Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Distinguish a shared position from separate part-time jobs
For direct employment, a qualifying full-time position requires at least 35 working hours per week. Two or more qualifying employees can share one such position if the weekly requirement is met; combining separate part-time positions does not count on that basis. The proposal still needs at least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor. Regional-center evidence follows its applicable rules rather than automatically using the same direct-payroll method.
Check the people and the investment
Independent contractors are not direct employees under this definition. The investor, spouse, sons or daughters, and nonimmigrants are excluded from qualifying employees. The current investment minimum is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027. Establish lawful funds, actual at-risk commitment and managerial control or policy-formulation engagement; employee numbers do not replace these conditions.
Preserve the immigration and capital milestones
Read repayment and return terms alongside the operating plan: guaranteed returns and contractual investor repayment rights can conflict with qualifying capital. Petition approval does not itself grant residence or work authorization. Conditional residence begins through the applicable immigrant admission or adjustment approval, and I-829 is generally filed during the 90 days before its second anniversary. A payroll expansion date does not start that residence clock. For gifted or borrowed capital, establish lawful source and a good-faith arrangement that does not circumvent restrictions on permissible capital sources. Capital exchanged for a contractual repayment right or a guaranteed rate of return is excluded. An option exercisable solely at the new commercial enterprise’s discretion has a narrow exception: exercising it requires petition withdrawal unless the applicable sustainment period and other requirements have been fulfilled.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
At least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers must be created, and the method of counting depends on the structure. A credible plan identifies the positions, their hours, when they are filled and how they are sustained, and distinguishes construction activity from ongoing operations. The family should ask for the project's TEA evidence, which under current rules is determined by USCIS against census-tract data, rather than accept a marketing statement that the project is rural or high-unemployment. The investor must also be engaged in the enterprise beyond simply handing over money, through management or policy formulation, which a limited partnership structure can satisfy but which cannot simply be absent. Where the investment is made through a designated regional centre, indirect and induced jobs may be counted according to a reasonable economic methodology. The investor must decide whether the offering’s project location and supporting designation evidence match the reduced threshold claimed for the filing. The business plan, economic report where applicable, subscription documents and job-creation methodology are therefore decision records, not sales materials.
Document the lawful source and path of capital
The jobs must be attributable to that investor's own capital, which is why offerings model allocations so carefully and why an over-subscribed project can leave a later investor without jobs to claim. Full-time means at least thirty-five hours a week; job-sharing arrangements can qualify where the statute permits, but simply adding several part-time roles together does not. 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.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
- USCIS — EB-5 investor program
- USCIS — business and investment visa overview
- USCIS — Child Status Protection Act
- Department of State — Visa Bulletin
- USCIS — fee schedule
- EB-5 full-time positions, job sharing and qualifying employees — 8 CFR 204.6(e), not obsolete capital figures
- Current EB-5 capital statute — 8 USC 1153(b)(5)
- USCIS I-829 instructions