IN THIS GUIDE · Evaluate a standalone, non-regional-center EB-5 investment on its own direct job-creation evidence
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Confirm the direct-hire job count belongs to this specific business
Unlike a regional-center project, a standalone acquisition or expansion must show the qualifying jobs as the enterprise's own direct, full-time employees, documented through payroll, tax and personnel records rather than an economic-impact study. Identify how many qualifying positions already exist, how many are new, and how the business will sustain them. For direct employment, full-time generally means at least 35 hours weekly; contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters are not qualifying direct employees.
Separate enterprise eligibility from preservation of existing jobs
The formation history, acquisition structure and proposed changes determine which enterprise rules apply. Separately assess qualifying new jobs or an applicable job-preservation provision. Do not apply a universal restructuring or 40% expansion requirement to every purchase, or assume an existing payroll automatically satisfies job creation. A claimed troubled-business exception needs evidence meeting its own conditions.
Document the lawful source and path of capital
Hypothetical example: a Clarence-Rockland investor plans to fund the acquisition using proceeds from selling a stake in the family manufacturing business, a portion held for several years in a joint investment account with other family members. Trace the sale, the ownership before the sale, and the transfer of the investor's specific share into the funds actually used for the U.S. purchase, rather than presenting a single account balance.
Plan for the immigration stages and the household
The process generally involves an investor petition, an immigrant visa or adjustment-of-status stage where available, and later removal of conditions tied to evidence that the required jobs were actually created (or, for a troubled business, preserved) and sustained. Include each family member's age and objectives early, since a payment or petition filing does not itself freeze a child's CSPA age.
Apply the capital and participation rules to the buyer
The standard threshold is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project, subject to statutory adjustments beginning January 1, 2027. At least ten qualifying full-time jobs are required per investor. The investor must participate through management or policy formulation; qualifying limited-partner rights can suffice. Capital must meet the applicable at-risk requirements, without a guaranteed repayment outcome.
Calendar conditional residence after the investment stage
Petition approval alone does not confer residence or US work permission. The applicable immigrant-visa and admission or adjustment process follows. Generally file I-829 in the 90 days before the second anniversary of conditional residence. Filing is not automatic removal of conditions or a guarantee that commercial capital will be returned.
Preserve the investment’s legal conditions
Qualifying capital must be lawfully sourced and at risk, with investor participation in management or policy formulation. Gifted or borrowed funds must be provided in good faith and not to circumvent permissible-capital restrictions. 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.
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 CFR 204.6 — Petitions for employment creation immigrants
- 8 USC 1153 — capital, jobs and project determinations
- 8 CFR 204.6(e) — direct employee and hours definitions only
- USCIS — I-829 instructions
- Department of State — employment immigrant travel