 public charge framework effective September 18, 2026. Applications postmarked or filed electronically on or after that date are judged under officer discretion instead of the old definitions. Two lawsuits are pending in the Southern District of New York, and neither has stopped the rule.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of September 24, 2026USCIS restored officers’ full discretion to deny petitions outright on August 5, 2026, without first issuing an RFE. The twelve-week response period is gone, and the change applies to everything already pending.
Lidice Samper, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026Nearly every nonimmigrant visa applicant must now appear in person, including children under 14 and applicants over 79. H-1B, L-1 and O-1 renewals that qualified for dropbox a year ago no longer do.
Prarup Ghimire, Esq.Accurate as of September 24, 2026The EB-5 minimum investment adjusts for inflation on January 1, 2027, the first adjustment since the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act. The statutory trigger is the date your petition is filed.
Lidice Samper, Esq., Gerardo KlossAccurate as of September 2, 2026Most delay suits against USCIS lose. The ones that win share identifiable features, and TRAC factor four, the line-jumping argument, is now doing almost all of the work in federal court.
Maeve Healy, Esq.Accurate as of September 2, 2026