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NEWMARKET · EB-5 FIELD GUIDE

What documents should I retain for I-829?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

Retain residence records, enterprise financial and capital documents, and the evidence supporting qualifying jobs. The exact package depends on the structure and applicable rules, including how the initial petition proposed to establish employment creation.

Compare the plan with the outcome

For direct jobs, preserve appropriate payroll and employment records; for model-based evidence, obtain support for the actual inputs used. Keep amendments, financial reports and explanations of material changes. Ask counsel to identify gaps well before the filing window.

A new project summary cannot replace missing underlying records simply because it states that all requirements were met. Decide now who in the household holds the file, because the records will be needed years from now and by then the people involved may have changed. Retain residence records, enterprise financial and capital documents and the evidence supporting qualifying jobs, and keep them somewhere both spouses can reach.

For direct jobs preserve appropriate payroll and employment records; for model-based evidence obtain support for the actual inputs used. Keep amendments, financial reports and explanations of material changes as they arrive rather than requesting them later. Ask counsel to identify gaps well before the filing window, since a fresh project summary cannot replace underlying records that no longer exist.

Confirm each year that the project will still release them.