EB5 Business Plan

AAO precedent decision articulated the standards by which USCIS will review a business plan:

The plan should contain a market analysis, including the names of competing businesses and their relative strengths and weaknesses, a comparison of the competition’s products and pricing structures, and a description of the target market/prospective customers of the new commercial enterprise. The plan should list the required permits and licenses obtained. If applicable, it should describe the manufacturing or production process, the materials required, and the supply sources. The plan should detail any contracts executed for the supply of materials and/or the distribution of products. It should discuss the marketing strategy of the business, including pricing, advertising, and servicing. The plan should set forth the business’s organizational structure and its personnel’s experience. It should explain the business’s staffing requirements and contain a timetable for hiring, as well as job descriptions for all positions. It should contain sales, cost, and income projections and detail the bases therefore. Most importantly, the business plan must be credible.

USCIS will review the business plan in its totality to determine if it is more likely than not that the business plan is comprehensive and credible. A business plan is not required to contain all of the detailed elements described above, but the more details the business plan contains, the more likely it is that the plan will be considered comprehensive and credible.

Taken directly from U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s EB-5 Adjudications Policy Memorandum on May 30, 2013.