Money and structure

Capital at risk

Also called at risk, at-risk requirement.

The rule that the investor's required capital must be genuinely exposed to loss, with a real chance of gain, and not shielded by a guaranteed return or by any contractual right to repayment.

What it decides

8 CFR 204.6(j)(2) requires evidence that the investor has placed the required amount of capital at risk for the purpose of generating a return on the capital placed at risk. Mere intent to invest, or a prospective arrangement with no present commitment, does not satisfy it, and neither does simply forming and capitalizing the new commercial enterprise and signing a commercial lease, because USCIS also requires evidence of actual business activity under Matter of Ho, 22 I&N Dec. 206 (Assoc. Comm'r 1998). USCIS requires both a risk of loss and a chance for gain, so a guaranteed return is not at risk to the extent guaranteed, and a guaranteed right to eventual ownership or use of an asset counts against the investment at its expected present value. Capital contributed in exchange for a note, bond, convertible debt or any other debt arrangement with the enterprise is not a contribution of capital at all, so a loan from the investor to the enterprise does not qualify. For petitions filed on or after 15 March 2022 the statutory definition of capital does this work directly, excluding guaranteed rates of return and any contractual right to repayment, such as a mandatory redemption or a put or sell-back option held by the investor, even where that right is contingent on the enterprise having sufficient cash flow; for those petitions the capital must also be expected to remain invested for not less than two years. A buy back option exercisable solely at the discretion of the new commercial enterprise is generally still permitted, though USCIS treats one as impermissible where surrounding terms make it a mandatory redemption in substance.

Governed by 8 CFR 204.6(j)(2) and (j)(2)(iv); 8 CFR 204.6(e) (definitions of "capital" and "invest"); 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A)(i); 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(D)(ii)(III) and (D)(ii)(IV); Matter of Izummi, 22 I&N Dec. 169 (Assoc. Comm'r 1998); Matter of Ho, 22 I&N Dec. 206 (Assoc. Comm'r 1998); 6 USCIS-PM G.2(A)(2) (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-g-chapter-2)

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into capital at risk rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

CapitalCapital is the cash and tangible assets an EB-5 investor contributes to the new commercial enterprise. Two texts define it: the statute, which governs petitions filed on or after 15 March 2022, and the older regulation, whose conditions on debt USCIS still applies alongside the statute.
Sustainment periodThe period an EB-5 investor's capital must stay invested. For a petition filed on or after 15 March 2022 it is two years, and USCIS counts it from the date the capital was contributed to the new commercial enterprise and placed at risk, not from admission as a conditional resident. For a petition filed before that date it is instead the two years of conditional permanent residence.
RedeploymentRedeployment is the reinvestment of an EB-5 investor's capital into a new use after the job-creating entity pays it back, so the money stays at risk for the rest of the period it must remain invested. USCIS calls it further deployment.

Checked against primary sources on 6 August 2026. Back to the glossary