IN THIS GUIDE · Keep investment records separate from the event that begins conditional residence
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify the actual investment conditions
Show lawful source and path, capital at risk, management or policy participation and the relevant qualifying-job framework. Generally ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor are required. A financial commitment does not itself grant U.S. status.
Use the applicable capital threshold
Current amounts are US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustment beginning January 1, 2027 tied to the relevant petition filing date. Travel or conversion dates do not choose a different threshold.
Distinguish petition approval from residence
Hypothetical example: an investor receives a favorable petition decision while planning a later trip. EB-5 conditional residence begins through admission on the immigrant visa or adjustment approval. Visa availability, admissibility and the applicable process remain relevant.
Track the individual removal-of-conditions period
I-829 generally falls in the 90 days before the second anniversary of conditional residence. Filing does not automatically remove conditions or return capital. Qualifying limited-partner policy rights can meet participation without requiring every investor to manage daily operations.
Use the current capital, job and residence conditions
Contractual rights to repayment of the investor’s capital and guaranteed rates of return are excluded from qualifying capital. An enterprise’s option to buy back the interest solely at its own discretion has a statutory exception, subject to sustainment and the other governing conditions; it is not an investor repayment entitlement. For direct employment, a qualifying full-time position generally requires at least 35 hours weekly. Independent contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters do not count as qualifying employees; the family exclusion is not limited to minor children.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
The investor must be engaged in the enterprise through day-to-day managerial control or policy formulation, which in a direct investment means genuine involvement rather than a passive interest. The condition is removed by filing Form I-829 with evidence that the capital remained invested and that the required jobs were created and sustained. A standalone Form I-526 case and a regional center case supported by Form I-526E do not rest on the same job-counting rules, and a regional center's designation is a status conferred on the center, not a guarantee about any investment or its outcome. Begin with the offering materials and business plan, then match the employment method to payroll records, economic inputs, or other project evidence as applicable. Each investor’s capital must be credited with creating at least ten full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers, which for regional-center projects may include indirect jobs shown through an accepted economic methodology. A gap of even one transfer invites a request for evidence.Identify whether the chosen project is direct or regional-center based before assuming how job creation will be counted. Describe the actual agreement rather than treating a professionally managed project as proof that no participation condition exists, or inventing a requirement to supervise construction personally. Read the offering and project documents for repayment, redemption, and allocation terms that may affect whether capital is genuinely at risk.
Standalone counting differs from a regional center
A regional-center designation identifies a sponsor approved to participate in the program. The subscription creates rights and obligations between investor and issuer — capital call mechanics, a distribution waterfall, transfer restrictions, reporting undertakings — and the offering documents govern all of it. A rental portfolio or a development company might be examined on its own facts, including entity structure, capital deployment and the permitted job-counting method, which differs between standalone and regional centre structures.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.