The same capital thresholds, plus ten full-time direct jobs on the enterprise's own payroll within the required period, an active management role, and a lawful-source file. Indirect jobs cannot be counted outside a regional center, so the business plan must realistically support ten employees.
Ten payroll jobs, or it is not a direct EB-5
Hypothetical example: a Haldimand County couple who ran a hog operation wants to buy and expand a small U.S. smokehouse and processing business rather than subscribe to a regional-center project. A direct EB-5 is available, but its arithmetic is unforgiving.
The enterprise must be a new commercial enterprise, which an existing business can become through restructuring or a substantial expansion; the couple must invest at least the applicable minimum, US$800,000 if the site sits in a designated targeted employment area or US$1,050,000 otherwise, subject to current figures; and the plan must create ten full-time positions, thirty-five hours or more per week, filled by qualifying U.S. workers, not by the couple or their children. Part-time positions cannot be combined.
The couple must hold management authority, which they will as owner-operators. Their business plan should name the positions, hiring dates and wages, and the financial model should show the payroll is sustainable. If the honest plan supports six jobs, the direct route fails, however good the business.