IN THIS GUIDE · Identify separate principal investors before allocating capital and jobs
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Name the actual participants
Hypothetical example: two business partners and one partner’s spouse appear in a funding discussion. Identify whether each person proposes an independent investment or eligible derivative status. A shared account does not answer that question. Identify ownership of the funds and who will sign the petition and investment documents. A spouse's presence on a bank account is not enough to answer that question. Record whether the household seeks derivative processing or two independently supportable petitions.
Preserve per-investor requirements
Each principal investor must meet the applicable capital and job requirements. Current capital is US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure case, with statutory adjustments from January 1, 2027 under petition-filing-date rules. At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs per investor are required under the applicable framework. Match the applicable investment amount and the required job evidence to each principal investor. Capital must remain subject to risk under the governing arrangement. A business projection cannot reserve the same planned positions for several people without a defensible allocation.
Distinguish derivatives and qualifying workers
An eligible derivative is not an additional principal investor merely because they accompany the case. The investor, spouse, sons and daughters and nonimmigrant workers are excluded from qualifying job counts. Do not credit the same jobs repeatedly without the applicable allocation support. Create a worker-by-worker job table showing position, hours, permanence and eligibility under the selected framework. It should distinguish payroll evidence from forecasts and flag exclusions. Hypothetical example: a custom aquarium-installation company proposes a direct investment and expects its investor's adult daughter to manage installations. Because the investor's spouse, sons and daughters are excluded from the qualifying job count, that position cannot be used, and the plan must reach ten qualifying full-time positions without it.
Retain the complete investment and process
Lawful source and path, risk and management or policy participation remain necessary. Immigrant-visa admission or adjustment approval begins conditional residence; I-829 generally belongs in the 90 days before the second anniversary. No pooling arrangement guarantees status or return of capital. Trace each material transfer from source record through intermediary accounts to the investment. Conditional permanent residence begins only after immigrant-visa admission or adjustment approval, not when a petition is filed or approved. The later removal-of-conditions filing needs evidence that the investment and job requirements were sustained.
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. EB-5 requires qualifying capital placed at risk and the applicable job creation, generally ten permanent full-time positions for each investor. Approval leads to conditional residence, not immediate unrestricted permanent residence. Treat any repayment forecast as a commercial possibility, never a promised immigration outcome.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
- USCIS — EB-5 investor program
- USCIS — business and investment visa overview
- USCIS — Child Status Protection Act
- Department of State — Visa Bulletin
- USCIS — fee schedule
- 8 USC 1153(b)(5) — investor capital and adjustment provisions
- USCIS — Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status