USAEB-5.
For investors making a major US investment.
- You invest $800,000 in a targeted area, or $1.05 million otherwise.
- The capital has to be lawfully sourced and genuinely at risk.
- The investment must create at least 10 full-time US jobs.
What is the EB-5 green card?
The EB-5 is a US employment-based fifth-preference green card for immigrant investors. The applicant invests $1.05 million - or $800,000 in a targeted employment area - in a US business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs, and self-petitions for permanent residence. No employer or job offer is needed.
How much do you have to invest for an EB-5?
The EB-5 minimum is $800,000 if the investment is in a targeted employment area - a rural area, or one with high unemployment - and $1.05 million otherwise. The capital must be lawfully sourced and put genuinely at risk in the business.
What is an EB-5 regional center?
A regional center is a USCIS-designated entity that pools EB-5 investments into larger projects. It lets an investor count indirect and induced jobs toward the 10-job requirement and invest passively, so most EB-5 investors use one rather than starting and running a business themselves.
Does the EB-5 lead to citizenship?
Yes. The EB-5 grants a green card - conditional for the first two years, then permanent once conditions are removed. After five years as a permanent resident, counting the conditional period, the investor can apply for US citizenship through naturalization.
A green cardyou invest in.
The EB-5 is the green card for investors. Instead of an employer sponsoring you or a record proving your talent, you put a large sum into a US business, create jobs for American workers, and petition for permanent residence yourself.
EB-5 isn't a fee you pay - it's capital you put genuinely at risk.
The big picture
Congress created the EB-5 in 1990 to draw foreign capital and jobs into the US economy. It's the fifth and last employment-based green card, and the only one based not on what you do, but on what you invest. The Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 overhauled it - adding oversight rules and reserving a slice of visas for rural and high-unemployment projects.
The deal is straightforward: invest the required capital in a new commercial enterprise, keep it genuinely at risk, and create at least ten full-time jobs for US workers. Most investors do this passively, through a regional center that pools money into a big project; others invest directly and run the business themselves. The essence is capital and jobs, not an employer or a résumé.
The reality
The part the brochures skip is that the hardest work isn't writing the check - it's proving where the money came from. Every dollar has to trace to a lawful source, year by year, account by account. That source-of-funds file, not the investment itself, is where most EB-5 cases are won or lost.
The other big decision is how you invest. A regional center lets you stay passive and count indirect jobs, which makes the ten-job target far easier - but you're trusting someone else's project, and your capital is genuinely at risk if it fails. Investing directly gives you control, but then your own business has to create all ten jobs. Either way, the money is committed for years, not months.
The payoff is a green card with no employer and no quota tied to a job - and through the set-aside projects, applicants from India and China can often skip the long backlog. The honest catch is the size and the risk: a large sum, at risk, for years, under rules that keep shifting. For someone with the capital and clean records, it's the most self-directed path there is.
Four common
EB-5 profiles.
The EB-5 fits anyone with the capital to invest and the records to prove where it came from. What every profile shares is the investment, the jobs it creates, and a clean source-of-funds story.
The Global Investor
A successful entrepreneur or investor abroad who wants US residence and a base for the family - mobility, options, a hedge - without depending on an employer or a job. EB-5 is the one green card that runs on capital alone.
The Parent Investing for the Kids
A family that invests so everyone gets a green card together - especially a teenager headed for a US university, who then pays in-state tuition and can work freely after graduating. One investment covers a spouse and children under 21.
The Hands-On Entrepreneur
Someone who invests in a business they'll actually run - a franchise, a manufacturer, a hospitality group - and creates the ten jobs on its own payroll. More work and more risk, but the company is theirs.
The Passive Investor
A high-net-worth individual who wants US residence without a job to hold or a business to run. They invest through a regional center, let its project create the jobs, and stay hands-off while the case processes.
These are common EB-5 profiles, not the only ones. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 get green cards alongside you - one investment covers the whole family.
What the EB-5
Actually Asks For.
The EB-5 rests on three pillars: a qualifying investment, lawfully-sourced capital that's genuinely at risk, and the jobs that capital creates. There's no employer and no labor test - the money and the jobs do the qualifying.
01
A Qualifying Investment
EB-5 starts with the capital. You invest $1.05 million in a new US business, or $800,000 if it's in a targeted employment area - a rural area, or one with unemployment at least 150% of the national average. The money goes into a 'new commercial enterprise,' meaning any lawful for-profit business set up to operate and grow.
You can invest directly and run the business yourself, or through a regional center - a USCIS-approved entity that pools investors into a larger project. Most EB-5 investors go the regional-center route.
Common issues- A passive or speculative holding - like raw land or a personal residence - that isn’t a real operating business
- Counting money you have not yet invested or fully committed
- A targeted-area claim that doesn’t hold up to the rural or high-unemployment test
- Relying on a regional center or project that is later terminated
Good to know- The $800K and $1.05M amounts are scheduled to adjust for inflation in January 2027
- Regional-center investors can count indirect jobs; direct investors must create all ten themselves
- Filing on or before September 30, 2026 carries grandfathering protection if the program lapses in 2027
02
Capital From a Lawful Source
This is the heart of an EB-5 case. You have to prove that every dollar you invest was earned lawfully, and trace its path from the source into the business. USCIS wants both the story and the paper trail: salary, business profits, the sale of property, a gift, or an inheritance - each one documented and followed account to account.
Gifted or loaned funds are fine, but then the giver's or lender's source has to be proven too. The standard is 'more likely than not,' yet gaps in the trail are the most common reason EB-5 petitions stall.
Common issues- Unexplained gaps in the path from source to investment
- A gift or loan whose giver’s lawful source isn’t separately documented
- Large deposits or currency conversions with no supporting records
- Missing tax returns or untranslated foreign documents
Not there yet?- Gather five to seven years of personal and business tax returns, in every jurisdiction
- Trace each transfer with bank, brokerage, and currency-exchange records, account to account
- For gifted or loaned funds, document the giver’s or lender’s lawful source too
- Get certified translations of every foreign-language document
03
Capital Genuinely At Risk
The investment has to be genuinely at risk - real exposure to profit and loss, with no guaranteed return and no promise to buy your stake back on demand. The full amount has to be committed and working in the business, not parked or held in reserve.
Under the 2022 rules, the capital must stay invested and at risk for at least two years. A guaranteed return, a redemption right, or a loan secured by the business's own assets all break the at-risk requirement.
Common issues- A guaranteed return or a promised buy-back, which defeats “at risk”
- Capital sitting in escrow or reserve instead of working in the business
- Debt secured by the enterprise’s own assets rather than your personal assets
- Pulling the capital out before the two-year sustainment period is met
Good to know- A discretionary buy-back the business may choose to offer is fine; a guaranteed one is not
- The 2022 rules set the sustainment period at two years, shorter than the old open-ended rule
- Escrow is allowed if release is tied only to petition approval and your admission
04
Ten Full-Time US Jobs
Each EB-5 investment has to create at least ten full-time jobs for US workers - 35+ hours a week, and not counting you, your spouse, or your children. You have roughly the two years of conditional residence to create them.
Through a regional center, you can count indirect and induced jobs - those an economic model attributes to the project, not just direct payroll - which makes the ten far easier to hit. A direct investment has to create all ten on its own payroll.
Common issues- Part-time, seasonal, or contractor roles, which don’t count toward the ten
- Counting yourself or family members as employees
- A direct investment whose business simply doesn’t reach ten jobs
- A regional-center economic model the evidence can’t support
Good to know- Indirect/induced jobs (regional center only) are counted through an accepted economic methodology
- Jobs only have to be proven at the end, when you remove conditions - not up front
- A “troubled business” can qualify by preserving existing jobs instead of creating new ones
imigOS
Not sure which requirements you meet? Get a structured assessment before your first attorney call.
What you get,
what you risk.
The EB-5 is the green card you fund yourself - no employer, no quota tied to a job, and through set-aside projects, often a shorter wait. The trade-offs are the size of the check, the risk that comes with it, and rules that keep changing.
- A green card with no employer, job offer, or labor test
- You self-petition, and one investment covers your whole family
- Set-aside projects can skip the backlog, even for India and China
- Open to any background - it’s about capital and jobs, not your field
- A path to permanent residence and, in time, citizenship
- It takes $800,000 to $1.05 million, genuinely at risk
- You can lose money if the project fails - it is a real investment
- Proving the source of your funds is demanding and document-heavy
- The first green card is conditional - you remove conditions after two years
- The rules keep shifting - fees, processing, and policy are all in flux
Upwing the strengths that ring true, downwing the limitations that hit hardest.
The full EB-5 process,
step by step.
An EB-5 runs in two big phases: getting the conditional green card, then removing the conditions two years later once the jobs and investment are proven. Building the source-of-funds case is where most of the upfront work goes.
Eligibility check
You start with a quick eligibility test on the platform - a few questions about the capital you have, where it came from, and your timeline. Based on your answers, you connect with an expert for a first call to confirm EB-5 is realistic before any work begins.
Strategy and project selection
You connect with a licensed attorney and the case begins. Together you decide direct versus regional center, and - if regional center - choose a project, ideally a set-aside one if you're from a backlogged country. You also map out the source-of-funds work ahead.
Building the source-of-funds case
This is the heart of the work. Your attorney helps you assemble years of tax returns, bank and brokerage records, and proof for any gifts or loans, then traces every dollar from its lawful source into the investment. A thorough, well-documented file here is what carries the petition.
Investing and filing the petition
You make the investment - usually into escrow tied to approval - and your attorney files the investor petition (Form I-526E for a regional center). If a visa is available, which the set-aside categories often are, you may file the green card application at the same time, with work and travel permits.
Conditional green card
Once the petition is approved and a visa number is available, you and your family become permanent residents - on a conditional, two-year green card. The clock now runs on the jobs and the investment: both have to be in place by the time you remove conditions.
Removing the conditions
In the 90 days before your two-year card expires, your attorney files Form I-829 to remove the conditions - proving the capital stayed at risk and the ten jobs were created. Approval makes you and your family permanent residents with no conditions.
Permanent residence and beyond
With conditions removed, you hold a ten-year, renewable green card. The two conditional years count toward citizenship, so after five years as a permanent resident you can apply to naturalize if you choose.
imigOS
Every step of the file tracked in one place. You always know what has been submitted, what is under USCIS review, and what your attorney needs from you or your foreign HR contact next.
Why strong cases
still stumble.
EB-5 setbacks usually aren't about the money being there - they're about proving where it came from, keeping it genuinely at risk, and the project actually creating the jobs.
“USCIS isn't asking whether you can afford it - it's asking whether the money was earned lawfully, stayed at risk, and built the jobs it promised.”
The single most common EB-5 problem. If the paper trail can't follow every dollar from a lawful source into the investment - a missing tax year, an undocumented gift, an unexplained deposit - USCIS issues a request for evidence or denies. This is where cases live or die.
Build the source-of-funds file early and exhaustively, tracing each dollar account to account, with the giver's source proven for any gift.
A guaranteed return, a promise to buy your stake back, capital sitting in reserve instead of working, or debt secured by the business's own assets - any of these breaks the 'at risk' requirement, no matter how much you invested.
Make sure the deal has real exposure to profit and loss, and that the full amount is committed and working for the full two years.
The conditions come off only if the investment created the ten full-time jobs. A direct business that falls short, or a regional-center project that stalls or whose economic model the evidence can't support, leaves the I-829 exposed - years after the money went in.
Vet the project's job-creation plan before investing, and for direct cases, build the business around clearing ten full-time roles.
An EB-5 leans on records spread across years, banks, and countries - tax filings, transfers, project documents, payroll. Cases stall in the back-and-forth: a statement is missing, a translation isn't done, a project document is slow to arrive. None of it is about whether you qualify.
Gathering records early and coordinating cleanly between you, the project, and your attorney is the part most in your control.
imigOS
A strong EB-5 case can still slip on the basics - a document that never made it in, a letter that needed one more revision, a deadline that quietly passed. On imigOS, every document is prepared, tracked, and revised in one place, with deadlines flagged before they pass. The file an officer finally opens is complete and consistent - no gaps, no stale versions.
EB-5 vs EB-1A vs EB-2 NIW vs EB-1C.
EB-5 is the only green card based on investment rather than work. EB-1A and the NIW self-petition on the strength of your record; EB-1C is for managers a multinational transfers. If you have the capital, EB-5 asks the least about your career.
Overview only. Your eligibility depends on the specifics. This reflects general policy as of May 2026, and EB-5's rules and fees are unusually in flux right now. Compare carefully, and verify the current position before committing capital.
Green card now,
citizenship later.
An EB-5 makes you a lawful permanent resident - conditional at first, then permanent once you remove the conditions. From there, citizenship is an option many take, usually about five years on.
Naturalization is how a green card holder becomes a US citizen. You're eligible after five years of permanent residence - and the two conditional years count - as long as you've kept continuous residence, met the physical-presence minimum, held good moral character, and can pass a basic English and civics test.
The five-year clock starts.
Your conditional green card begins the countdown - the two conditional years count toward citizenship. You keep the clock running by holding your green card and keeping your main home in the US.
Remove conditions, then file to naturalize.
After the I-829 lifts the conditions, you hold a permanent green card. At the five-year mark you file Form N-400, give biometrics, and document your residence, travel, taxes, and good moral character.
Interview and the civics test.
An officer reviews everything with you and gives the English and civics test - reading, writing, and speaking, plus US history and government. The full question set and free study materials are published in advance.
Take the Oath.
After approval, you take the Oath of Allegiance at a ceremony and become a US citizen - and a US passport, the vote, and easier family sponsorship open up.
Questions,
answered.
The EB-5 is a US employment-based fifth-preference green card for immigrant investors. You invest $1.05 million - or $800,000 in a targeted employment area - in a US business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs, and self-petition for permanent residence. No employer or job offer is required.
The EB-5 minimum is $800,000 if the investment is in a targeted employment area - a rural area or one with high unemployment - and $1.05 million otherwise. The capital must be lawfully sourced and genuinely at risk. These amounts are scheduled to adjust for inflation in January 2027.
A regional center is a USCIS-designated entity that pools EB-5 investments into larger projects. It lets investors count indirect and induced jobs toward the 10-job requirement and invest passively. Most EB-5 investors use one; the alternative is a direct investment in a business you run yourself.
Often, yes. The 2022 reforms reserved EB-5 visas for rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure projects, and those set-aside categories have been current for every country, including India and China - letting investors there avoid the long employment-based waits. Demand is rising, so this may not last.
No - the EB-5 requires the capital to be genuinely at risk, with no guaranteed return, so the money can be lost if the project fails. Choosing the project and vetting its job-creation plan carefully matters as much as the immigration paperwork. It is a real investment, not a fee.
Building the source-of-funds case and filing takes several months. The investor petition then takes from about a year (rural set-aside, prioritized) to several years. After approval comes a two-year conditional green card, then Form I-829 to remove conditions before it becomes permanent.
Yes. The EB-5 grants permanent residence - conditional for two years, then permanent. After five years as a permanent resident, counting the conditional period, you can apply for US citizenship through naturalization. The full path is mapped out in the Citizenship section above.
INA §203(b)(5) · 8 CFR §204.6 · EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 · USCIS Policy Manual vol. 6 pt. G
This page contains general information for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Imigos Inc. Immigration laws, policies, and fees change frequently, and the information here may not reflect the most current legal developments. You should not act or refrain from acting based on this information without seeking professional counsel from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. Imigos Inc. expressly disclaims all liability for actions taken or not taken based on any of its contents.
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