An EB-5 Investor Green Card has two main requirements. These include an investment of either $800,000 or $1,050,000 depending on where the business is located, and the meeting of the EB-5 job creation requirement by forming 10 Full-Time Jobs.
These two requirements are related in that the money that has been invested must relate to the creation of full-time jobs. The jobs cannot be part-time and must be jobs for U.S. Citizens or Green Card holders.
- EB-5 Investor Green Card requires a qualifying investment and creation of 10 full-time jobs for U.S. citizens or Green Card holders, not part-time workers.
- Regional centers may count both direct and indirect jobs based on economic modeling of project spending, often relying heavily on these indirectly created positions.
- Direct EB-5 investments must show 10 actual W-2 hires backed by a Matter of Ho-compliant business plan, concrete evidence, and one investor per entity.
How are Jobs Determined for Regional Centers?
For regional centers, the concept of “indirect jobs” can be used. Regional centers can rely on direct jobs (full-time employees that work for the company as W-2 employees) or indirect jobs where the job creation analysis is driven by economic modeling.
For indirect jobs, an economist will review the project budget, construction expenditures, operating revenue and other inputs. They will use methodologies to estimate the jobs that are expected both related to the actual entity but also the surrounding environment.
Economic Modeling and Indirect Employment
For example, if the construction of a hotel will create a related dry cleaner, restaurants or gas stations in the area, these can all be used in the indirect employment assessment. As much as 90% of the jobs created can be through these indirect jobs. Indirect jobs usually make up the bulk of regional center job creation.
EB-5 Job Creation Requirement for Direct Investment
By contrast, for Direct EB-5 cases, the investor has to show the creation of 10 actual full-time W-2 jobs for U.S. Citizens or Green Card holders. USCIS states that direct jobs establish an employer-employee relationship between the new commercial enterprise and the persons it employs. As a result, direct cases usually require a much more concrete showing of how the business itself will hire the required workers.
Matter of Ho and the EB-5 Job Creation Requirement
As a result, EB-5 direct cases require a credible business plan and any other supporting evidence behind it. The standards are set out in a famous case (Matter of Ho) where the Courts indicated that the plan must be detailed and credible enough to allow USCIS to draw reasonable inferences about the business’s job-creation potential.
In practice, that means the petitioner should be prepared to show far more than general optimism. A strong filing may include hiring timelines, payroll projections, signed leases, vendor agreements, customer commitments, operating assumptions, and contracts that help demonstrate that the projected hiring is realistic rather than speculative. Payments made to vendors and suppliers is also helpful.
Hiring Timelines and Regulatory Compliance
While jobs do NOT have to be created until 2.5 years after the I-526 approval, we would also include data on people who have already been hired. It is important to use E-Verify to make sure that the applicants are U.S. citizens or green card holders.
Investor Limits per Entity
You should keep in mind also that for direct investment, only one investor can obtain a green card per entity. As such, each entity is looking at creating at least 10 jobs but the entity can not say create 20 jobs for 2 people who want green cards (the rules were changed in 2022).
Successfully Navigating the Path to Permanent Residency
Although both regional center and direct EB-5 cases must ultimately show the creation of 10 full-time jobs, the path to proving job creation is often different. Regional center cases often rely heavily on economists and indirect job methodologies, while direct cases usually require a detailed and credible business plan supported by evidence showing that actual hiring will occur.
To ensure your investment meets all USCIS standards, we invite you to download our free EB-5 guide, sign up for our upcoming free EB-5 webinar, or read our EB-5 articles for further insights. Alternatively if you are ready to discuss your specific case, please schedule a consultation with our attorneys today.
