Immigration agents play a vital role in the collection of documents from their clients. Although every immigrant will need to provide standard documents, such as passports and birth certificates, immigrant investors will also have a long list of evidence documenting their source of funds which are hand tailored to their personal histories. This creates challenges for EB-5 immigrant investor clients, because every investor’s documents will be different. When collecting documents to demonstrate an investor’s source of funds, it is important to remember that the documents collected tell a story. That story needs to be as complete as possible in order to decrease the risk that the investor will receive a request for evidence (“RFE”) from USCIS, which will delay processing time by one month or more. The agent has the opportunity to sit down with the client in person, serve as eyes and ears, to learn about the client’s story and help present it to the attorney, who will in turn present the story to USCIS.

When does the story begin? The story of where the investment funds originated may begin ten years ago, or more, when the investor initially earned the money used for the EB-5 investment. Once it is determined how far back the story will need to go to show the origin of the funds, the funds will need to be accounted for at every stop along the path to investment. This will involve collecting bank statements and other financial records to document each move the funds have made since the point of origin.

Evidence collected will consist of primary evidence and secondary evidence. Primary evidence is evidence generated by trusted third party sources, like government agencies and banks. Financial records, employment certificates, loan documents, property purchase and ownership records, and business registration documents are all examples of primary evidence. Whenever possible, primary evidence should be used to tell the client’s story.

When there is not enough primary evidence to tell a clear story, secondary evidence may be used to fill in the gaps. Secondary evidence may be in the form of personal statements from the client or other relevant individuals, and can be a useful tool to provide context for the records. However when secondary evidence is used in the place of primary evidence it creates a risk that USCIS will give the investor an RFE. As a result, secondary evidence should only be used to replace primary evidence in cases where primary evidence is not available because 5-10 years have passed. If there is any question as to which evidence should be used, the agent is always encouraged to ask the attorney for direction.

The agent plays a critical role in helping the client determine what kinds of evidence will be necessary to effectively tell their story to USCIS. This role is even more important because the agent is the only person who has the opportunity to sit down with the investor to review which specific documents will be available. In helping to select the best documents, the agent can help to cut processing times and decrease the risk of an RFE."

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