Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Use the correct filing milestone
I-829 generally is filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary of conditional residence, not the anniversary of the initial wire or petition. Obtain the actual residence and case records. Filing does not automatically remove conditions or guarantee capital repayment.
Collect evidence of the applicable requirements
Review the qualifying investment and job evidence under the actual direct or regional-centre framework. At least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor and applicable at-risk conditions matter. Do not substitute a project update for the supporting records the case requires.
Keep the original eligibility framework clear
Capital thresholds generally are US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustment starting January 1, 2027 and the applicable filing rules requiring review. Management or policy-formulation participation, including qualifying limited-partner rights, and lawful source and path remain part of the investment case. Determine the applicable capital threshold by the petition filing date, rather than the date of a wire, invoice or later I-829 filing.
Decide between a regional-center project and a direct investment
In a direct EB-5 case there is no economic methodology for indirect jobs; the ten positions must appear on the enterprise's payroll records, Form I-9 files and quarterly wage reports. At least ten full-time positions of thirty-five hours a week or more must be created for qualifying U.S. workers, and the investor, the spouse, their children and non-immigrant workers do not count. Whether investing in a standalone enterprise or a regional-center project, confirm exactly how the specific project proposes to create the required qualifying jobs and what the methodology assumes. Where a regional center is involved, its designation is a government approval of the center, not an endorsement of the project or any promise about outcome. The investor must also have engaged in the management of the enterprise or in its policy formulation; a wholly passive holding does not satisfy the requirement, though the rights ordinarily attached to a limited partnership interest can. Contractual investor repayment rights and guaranteed rates of return are excluded; an enterprise’s sole-discretion buyback exception remains subject to sustainment and other requirements. A regional-center filing should identify the relevant offering documents, economic report and how the project allocates jobs. Independent contractors, nonimmigrants, and the investor, spouse, sons and daughters do not count as qualifying employees; apply permitted regional-center methods separately.
Understand engagement and job creation in a regional-center project
Job creation under a regional center petition is credited when a permitted methodology is applied to defined inputs — construction expenditures, revenues, or similar measures. After immigrant-visa admission or adjustment of status, an investor and eligible derivatives receive permanent residence on a conditional basis for two years. The qualifying capital is one million and fifty thousand United States dollars, reduced to eight hundred thousand where the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business in a qualifying targeted employment area or is an infrastructure project. 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. Reserved allocations exist for rural areas, high-unemployment targeted employment areas and infrastructure projects alongside the unreserved category, and visa availability can differ among them. Where the money goes through a regional centre, indirect and induced jobs may be counted using reasonable economic methodologies, which is why so many investors choose that route. Source and path of funds can usually be documented with effort; whether the project’s structure supports the job creation and the participation requirement is not something the investor can cure by producing one more record. Current USCIS policy does not, however, impose a categorical rule that an investor contributing borrowed cash must prove how the collateral was originally acquired; any additional tracing depends on the actual lender, borrower and transfer structure.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.