IN THIS GUIDE · An initial EB-5 assessment connecting capital, job creation and the household immigration plan
Identify the investment structure before comparing projects
A standalone business and a regional-center investment do not present identical evidence questions. Identify who will manage the business, which entity receives the capital, and how the required jobs will be supported. Regional-center designation is not a government endorsement of an investment or a guarantee of immigration success. Request separate explanations of the immigration structure and the commercial risks so that a reassuring label does not substitute for an assessment. Ask for the immigration structure to be drawn on one page: the investor, the entity receiving the capital, the entity creating the jobs, and any intermediate vehicle. Then ask who prepared each document in the offering and who stands behind its numbers. A promoter, a project developer and an independent adviser are different roles, and confusing them is how a commercial risk comes to be treated as an immigration assurance.
Establish how much qualifying capital is available
As reviewed on September 7, 2026, the standard investment amount is US$1,050,000; US$800,000 applies to qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure investments. Statutory adjustments begin in 2027, so recheck amounts for later filings. The applicable amount depends on the investment classification, not the applicant’s Montréal address. Map lawful source, transfer path and access to the funds, including conditions affecting gifts, loans, sale proceeds or corporate distributions. Write the funding history as a sequence of dated events, then attach the record for each event before comparing projects. Capital must be at risk, which means the arrangement cannot include a promise returning the money on demand; a guaranteed buyback described in marketing material is worth asking about directly. Where funds are held in more than one currency, treat each conversion as its own event with its own supporting record.
Connect the business evidence to qualifying jobs
EB-5 generally requires at least ten qualifying full-time jobs per investor. How jobs may be demonstrated differs between standalone investments and eligible regional-center structures. The investor, spouse and children do not count toward those qualifying positions. Ask what assumptions support the job evidence, who monitors progress and how changes are documented. A projection that satisfies an immigration model still needs independent commercial scrutiny; neither job estimates nor projected returns guarantee results. Ask which jobs are already filled, which are forecast, and on what assumptions the forecast rests, then ask what happens to the immigration evidence if the forecast is missed. The requirement is generally at least ten qualifying full-time positions attributable to the investor, so the practical question becomes who tracks that count over time and how the investor receives the information. Get that reporting arrangement in writing before committing rather than afterwards.
Plan the immigration stages beyond the petition
An investor petition does not itself grant permission to live or work in the United States. Immigrant visa processing or eligible adjustment of status depends on the applicable requirements and visa availability. Residence obtained through EB-5 is initially conditional, with a later process to remove conditions. Review the family’s circumstances, the applicable chargeability rules and the evidence that must be retained after approval, rather than treating the first petition as the end of the case. Set the household's own milestones against the case stages so nobody confuses an approval with an arrival. Residence obtained through this route begins as conditional residence, and the process to remove those conditions comes later with its own evidence about the investment and the jobs. Keep the records supporting that later filing from the beginning, because reconstructing them years afterwards, once a project has changed hands, is considerably harder.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.