Money and structure

Finder's fee

Also called finders fee, referral fee, commission.

A finder's fee is the transaction-based payment made to whoever introduced an investor to an EB-5 offering, and 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(K)(iv) requires every EB-5 petition to carry a disclosure, signed by the investor, of the fees and other compensation paid in connection with the investment.

What it decides

Because 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H) covers any petition under 1153(b)(5), the disclosure runs to Form I-526 as well as Form I-526E. It must reflect all fees, ongoing interest and other compensation paid to any person that the regional center or new commercial enterprise knows has received or will receive in connection with the investment, including compensation to agents, finders or broker dealers, and only to the extent not already identified in the business plan. Regional center deals disclose the same money twice more. The project application under 1153(b)(5)(F)(i)(IV)(dd) sets out fees paid or to be paid to agents, finders and broker dealers, the services that earned them, and the recipient's name and contact details if known at filing. The annual statement under 1153(b)(5)(G)(i)(VI)(ff) accounts for all fees collected from investors, naming administrative fees, loan monitoring and management fees, commissions and similar transaction-based compensation, who received them and why. Disclosure is the immigration requirement; whether the recipient may lawfully take the fee is a separate question under section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(K)(iv), read with 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H) for which petitions it reaches; 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(F)(i)(IV)(dd); 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(G)(i)(VI)(ff); and 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(K)(i)(IV), which directs DHS to publish guidelines on permissible fee arrangements. Neither 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5) nor 8 CFR 204.6 sets, caps or otherwise limits the amount of such a fee. The linked page carries the title 8 provisions; the Exchange Act point is 15 U.S.C. 78o(a)(1) and is not on it.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into finder's fee rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Broker-dealerA broker-dealer is a firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to effect securities transactions for customers, and in EB-5 it is the registration a person generally needs before taking transaction-based pay for placing investors in an offering.
Direct and third-party promoterA direct or third-party promoter is any person, migration agents and their subagents and employees included, who promotes a regional center, a new commercial enterprise, an affiliated job-creating entity or an issuer of EB-5 securities to immigrant investors, and who must register with USCIS on Form I-956K before doing so.
Administrative feeA charge the investor pays to the new commercial enterprise, its manager or the regional center on top of the qualifying investment, covering offering, marketing and management costs. No immigration statute or regulation sets or caps the amount, and it does not count toward the $800,000 or $1,050,000.
Form I-956KForm I-956K, Registration for Direct and Third-Party Promoters, is the USCIS registration that each person promoting a regional center EB-5 offering must file, including migration agents, subagents and employees of promoter firms.
Form I-956GForm I-956G, Regional Center Annual Statement, is the yearly filing every designated regional center must submit to support its continued eligibility for designation, accounting for investor capital, project progress, fees collected from investors and required compliance certifications.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary