IN THIS GUIDE · Assess the immigration evidence and the investment risk on separate tracks
Understand how the project intends to create the required jobs
Assess at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor under the applicable standalone or regional-center method, without allocating the same jobs twice. For direct jobs, review eligible employees and the generally 35-hour weekly full-time standard; investors, their spouses or sons and daughters, nonimmigrants and independent contractors do not count as direct qualifying employees. A regional-center designation or marketing estimate does not guarantee job compliance or financial performance.
Document the lawful path of the invested capital
Trace how the investor obtained the funds and how they moved to the investment, including any intermediate accounts or asset sales. Hypothetical example: a Winnipeg-based applicant plans to invest proceeds from selling a family business that passed through several accounts before conversion to U.S. dollars. Retain the sale agreement, ownership records, and transfer documentation, since a current account balance shows that funds exist but not their full lawful history.
Review the offering as a genuine financial commitment
Examine the deployment of capital, the fee structure, and the project's disclosed risks with independent financial advice, keeping that review separate from the immigration evidence itself. A guaranteed return or an assured immigration outcome should not be accepted at face value; ask what happens to the investment and the case if the project's plans change. Assess management or policy-formulation participation; qualifying limited-partner rights can satisfy this without daily management. Capital subject to an investor’s contractual repayment right or a guaranteed rate of return is excluded from qualifying investment. A narrow exception permits a buyback option exercisable solely at the enterprise’s discretion; exercising it requires withdrawal of the petition unless the applicable sustainment and other requirements have been fulfilled. Statutory capital adjustments begin January 1, 2027; use the minimum applicable on the petition filing date.
Sequence the immigration stages and the household's plans together
The process generally includes an investor petition, an immigrant visa or adjustment of status stage where available, and later removal of conditions, with visa availability and individual circumstances affecting the actual sequence. Record each family member's age and objectives early, since filing a petition or making the investment does not, by itself, freeze a child's age; the Child Status Protection Act calculation requires individual review. Conditional residence starts at immigrant-visa admission or adjustment approval, not investor-petition approval. I-829 is generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary; filing does not itself remove conditions or establish a repayment right. Eligible spouses and unmarried children under 21, subject to applicable CSPA analysis, may be derivatives without another principal investment.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.