IN THIS GUIDE · Decide whether the family wants to buy a job-creating business or invest in someone else's
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Direct jobs and indirect jobs are counted differently
A direct EB-5 investment in a business the couple runs must create ten full-time positions on that business's own payroll for U.S. citizens, permanent residents or other immigrants lawfully authorized to work, excluding the investor, the investor's spouse and sons or daughters, and persons in nonimmigrant status. A regional-center investment may count indirect and induced jobs calculated by an economic model. A meat-processing start-up that plans six employees does not qualify directly; the couple would need to either scale the plan or invest through a regional center.
Quota proceeds need the same tracing as any other capital
The lawful source of funds is proven with the quota sale agreement, the exchange's confirmation, the farm sale, tax returns for the years the operation ran, and bank statements from receipt through to the wire into the enterprise or escrow. Money that passed through a lawyer's trust account or a holding corporation must be traced through each stop. Gifts from relatives are acceptable if the giver's own source is documented.
Engagement means more than signing a subscription
The investor must be involved in the enterprise's management or policy formulation. A limited partner in a regional-center fund typically satisfies this through the rights the partnership agreement grants. A direct investor in a processing plant satisfies it by holding a managerial role or board seat. Passive ownership with no rights at all does not meet the requirement; read the governing document before investing.
Conditional residence is a two-year test, not the finish line
Once admitted, the family holds conditional permanent residence for two years. Within the ninety days before the second anniversary they must file Form I-829 with evidence that the capital stayed invested and the jobs were created or will be within a reasonable time. A project that returns the capital early, or that never reaches its job count, puts the removal of conditions at risk even though the initial petition was approved. Hypothetical example: a cold-storage developer projects ten payroll positions but, after admission, opens with four and contracts the rest of the work to an outside operator. The I-829 file will need dated payroll, tax and business records showing qualifying jobs were created or will be created within a reasonable time; a forecast does not replace those records. The investor must decide early whether the operational model can support the job count throughout conditional residence, not only at filing.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.