Standard: Minimum $1,050,000 investment in a new commercial enterprise.
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Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or Infrastructure Project: Minimum $800,000
investment if the business is in a TEA (rural or high-unemployment area) or a qualifying
infrastructure project.

The investment is required to be an “At-Risk” Investment in a US commercial enterprise.
There can be no guarantee on the return of investment to the investor as it would disqualify them from obtaining a permanent Green Card. This does not mean that the EB-5 investment must be unnecessarily risky. Risk can be mitigated in a multitude of ways by the deal structuring of the EB-5 Investment Offering.

The program allows foreign nationals to make a qualifying investment into a new or
existing US commercial enterprise that creates 10 US jobs to obtain a Green Card. EB-5 Investors and their families gain permanent residency to live and work anywhere in the United States. One EB-5
investment allows the main applicant, spouse, and any unwed children under the age of 21 to all obtain Green Cards.

Qualifying employee means a United States citizen, a lawfully admitted permanent resident, or other immigrant lawfully authorized to be employed in the United States including, but not limited to, a conditional resident, a temporary resident, an asylee, a refugee, or an alien remaining in the United States under suspension of deportation. This definition does not include the alien entrepreneur, the alien entrepreneur’s spouse, sons, or daughters, or any nonimmigrant alien. Non-immigrants do not count as qualifying employees. The job must be filled by legal U.S. workers who are not the investor or the investor’s immediate family.

Full-time employment means employment of a qualifying employee by the new commercial enterprise in a position that requires a minimum of 35 working hours per week. A job-sharing arrangement whereby two or more qualifying employees share a full-time position shall count as full-time employment provided the hourly requirement per week is met (2 employees can share 1 full-time position. This would count as 1 job).

It is during this 2-year period of conditional permanent residency that the 10 full-time jobs must be created – this is after the I-526 is approved AND after the applicant is in the U.S. on a temporary green card. This means that the jobs do not need to be created until about 3–4 years after filing your Form I-526.

The job must be “direct” – in other words, it must be an employee position in the enterprise that received a personal equity contribution from the EB-5 investor. Employees of affiliates, contractors, suppliers, borrowers, managers, and so on do not count, even if they work at the job site. Temporary positions (lasting less than two years) or intermittent positions do not count, though the job need not always be filled by the same employee. So long as it remains a filled or open position, the job counts as permanent and continuous. The job should be plausibly connected with the needs of the business and offer appropriate compensation.

The investment amount must come from a legal source.  We need to know where and how the investor is able to afford the investment going back 5 years (taxes, income statements, paystubs, etc.). The money can be gifted to you or you may borrow it as long as it is not collateralized against the investment.

The legal source of funds must be traceable. For example, if you're using money from a real estate sale you must be able to show purchase and sale documents along with funds entering one bank account and exiting another. Another example would be a gift from a family member; the investor must show the money being used as a gift was obtained legally and is traceable, meaning if your parent gives a child money we will need to show the money was obtained by the parent legally and show earnings through tax returns, etc. 

Any investor, whether direct or regional center, can satisfy the management requirement by (1) exercising day-to-day managerial responsibility, or (2) participating in policy formation. The second option can mean as little having the rights, powers, and duties normally granted to limited partners. A policy-formation role is significant and yet light enough that the EB-5 investor need not live near the business – fortunately, since the lengthy immigration process means that it may be years before the foreign investor could live near the business, even if she wants to be actively involved on a daily basis. Direct EB-5 investors must have their management or policy-making role in the job-creating business. 

Investment Amount: $800,000.00 plus any applicable Regional Center Fees 
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· You will need to find an acceptable Regional Center of your choosing, if you are unsure of which one to choose, we are able to connect you with investment advisors to help you make the appropriate choice.
· Applying through a Regional Center is a more passive approach compared to a Direct Investment application due to the fact that the Regional Center is responsible for job creation.  
· The applicant is still responsible for sourcing and tracing of funds.