IN THIS GUIDE · Ten jobs counted the hard way, because a direct investment cannot borrow anyone else's methodology
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
The two capital figures, and the date on which they stop being these figures
The qualifying investment under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 is US$1,050,000, reduced to US$800,000 where the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business in a targeted employment area or is a qualifying infrastructure project. Statutory adjustment of both amounts begins on 1 January 2027, so the figure that governs is the one in force when the investment is actually made and the petition filed, not the one quoted in an article read a year earlier. For an investor whose capital arrives from a practice wind-up and an estate, both of which run to their own timetables, that adjustment date is a planning constraint rather than a footnote, and the current amounts should be verified against the official source before any transfer.
Ten jobs, and who is permitted to count what
The requirement is at least ten full-time positions for qualifying United States workers, created as a result of the investment. Direct investors count actual employees of the new commercial enterprise; the indirect and induced jobs produced by economic modelling are available in regional centre cases, which is a substantial part of why regional centres exist. Buying into an established distributor therefore raises the harder question first: is this a new commercial enterprise, has it been restructured or expanded such that new positions are created, or is it a troubled business where existing jobs may be preserved instead? Fourteen people already on the payroll are not, by themselves, ten new jobs, and Roseline needs to know which of those characterisations her transaction fits before she commits.
Lawful source and path when the money comes from a practice and an estate
Two separate chains have to be documented. The practice produces partnership accounts, the wind-up or buy-out agreement, several years of tax returns and financial statements, records of the capital she originally contributed, and the settlement statement showing what she actually received. The inheritance produces a different set: the will or grant of probate, the estate accounts, evidence of how her mother lawfully acquired the assets in question, and the transfer of the distribution into Roseline's own account. Both chains then converge into bank records tracing the money to the enterprise. Inherited funds are frequently assumed to need no explanation, and they are among the most commonly questioned sources precisely because the person who earned them is not available to explain.
Engagement in the enterprise, then two conditional years
A passive investor does not qualify. The investor must be engaged in the management of the new commercial enterprise, either through day-to-day managerial control or through policy formulation, and holding the rights ordinarily accorded to a limited partner or equivalent member is generally accepted for this purpose. A board seat with genuine policy responsibility fits comfortably; a share certificate and an annual report does not. If the petition succeeds and an immigrant visa or adjustment follows, permanent residence is granted conditionally for two years. Form I-829 is then generally filed within the ninety days before the second anniversary of obtaining that conditional residence, and it is at that stage that the job creation actually has to be proved.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.