IN THIS GUIDE · Two part-time roles counted as one qualifying job at a hypothetical United States project, reviewed for Blainville readers
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
What "qualifying" means in the statute
The full-time employment definition requires a position of at least 35 working hours per week. Two or more qualifying employees can share one genuine full-time position when that requirement is met. Combining unrelated part-time positions is different and does not satisfy the definition merely by adding hours. Identify the project’s permitted direct or regional-center methodology before accepting its ten-job-per-investor claim. Hypothetical example: A modular-furniture repair project lists three employees who each work short shifts, then labels their combined hours a single job. The reader must determine whether the arrangement is a qualifying shared full-time position or merely separate part-time work.
Hours on payroll, not titles on an org chart
A job is evidenced by hours actually worked and paid, recorded in payroll systems, tax filings and time records. Titles such as "manager" or "full-time associate" prove nothing on their own, and neither does a headcount slide. Ask which specific positions the project intends to claim, then ask for the underlying hours for those positions across the relevant period, rather than accepting a summary total. Request the payroll register, wage filings, timekeeping records, and the job descriptions for the positions claimed. Read the same employee across those records; a number in a memorandum cannot repair hours missing from payroll evidence.
Who cannot be counted
The investor, the investor's spouse and the investor's children are excluded from the qualifying count. That exclusion is specific: it is not a blanket rule against every relative, and a cousin or a sibling on payroll is analysed on the ordinary criteria like anyone else. If a project's list includes any excluded person, the remaining count must still stand on its own before the case relies on it. Identify the job-creation method before accepting an economic report or a staffing chart. The decision changes which jobs may be counted and what documentation the investor must preserve for the later conditional-residence filing.
What the payroll budget has to support
Compare the project's payroll budget with the roles it intends to claim. If the budget funds a set of short shifts, the plan cannot describe the same work as a full-time position and expect the record to follow. A business plan alone does not create eligibility or deadlines. The useful step is aligning budgeted hours, offered positions and the evidence the case will eventually have to produce. Place the capital-transfer trail beside the operating budget and hiring schedule. When the timing of funding and staffing diverges, ask what document explains the difference instead of filling the gap with an optimistic projection.
Lawful source and lawful path both close
Lawful source and path, at-risk investment, applicable sustainment and management or policy participation are required; qualifying limited-partner rights may satisfy participation without daily management.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.