What are the job creation requirements for the EB-5 Visa?

The job creation requirements vary depending on if the EB-5 project is a standard EB-5 project or if it is a EB-5 Regional Center (Pilot) Program.

In both scenarios it is basically the responsibility of the EB-5 Project to demonstrate that the “project” has directly created or sustained at least 10 Full-Time jobs for each foreign investor that has entered the program.  These jobs must be for lawful U.S. residents and citizens.  However if the project is designated as a Regional Center then the jobs can also have been “indirectly” created which means they may have been created at an unrelated entity as a result of this new business being formed.  The standard investment into an EB-5 program is USD $1,000,000 however the investment into a Regional Center project is only USD$500,000.

A Full-Time job is defined as one that requires a minimum of 35 hours per week to fulfill.  Job sharing is permissible as long as the weekly and hourly commitment is met.  However the EB-5 program guidelines do not permit Part-Time positions to be combined in effort to create one Full-Time position.  Independent Contractors, spouse’s or children are not considered eligible to fulfill these positions.