What occupations cannot be counted towards EB-5 job creation?

In a direct EB-5 project 10 full time jobs are required. In a regional center project indirect jobs are created and can be counted. The EB-5 investor, spouse and their minor children and their employment cannot be counted towards the job count. Also, two part time jobs cannot be joined to count towards one full time job.

The positions must be full-time permanent positions; they must be filled with qualifying U.S. workers who are not immediate family members of the investor. In your situation, USCIS will look very closely at your business plan to make sure that this is an active investment in a new commercial enterprise and not a passive investment, which does not qualify for EB-5 classification. If you are buying property and the majority of EB-5 funds is going into the property purchase, while you plan on paying 10 full-time employees minimum wage to "run the rental business," I think USCIS will have a problem with your business plan, not because the occupations cannot be counted, but because either the capital will not be considered fully at risk or because the business model is just too passive. You could discuss your business model with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney to see if there is a way to make it compliant with the EB-5 program requirements.

Yes, you are required to create 10 full-time (35 hrs per week) jobs. If your scenario contemplates using construction jobs, be careful, many of the occupations will not fulfill the requirement for the two years of your conditional permanent residence status.

In response to your question, the amount you are required to invest for EB-5 varies depending on whether you are investing in a "Targeted Employment Area" (meaning a rural area or an area with an unusually high level of unemployment) or somewhere else. If you are investing in a Targeted Employment Area, you only need to invest a minimum of U.S. $500,000. If you are investing somewhere else, then you will need to invest a minimum of U.S. $1 million. However much you invest, your investment must generate at least 10 qualifying jobs. In order to be counted for EB-5 purposes, a job must be "full-time" (meaning that it must require a minimum of 35 hours of work each week) and the job must be held by a U.S. citizen, a U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), an asylee, or a refugee. Jobs held by either temporary visitors to the United States (like H-1B visa holders) or undocumented immigrants do not count for EB-5 job creation purposes. There are no occupations that specifically cannot be counted towards your EB-5 job creation number, but you should be careful about construction jobs. According to USCIS rules, direct construction jobs can only be counted towards EB-5 job creation if construction will last for at least two years.

Generally, you are correct in that the investor&#39s money must result in direct job creation. It is not relevant what kind of jobs are created, but they must be full-time and clearly tied to the investment.

Yes, 10 full-time jobs for the duration of two years must be created by the investor&#39s investment, either $1 million or $500,000 in a TEA. The purchase of single family residential homes will not qualify for EB-5 even if the home is turned into long-term rental.

The jobs created for EB-5 purposes must be held by U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and these employees cannot be relatives of the petitioner. For a regional center project, where indirect and induced jobs are counted, proof of expenditures that correspond with the economic modeling become important.

The restriction is not the type of job, but how the job is created. Without a regional center, the investment would be considered a direct investment. Thus, 10 full-time jobs must be created directly from the $1 million investment.

The short answer is no; if the project qualifies and jobs will be created, they must be full-time permanent jobs.

With the direct EB-5, you must actually create 10+ jobs that your business will employ directly rather than relying on any induced or indirect jobs that such business may prompt around that business. Thus, the residential home that you will rent out will have a very hard time creating 10+ direct jobs. Also, a residential home purchase is a passive investment that does not qualify for EB-5.

For the EB-5 investment of $1 million or $500,000 in a TEA, you need to generate at least 10 full-time positions. The requirement is not on occupation, but it has to be full-time. I feel a property management servicing entity will find difficulties in justifying such requirement unless it is very large volume.

No, there is no specific occupation excluded from the job creation requirement.