How does USCIS count job creation for different EB-5 investors involved in the same project?

The bulk of job count duty is handled by the regional center. Generally, the job count is multifaceted. It involves the counting of jobs created by all entities/contractors involved in a project together and counts all the full-time jobs created by the projects. Also, all investors on a particular project are grouped together as their partnership required. Typically, the regional center will file for the I-829 essentially in a first-in, first-out manner. There is no need for one investor to wait for other investors before filing for I-829.

USCIS adjudicates I-829 petitions based on the date of filing. If the EB-5 project has not created enough jobs for all of the EB-5 investors, then USCIS will not approve the I-829 petition of an EB-5 investor who files later in time.

Depends on the agreement, but in most cases first in, first out.

Your project documentation may have specific terms how jobs are allocated; otherwise, it is in the order of filing. If the project has enough cushion for the creation of jobs for all EB-5 investors, this should not create any issues for you.

USCIS typically will look to job creation on a first-in, first-out basis, unless the documents dictate a different job-allocation approach.

Usually it is in order of filing, but this can be regulated by contract and agreement. Look at the documents and check with the regional center.

With respect to the same EB-5 project, the jobs would be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. So if this was a direct EB-5 investment opportunity, there were four investors and the job created 40 jobs, then the first four investors would be allocated the jobs in the order that the petitions are adjudicated. Thus, in theory, the fifth investor''s petition would be denied.

This is an interesting question that shows the common conflict between the business side and immigration side of an EB-5 process. USCIS will consider compliance with the laws and policies at the time of filing the I-829, meaning you will have to show jobs were created. The project may have its own method of distributing those jobs among its investors. Please consult an immigration attorney who can review the project documents with you.

Most use FIFO.

If there are more than enough jobs for all the investors with some to spare, then this should not be an issue. However, if the job projections were overly optimistic and not enough are created, then first in and first out may have to considered. USCIS will ask how many jobs were created at the time of your adjudication based on the number of cases filed in the project. This clearly is not an ideal situation, as this will obviously delay adjudication through RFE and it is not assured that USCIS will apply first in, first out accounting.