IN THIS GUIDE · Where the ten jobs come from, and who is responsible for counting them
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Ask how the ten jobs are counted in this project
A direct investment must create ten full-time positions for qualifying workers in the enterprise itself, evidenced by payroll. A regional-centre investment may rely on an economic methodology that includes indirect and induced jobs generated by the project's spending and revenue. Those are different evidentiary worlds. Ask which one applies, ask to see the economic report, and ask what happens to the count if the project is built for less than budgeted or opens late.
Verify the targeted employment area rather than accepting the label
The lower capital amount depends on the project being in a qualifying area or being an infrastructure project, and that determination follows a defined process rather than a marketing description. Ask for the designation documentation and the date it was made, and confirm it still applies to this investment. An investor who commits the lower amount to a project that does not qualify has a capital problem that is difficult to fix later.
Read what the offering says about the money coming back
Capital has to be at risk. Any arrangement that guarantees repayment or gives the investor a right to demand the money back undermines that requirement. Read the subscription documents and the partnership agreement for redemption rights, guaranteed returns and reserves, and ask counsel whether anything in them looks like a promise of return of capital. Ask separately what the realistic commercial risk is, which is a different question with the same documents.
Establish where the bakery proceeds came from and where they went
Lawful source and path both have to be shown. For a business sale that means the purchase agreement, the closing statement, the lawyer's trust ledger, the corporate tax filings behind the value and the deposit into the couple's account, followed by every transfer from there to the project's account. Money that passed through a third party, a currency service or a family member's account needs its own explanation and its own documents.
From petition to conditional residence to removal of conditions
Identify the applicable standalone or regional-center method and evidence supporting the required qualifying jobs, generally ten. 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. Ask the operator for the hours-based roster before committing, decide whether the direct or regional-centre structure fits the actual workforce, and keep the two-year residence period and the removal petition on a calendar from the day residence is granted. A narrow exception permits a buyback option exercisable solely at the enterprise’s discretion; exercising it requires withdrawal of the petition unless the applicable sustainment and other requirements have been fulfilled. Direct jobs generally require at least 35 hours weekly and exclude contractors, nonimmigrants, the investor, spouse and sons or daughters.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.