The EB-5 Process: The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services require that EB-5 applicants not only invest a certain amount of capital in a regional center project or a risky new commercial enterprise, but that that regional center project or new commercial enterprise must create a minimum of 10 full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers in less than 2 years.
If those two requirements are fulfilled then the EB-5 investor may seek permanent legal residence in the U.S.
Understanding the EB-5 process: What are the types of jobs must the EB-5 project create to qualify?
This depends on whether the EB-5 investor has chosen to invest in a regional center project or a new commercial enterprise. If the EB-5 investor has chosen a new commercial enterprise, then that project must create what are called "direct jobs."
Direct Jobs:
- These jobs are created at the site of the project in which the EB-5 foreign investor invested his or her capital. These positions are permanent full-time, meaning at least 35 hours a week, for qualified U.S. workers, excluding the EB-5 investor and his or her family. Positions may also be "job shared," where qualifying employees share the hours of a single full-time position among themselves. Part-time employee positions, however, cannot be combined to count toward the requirements.
- If the EB-5 investor chooses to invest in a regional center project, more job creation options are available. Regional centers may count indirect and induced jobs as well as direct jobs. And in some instances the preservation of jobs.
Indirect Jobs:
- Indirect jobs are jobs created as a result of the capital invested by the EB-5 foreign investor. These jobs only qualify if the investment has been made through USCIS designated regional centers. These jobs are generally created in businesses that supply goods or services to the project the regional center creates.
Induced Jobs:
- Induced jobs may occur in the community where the EB-5 regional center project takes place when workers on the project spend money within the community, that spending can be attributed to the creation of induced jobs. It spurs the local economy and creates growth.
- Many foreign investors applying for the EB-5 choose to invest in a regional center project because unlike investing in a new commercial enterprise where investors must show direct job creation, investing in a regional center allows direct, indirect, and induced job creation, making it easier to fulfill the EB-5 application requirements set forth by the USCIS.