Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify each principal’s contribution
Each case needs the applicable investment and evidence of lawful source and path. Typical capital levels are US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying TEA or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustment beginning January 1, 2027. An investment must meet the at-risk requirements; family relationships do not substitute for the funding record. The ten positions must be full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. Trace the money from its earliest documented origin through every account, conversion, gift, loan or sale and into the new commercial enterprise. A joint account statement may be useful, but it does not by itself explain whose funds were contributed or whether a transfer was a completed gift. If borrowed capital is proposed, the security and personal liability terms need separate review. The payment record, not a family understanding about eventual reimbursement, settles the investor’s capital narrative.
Assess jobs, participation and residence separately
At least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor are required, using the applicable standalone or regional-center method. Management or policy-formulation participation also matters. Petition approval is not residence or work permission. I-829 generally falls within the 90 days before the second anniversary of each person’s conditional residence, and filing does not itself remove conditions or ensure repayment. Successful investors and derivatives receive two-year conditional permanent residence and must use Form I-829 to seek removal of conditions. Hypothetical example: two Esquimalt relatives plan separate investments in a US specialty bicycle-component manufacturer that forecasts twenty-two payroll positions. One relative’s capital is ready, while the other is waiting for proceeds from a share sale. They must decide whether the employment analysis attributes sufficient jobs to each investor on the applicable method or whether the second filing should wait. The business plan, economic report where relevant, payroll model, share-sale closing record and subscription documents answer different parts of that decision. A combined family balance sheet does not show twenty jobs per person.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
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 limited partner in a properly structured regional-center vehicle can meet this through the rights that the partnership agreement gives, but that only works if those rights are real and documented. Whether a specific project sits in a qualifying targeted employment area is a factual question about the project, and the designation should be checked rather than assumed from marketing material. A regional-center case may instead rely on permitted economic methodology and its supporting inputs, so payroll alone may not establish its entire count. Where regional-center rules allow indirect jobs, use the appropriate methodology rather than assuming construction progress supplies the result. Contractual investor repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded; an enterprise’s sole-discretion buyback exception remains subject to sustainment and other requirements. Direct jobs generally require at least 35 hours weekly and exclude contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters. Check the regional centre's designation and the project's approved documentation before relying on its job-creation claims.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.