For F-1 and OPT students · Rural EB-5
No lottery. No sponsor. A petition you file yourself.
An EB-5 immigrant petition is filed by the investor. It is not entered in the H-1B lottery and it does not need an employer. With funds gifted by your family, you are the investor and the petitioner. As of the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the rural EB-5 category is Current for every country, including India and China.
EB5 Energy Fund I is a rural EB-5 project in Oklahoma oil and gas, owned by its EB-5 investors, with USCIS I-956F project approval on file and three investor I-526E petitions approved.
How a gifted investment works
The gift
Your family transfers the investment amount to you as a gift. USCIS requires the lawful source of the funds to be documented all the way back, so the record covers both the gift itself (a gift letter and the transfer) and how the donor earned or acquired the money. Your immigration counsel assembles this file; for a family with income, savings and assets in more than one country it is commonly the longest step, eight to ten weeks, and it does not depend on which project you choose.
You are the investor and the petitioner
You subscribe to the fund in your own name and your counsel files Form I-526E for you. Your parents are not investors and are not on the petition. A spouse and unmarried children under 21, if you have them, may be included as derivatives.
If you are under 21 and unmarried, there is a different path: a parent invests and files, and you are included on the parent's petition. Which path fits is a short conversation on the first call.
Accredited-investor status
EB5 Energy Fund I is offered to accredited investors. A student living in the United States has to qualify in their own right; the usual basis is a net worth over $1 million, excluding a primary residence, measured after the gift. A gift sized only to the investment amount does not meet that test on its own. Verification is done by a third party and takes about three days before funds are accepted.
Your status while the petition is pending
F-1 is a nonimmigrant status, and filing an immigrant petition is a statement of immigrant intent. That is why most students in the U.S. file the I-485 at the same time as the I-526E while the category is Current, together with Form I-765 (employment authorization) and Form I-131 (advance parole). Once issued, the work authorization is not tied to any employer or to OPT, and advance parole allows travel while the I-485 is pending. Travelling on the F-1 visa after the I-485 is filed can be treated as abandoning it, so the sequence and travel plans are set with your counsel before anything is filed.
Tax reporting on the gift
A gift to a U.S. resident from a foreign person is generally not taxable income to the recipient, but gifts from a foreign individual totalling more than $100,000 in a year are reported on IRS Form 3520. It is an information return, not a tax, and your tax advisor files it with your return.
Why the timing matters
- OPT is 12 months, with a 24-month extension for STEM degrees. After that, staying in the U.S. to work normally means an H-1B, which is selected by lottery once a year and then belongs to the employer.
- Employment-based green cards through an employer run through PERM, an I-140 and, for applicants born in India or China, final action dates measured in years.
- Rural EB-5 has its own 20% visa set-aside under the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act, and the Act directs USCIS to prioritize rural petitions. The October 2026 Visa Bulletin lists the category as Current for every country. The unreserved EB-5 category is not: India sits at 1 December 2023 and China at 1 December 2016. Visa Bulletin dates are published monthly and can move in either direction.
- The rural minimum is $800,000 for petitions filed on or before 31 December 2026 and is expected to rise from 1 January 2027. USCIS filing fees also increase on 30 November 2026.
The project
- Investor-owned. Investors hold equity in EB5 Energy Fund I, which controls the project entity that owns the wells. That is an indirect interest in the project's assets, not an unsecured loan to an unrelated project.
- Oklahoma oil and gas. Eight horizontal wells on acreage with more than 60 years of production history. USCIS I-956F project approval on file covers up to 72 wells and 150 investors.
- Three investor I-526E petitions approved. The most recent on 29 September 2026.
- Repayment targeted from production cash flow, not from a refinance or a sale. Repayment is a target, not a commitment, and EB-5 capital must remain invested for the two-year sustainment period USCIS requires.
- Rural priority processing. The 2022 Act directs USCIS to prioritize rural petitions.
Amounts and dates
| $800,000 | Rural minimum investment for petitions filed on or before 31 December 2026. |
| From 1 January 2027 | The rural minimum adjusts for inflation. An estimated $900,000, and possibly as high as $950,000. USCIS has published no amount or date. |
| 30 November 2026 | USCIS filing fees increase for petitions postmarked on or after this date. I-526E plus the Integrity Fund fee rises from $4,675 to $8,950. |
| Administrative fee | As set out in the offering documents. |
| Legal fees | Charged separately by your own immigration counsel. |
How it runs
- Request the student filing summary. A written walk-through of the gifted-funds path, the status questions for an F-1 or OPT holder, and the project's terms, sent by email. Share it with your family.
- Speak with Rupy Cheema, Managing Partner. She structured the offering and takes every initial investor call. Parents are welcome on the call. The offering documents follow it.
- Subscribe. Accredited-investor verification takes about three days and is completed before funds are accepted.
- Your counsel files the I-526E, with the I-485, I-765 and I-131 if you are eligible to file concurrently.
For educational purposes only. This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Offers are made only through the private placement memorandum to accredited investors. EB-5 investments are speculative and illiquid and involve a high degree of risk, including loss of the entire investment; oil and gas operations carry additional risk.
Immigration outcomes are determined by USCIS. I-956F project approval is approval of the project and does not determine any individual investor's petition. Visa availability is set by the monthly Visa Bulletin and can change. Concurrent filing, employment authorization, advance parole, maintenance of F-1 or OPT status and derivative-beneficiary eligibility depend on individual circumstances and are determined by your own immigration counsel. Tax treatment of a gift depends on individual circumstances and is determined by your own tax advisor. Repayment is a target, not a commitment. The 2027 investment amount is an estimate; USCIS has not published the adjusted figure.