Imagine arranging $800,000 for your family’s US Green Card plans, choosing a project, and asking your bank to transfer the money. Then comes another document request. Your filing plans are waiting on money you thought was ready to send.
EB-5 remittance from India needs its own plan. Having the money is the first step. Show where it came from. Check how it can leave India within the rules. Get the bank file ready.
Plan the transfer before promising a filing date
For your family’s budget, first confirm which investment amount applies. USCIS lists $800,000 for qualifying rural, high-unemployment or infrastructure projects, and $1,050,000 otherwise. USCIS also schedules inflation adjustments from January 1, 2027, so check the amount for your intended filing date.
For an EB-5 investment from India, work backwards from the filing plan with your immigration lawyer and bank. The project, the proof and the bank checks need to fit together.
Watch Paresh explain what must be ready before your EB-5 money moves.
Seven EB-5 remittance delays to avoid
1. Counting savings without checking your annual limit
Your child’s filing plan can stall even when the account has enough money. RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme, or LRS, generally allows resident individuals to send up to $250,000 per financial year for permitted transactions.
That year runs April to March. Earlier LRS transfers, including education or travel spending, use the same allowance. Ask the bank to check what remains before fixing dates.
2. Treating family limits as one shared pot
If you are funding your child’s plan, decide who owns the funds before anyone sends money. RBI restricts combining family remittances for overseas investments where the remitters are not co-owners or co-partners.
USCIS permits qualifying gifts, but requires evidence of the donor’s lawful funds. That does not override Indian rules. Ask the bank and lawyers to check where each sender lives, who owns the funds and how they will move. Splitting payments does not make a route lawful.
3. Bringing only a bank balance as proof
For your child’s case, show how you earned the savings. EB-5 source of funds means evidence of the money’s lawful origin. USCIS also requires proof of its path, meaning how it moved into the investment.
Match salary, business income, property sales or gifts to the relevant records. Explain large deposits before transferring. A balance alone does not tell that story.
4. Starting bank paperwork at the last moment
Avoid repeated trips when your family is ready to invest. RBI requires PAN, your Indian tax ID, for LRS transfers. You also need Form A2, the form used to ask the bank to send money abroad.
Request the bank’s full checklist early. Match names across identity records, bank accounts and investment papers. Ask your tax adviser which tax forms and overseas asset disclosures apply to your circumstances.
5. Choosing the wrong reason for the transfer
Protect your filing schedule by describing the transaction accurately. Under RBI rules for EB-5 investment, the bank must check what the payment is for. It must meet the rules for sending and investing money abroad.
Do not label an investment as education or family maintenance to obtain easier processing. RBI’s emigration provision does not give blanket permission to exceed limits for immigration-linked investments. Give the bank the project papers. Ask it to check the route before you commit.
6. Leaving no cash for tax collection and charges
Your investment can be ready while your transfer budget falls short. TCS, tax collected at source by the bank, can require additional cash when an LRS transfer is made.
Ask for a written estimate covering applicable TCS, currency conversion and bank charges. Have your tax adviser confirm current rates, thresholds, tax credit treatment and reporting. Keep that cash separate from the investment amount.
7. Sending before checking the recipient
Before family savings leave your control, match the recipient and account details to the signed offering documents. Call a known project contact to check where to send the money. Keep the bank’s transfer record and proof that the funds arrived.
This belongs in your EB-5 project due diligence. Our guides to project red flags and due diligence mistakes explain how to evaluate an EB-5 project before committing.
Your pre-remittance checklist
Keep your family’s EB-5 remittance process in one file:
- Each sender’s identity, residence and remaining LRS allowance.
- Bank forms and written confirmation of the proposed route.
- Income, tax, sale or gift records supporting the money’s origin.
- Statements tracing every account movement.
- Signed investment papers and verified payment instructions.
- A cash budget for tax collection, fees and currency changes.
Ask your lawyer and bank to resolve missing items before the EB-5 money transfer. The bank checks the payment. USCIS checks the proof for your case. Passing one check does not settle the other.
Planning EB-5 for your family?
Source of Funds, project selection, and timing all interact. An Acquest advisor can walk you through where you stand.
Your investment is ready. Is your remittance plan?
Put the bank, tax adviser and immigration lawyer around the same plan before you transfer. Your family needs funds with a clear paper trail. Make sure they can move within the rules and reach the project when needed.
About Acquest Advisors
Acquest Advisors is a trusted immigration consultancy. We work with HNI Indian families, business owners, and CXOs on residency and citizenship by investment across the US, Europe, and the UAE. Our advisory combines chartered accounting, corporate banking, and immigration expertise. That depth lets us handle Source of Funds planning, EB-5 project due diligence, documentation, and foreign remittance end to end.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send the full $800,000 from India at once?
Do not assume one resident’s annual LRS allowance covers it. EB-5 remittance from India needs a permitted funding route reviewed against your residence, available allowance and investment structure.
Can my parents gift money for my EB-5 application?
USCIS allows qualifying gifts with evidence of the donor’s lawful funds. The gift and transfer must also meet Indian rules, so confirm the route before anyone remits.
How to transfer EB-5 funds from India without avoidable delays?
Start with the bank’s checklist and your lawyer’s funds review. Confirm the route, document every movement and budget for tax collection before agreeing a transfer date.
To Learn more about EB-5
About Paresh Karia
Paresh Karia is the CEO of Acquest Advisors. Chartered Accountant by training and a former senior banker at HDFC, ICICI Bank, and ABN Amro, he brings over two decades of experience across global finance, real estate, and investment immigration. That dual lens, financial structuring on one side and immigration strategy on the other, is what lets Acquest evaluate Source of Funds files and EB-5 projects with a depth most pure immigration consultancies cannot match. Read more about Paresh.