IN THIS GUIDE · Assess each investor’s capital and job evidence within a shared project
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Identify the actual investors and contributions
Hypothetical example: two participants contribute different amounts to a larger enterprise. Record each contribution and its lawful source and path. Do not assume the project’s total capital cures an individual investor’s shortfall or replaces personal evidence.
Use the applicable qualifying-job account
Generally at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor are required under the relevant direct or regional-center framework. Explain the allocation and method rather than presenting the same project headline as a complete individual account. Eligible derivatives are not additional investors solely by accompanying. For direct employment, qualifying full-time positions require at least 35 hours per week. Independent contractors, nonimmigrants, and the investor, spouse, sons and daughters do not count as qualifying employees; apply permitted regional-center methods separately.
Keep participation and risk separate
Capital must be at risk, with management or policy participation. Qualifying limited-partner rights may meet participation without universal daily operation. A project description or another investor’s voting power does not automatically establish the applicant’s own rights.
Preserve thresholds and process dates
Current amounts are US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027 tied to the relevant petition filing date. Conditional residence begins through immigrant admission or adjustment approval, not subscription or petition approval alone.
Use the current capital, job and residence conditions
As checked September 7, 2026, the standard capital minimum is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027; confirm the filing-date amount. At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs are required, with the applicable standalone or regional-center method assessed. The investor petition does not itself grant residence: the applicable immigrant-visa or adjustment process follows. Conditional residence then requires removal of conditions, with Form I-829 generally filed in the 90 days before its second anniversary.
Read the capital rights before relying on the amount
Gifted or borrowed funds require lawful-source evidence and a good-faith arrangement that is not used to circumvent restrictions on permissible capital sources. Capital exchanged for a contractual right to repayment or a guaranteed rate of return is excluded. A purchase option exercisable solely at the enterprise’s discretion has a narrow statutory exception, subject to the required sustainment and other conditions; it is not an investor’s repayment guarantee.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
The investor must be engaged in the management of the enterprise, either through day-to-day managerial control or through policy formulation, and a purely passive holding does not satisfy the requirement. Money held inside a corporation has to reach the investor before it can be invested, and the route chosen — dividend, salary, loan repayment, share redemption — determines both the tax consequence and the documentary trail. 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. Within the ninety days before the two-year anniversary the investor files to remove conditions with proof of sustained investment and job creation. The family should ask how many investors the project accepts and how many jobs the model projects, because the ratio determines whether there is a margin if construction runs slow or spending falls short. The investor must decide whether the offering’s project location and supporting designation evidence match the reduced threshold claimed for the filing. In a regional-centre project, indirect and induced jobs may be counted under a reasonable methodology, which is why the economic report attached to that project matters as much as the offering documents. A promoter's assertion that a site is rural or high-unemployment is a claim to be verified against the current designation, not a fact established by the marketing deck.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.