IN THIS GUIDE · Verify the evidence behind a project’s job and funding summary
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify the basis of the job estimate
Hypothetical example: a presentation reports expected jobs without explaining the method. Identify the actual project structure and applicable standalone or regional-center approach. The required qualifying jobs, generally ten, must be supported under the relevant rules.
Trace the investor’s own funding
Project documentation does not establish the applicant’s lawful source and path. Provide actual records for each component and distinguish fees from invested capital. Confirm the applicable current threshold and project facts.
Read the offering terms and risk
Identify the actual use of funds, obligations and any return representations. Capital at risk is not established by a reassuring sales description. Have the actual arrangement reviewed and keep commercial due diligence distinct from immigration analysis.
Review the individual outcome separately
A project’s records do not guarantee approval, repayment, admissibility or visa availability. Family eligibility and later requirements remain relevant. Do not treat another investor’s experience as a determination of this applicant’s case.
Use the current capital, job and residence conditions
The current standard capital minimum is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure investment. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027; use the petition filing date. At least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor are required under the applicable standalone or regional-center method. Assess management or policy participation, including qualifying limited-partner rights. Conditional residence starts at immigrant-visa admission or adjustment approval; I-829 is generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary. Filing does not itself remove conditions or guarantee repayment.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
Each investor must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers, which means employees rather than contractors, and thirty-five hours a week or more. A direct EB-5 enterprise must create at least ten full-time jobs for U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents or other immigrants lawfully authorized to work, excluding the investor, the investor's spouse and children, and workers in nonimmigrant status. A limited partnership interest in a regional-centre project satisfies that differently from a direct investment in an operating company, where the expectation is real involvement. A regional-center project can count direct, indirect and induced jobs shown by an accepted economic methodology, which is why the project's economic report matters more than its glossy summary. An enterprise-only discretionary buyback has a statutory exception, but exercise requires petition withdrawal unless applicable sustainment and other requirements have been fulfilled. The investor must also be engaged in management or policy formulation rather than holding a passive stake, and that engagement should be reflected in the governing documents from the beginning. A revised forecast is not guaranteed liquidity, and an agreement promising the investor an enforceable repayment right raises a different issue from an uncertain projection. Direct jobs generally require at least 35 hours weekly and exclude contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters.
Understand what engagement means in a regional-center investment
Verify the designation of the specific project and the current figures on the USCIS site at the time of investment, because the thresholds are subject to periodic adjustment under the statute. A regional-center filing places capital into a sponsored project where permitted indirect job methods may apply and where other parties control construction, leasing and reporting. The condition is removed by a later petition showing that the capital remained invested and that the jobs were created and sustained, which means quarterly wage filings, payroll registers and hours for every position counted.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.