EB-5 Jobs Creation

In developing the EB-5 Program, Congress intended to promote the immigration of people who invest capital into our nation’s economy and help create jobs for U.S. workers. The creation of jobs for U.S. workers is a critical element of the EB-5 Program.

It is not enough that the immigrant invest funds into the U.S. economy; the investment must result in the creation of jobs for qualifying employees. As discussed fully below, the EB-5 Program provides that each investment of the required amount of capital in a new commercial enterprise must result in the creation of at least ten jobs.

It is important to recognize that while the immigrant’s investment must result in the creation of jobs for qualifying employees, it is the new commercial enterprise that creates the jobs. This distinction is best illustrated in the non-regional center context by an example:

Ten immigrant investors seek to establish a hotel as their new commercial enterprise. The establishment of the new hotel requires capital to pay financing costs to unrelated third parties, purchasing the land, developing the plans, obtaining the licenses, building the structure, taking care of the grounds, staffing the hotel, and the many other types of expenses involved in the development and operation of a new hotel. The immigrant’s investments can go to pay part or all of any of these expenses. Each immigrant’s investment of the required amount of capital helps the new commercial enterprise – the new hotel – create ten jobs. The ten immigrants’ investments must result in the new hotel’s creation of 100 jobs for qualifying employees (ten jobs resulting per each individual immigrant’s capital investment).

It is also important to note that the full amount of the immigrant’s investment must be made available to the business(es) most closely responsible for creating the jobs upon which EB-5 eligibility is based. Thus, in the regional center context, if the new commercial enterprise is not the job-creating entity, then the full amount of the capital must be first invested in the new commercial enterprise and then placed into the job-creating entity.

Taken directly from USCIS’ EB-5 Adjudications Policy Memorandum posted on February 14, 2013.