The capital investment of the EB-5 investor must be at risk. Unlike some might claim, fixed income investments, for example, do not qualify as EB-5 eligible investments. The investment needs to have equity-like features. That is why, in the Regional Center model, we have the NCE most often making a loan to the JCE. The EB-5 investors are typically preferred stockholders of the NCE because they cannot lend the EB-5 funds directly to the NCE. Technically speaking, the NCE has no explicit obligation to return the funds to the EB-5 investor either. The EB-5 investors, through their collective investment in the preferred stock of the NCE, receive a preferred rate, but if the NCE fails to pay them, they would not be under default. That said, most reputable regional centers do their best to redeem the capital contribution of the EB-5 investors upon I-829 filing.