IN THIS GUIDE · Distinguish qualifying positions from a combined payroll total
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify positions and the applicable framework
At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor are required under the applicable standalone or regional-center rules. A direct-employment analysis differs from qualifying regional-center job evidence. Use the actual framework rather than imposing one payroll method universally.
Explain hours and worker eligibility
Direct full-time employment generally means at least 35 hours per week. Separate part-time positions cannot simply be added to create a full-time job; a genuine job-sharing arrangement concerns the qualifying position. Investor, spouse, sons and daughters, and nonimmigrant workers are excluded from qualifying worker counts.
Preserve investment and participation
Current capital is US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustments from January 1, 2027 under petition-filing-date rules. Lawful source and path, risk and management or policy participation remain necessary.
Separate evidence from case results
A petition or payroll report does not grant residence. Immigrant-visa admission or adjustment approval begins conditional residence. I-829 is generally filed during the 90 days before the second anniversary; filing does not itself remove conditions or guarantee repayment.
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. Independent contractors cannot be treated as direct qualifying employees.
Investment amount, targeted employment area and job creation
The statutory investment is one million and fifty thousand dollars, reduced to eight hundred thousand dollars where the investment is in a targeted employment area or an infrastructure project, under the 2022 reform legislation. A migration agent introducing a project, a sponsor's counsel, and an independent lawyer engaged by the applicant occupy different positions, and referral arrangements may exist. The investor must be engaged in the business through management or policy formulation, which is a lower bar than daily operation but is not passivity. Where the investment is made through a designated regional centre, indirect and induced jobs may be counted according to a reasonable economic methodology. The business plan, economic report where applicable, subscription documents and job-creation methodology are therefore decision records, not sales materials. A project update may matter to job creation and sustainment even when it does not answer whether an immigrant visa is currently available or whether the investor is admissible. Sequence the review before subscription, because a missing source document or job-model assumption may affect whether the investor proceeds, renegotiates, or declines the offering.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
Identify the project location, the rural or high-unemployment basis claimed, the relevant USCIS designation or project approval and its applicable dates. Job creation under a regional center petition is credited when a permitted methodology is applied to defined inputs — construction expenditures, revenues, or similar measures. Ask which specific positions are counted, whether they are construction or operational, over what period they are filled and sustained, and what the methodology assumes. The capital must still be at risk, lawfully sourced and fully committed before or at filing, and the investor must still hold a policy-making or management role, which in a limited-partnership structure is usually satisfied by limited-partner rights. Where the investment is made through a designated regional center, jobs created indirectly may be counted using accepted economic methodologies, which is why regional center offerings often satisfy the requirement more easily on paper. Read the offering documents, escrow provisions, repayment priorities, fees, borrower security and job-creation methodology with qualified financial advisers.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.