IN THIS GUIDE · Keep each investor’s capital and job requirement identifiable in a shared project
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Establish the individual investment at the applicable amount
September 2026 thresholds are US$1,050,000 ordinarily or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure case, with statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027 under filing-date rules. Trace each investor’s lawful source and path and actual at-risk capital. Gifts and loans must be in good faith and not circumvent the requirements.
Use the qualifying job framework per investor
At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor are required under the applicable standalone or regional-centre method. Direct full time generally means at least 35 hours weekly; contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters are excluded. A combined project headcount does not explain how each individual requirement is supported.
Read genuine participation and capital rights
The investor must participate in management or policy formulation; qualifying limited-partner rights can satisfy this without daily operation. Contractual repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded. An enterprise-only discretionary buyback has a statutory exception, but exercise requires petition withdrawal unless applicable sustainment and other requirements are fulfilled. Another investor’s rights cannot simply be assigned to the applicant.
Keep residence and family events individual
Conditional residence begins at immigrant admission or adjustment approval. I-829 ordinarily is filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary; filing alone does not remove conditions or trigger repayment. Eligible accompanying derivatives need no additional principal investment merely to join. Family eligibility, any CSPA analysis and visa availability require the actual individual case, not a project-wide date.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
The capital must create at least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers, and the word full-time carries a defined meaning of at least thirty-five hours a week; two part-time roles cannot be added together to make one. Where a regional center is used, indirect and induced jobs shown by an accepted economic methodology may count, which is the practical reason many investors choose that structure, but the requirement itself does not soften. Avoid importing an indirect-job methodology into a direct-investment case, or treating jobs described in a marketing deck as already created. A regional-center filing places capital into a sponsored project where permitted indirect job methods may apply and where other parties control construction, leasing and reporting. The condition is removed by a later petition showing that the capital remained invested and that the jobs were created and sustained, which means quarterly wage filings, payroll registers and hours for every position counted. Review the enterprise structure, offering documents, planned use of capital, fees, project timetable, job-creation assumptions, conflicts, and exit risks with advisers qualified for those questions. The reduced amount is the reason most offerings describe themselves as targeted-employment-area projects, and that description is a legal designation resting on unemployment or rural criteria rather than a sales point. The investor must decide whether the offering’s project location and supporting designation evidence match the reduced threshold claimed for the filing.
Engagement in management or policy formulation is still required
Under the 2022 legislation the qualifying amounts are one million fifty thousand dollars generally and eight hundred thousand dollars for a targeted employment area or infrastructure project; these are subject to adjustment and should be verified against current official sources before committing. Engagement in management or policy formulation is still required and is commonly framed through the rights the investor holds under the partnership or operating agreement, so the governing documents deserve careful reading rather than a summary. Evaluate the project documents on their own terms: subscription provisions, risk disclosures, deployment mechanics, and the stated job-creation methodology. The investor should retain periodic statements, project reports and proof that the capital remains deployed as required through the sustainment period.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.