Read the general immigrant investor briefing overview
A Varennes investor considering a family-run U.S. business needs a job analysis that distinguishes paid work from EB-5 qualifying employment. A useful payroll total is not automatically the required immigration job total. A first review should produce a job chart identifying every worker, hours, relationship to the investor, immigration status, and the method by which the position is claimed. It should separately identify capital at risk, the lawful source and path, and the later conditional-residence process. The investor must decide whether the staffing model can support EB-5 before treating Gold Card as a substitute.
Identify excluded workers without rewriting their employment history
The EB-5 qualifying-employee definition excludes the investor, the investor’s spouse, sons and daughters, and nonimmigrants. Keep their actual work in the business records, but do not count them merely because they receive wages. Assess other positions and workers under the applicable direct or regional-center method; ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor remain required, without double allocation of the same jobs. Keep payroll records for all workers, while marking those that cannot be counted for the EB-5 calculation. Hypothetical example: a vacuum-formed medical-tray production plant employs the investor, two adult children, and ten unrelated full-time workers. The review separates family positions from qualifying jobs. The decision is whether the documented qualifying positions meet the required count without double allocation.
Test the investment independently of the family staffing plan
EB-5 also requires lawful source and path, capital at risk and management or policy participation. Current capital thresholds are US$1.05 million or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted-employment-area or infrastructure cases, with statutory adjustments from January 1, 2027 according to petition-filing-date rules. Approval of the petition does not establish residence: immigrant-visa admission or adjustment approval begins conditional residence, and removal of conditions is a later process.
Compare the government-gift route using a different checklist
Gold Card does not turn family payroll into an EB-5 job substitute. Its gift to the U.S. government follows successful vetting and instructions: currently US$1 million individually or US$2 million for a corporate-sponsored employee, plus US$15,000 nonrefundable processing per person. EB-1 or EB-2 eligibility, admissibility and visa availability still apply. Check the linked official FAQ for joining-family charges and corporate terms; money given to the government is not equity in the family business expected to be returned.
What else is on your mind?
Does an EB-5 immigration review tell me whether an investment is good?Is the Gold Card another name for EB-5?Should I assume one Gold Card payment covers my family?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.