As an example, if a project (within a Targeted Employment Area) costs $50 million to construct, and it takes in $5 million of EB-5 capital, does it need to create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs for the I-829s to be approved? Or only 100 jobs? Does EB-5 capital get credit for all the jobs created in a project, or just the portion of the project that was funded with EB-5 capital?
The required number of jobs depends on the number of investors who are seeking the immigration benefits. If you only have 10 investors, you just need to create 100 jobs. The capital from other sources can also be used to create jobs, and all the jobs created will be allocated only to the EB-5 investors.
EB-5 investors can get credit for all of the jobs created by the new commercial enterprise. You should consult with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney, such as myself, who can advise you on the details.
100 jobs need to be created.
The required number of jobs to be created for the EB-5 program is based on the number of EB-5 investors. That is, 10 EB-5 investors need to create at least 100 jobs. Calculating those jobs with an economic model considers the expenditures made to develop the project in certain industrial categories. We work closely with qualified EB-5 economists to ensure compliance with EB-5 rules and regulations.
The first step is to retain an experienced EB-5 attorney and economist who can assist you in calculating the required number of jobs for your project. For each investor, ten full-time jobs will have to be created in a direct EB-5 project. In a regional center EB-5 project, the economist will use accepted methodologies to show how the required jobs are calculated indirectly.
In the presented scenario, you would only need 100 jobs (10 jobs for each of the 10 investors investing $500,000 into the project). You can, however, count all EB-5 eligible expenditures associated with the whole project; therefore, all jobs created by the project. It is unlikely that all $50 million in expended costs could be counted; however, it is certainly likely that more than $5 million of expenditures could be counted.
The investors will get credit for all the jobs the project creates. As such, in your example, the project need only show 100 jobs have been created.
