How does the regional center decide who gets the job credit?

Most EB-5 offerings will have a job allocation procedure. Often, it is a first in/first out procedure where the first investors will get the first jobs. One of the risks in an EB-5 investment is that all of the jobs may not be created, but your immigration attorney should be able to review a project for the likelihood of job creation.

There should never be a catch as catch can system of job allocation. Prior to investing, you should have the regional center lay out exactly where the jobs will be provided.

Most regional centers have language in their agreements about job allocation. Typically, this is done by allocating job creation in the order of I-829 petition filing.

You should look for projects that have a job creation cushion to ensure all investors in the project get job credit. It is highly recommended that you hire an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney and do not subscribe to a project until all offering documentation has been reviewed for you.

The regional center project based upon the first I-526 petition or its exemplary, should have established that it is creating a sufficient number of jobs directly or indirectly for all potential investors. If there was a shortage, it would most logically impact the last investors rather than the first investors, since the first investors would logically have their petitions approved earlier in the process and it would be the last investors who would be filing later in the process not only their I-526 petitions, but their I-829 petitions for removal of conditional status. Those last investors could possibly be adversely affected by the lack of sufficient jobs.

Before deciding on the project/regional center to invest your money in as an EB-5 immigrant investor, you need to have your attorney check to make sure there is a job allocation schedule clearly detailing how the created jobs are allocated to the investors, etc.

There are some instances where there are some jobs created, but not enough for all the investors. It is very important you study the materials of the regional center to make sure that there are more than enough jobs for all the investors.

You would want to ask the regional center if they have a job allocation agreement between the investors. This type of agreement is allowed by USCIS and typically says that jobs are allocated based on a "first in, first out" method. There are also other considerations to look for when selecting a project. Such as, there are projects where the jobs may have already been realized through a bridge financing method. To learn more, I suggest you consult with an EB-5 licensed specialist.

Usually it is by the order of the investment, or by the order of the I-526 filing, or order of I-526 approval.

They generally do, but your PPM should describe what the job allocation scheme is in the event not enough jobs are created. It is generally first-in, first-out unless funds have not been released.

The job allocation is determined by USCIS based on the order of adjudication of the I-829 petitions. In essence, if not enough jobs were created, the investors whose I-829s will be adjudicated first will receive the credit for the jobs created, and the rest will not be able to remove conditions. It is usually recommended to look for projects with at least a 30 percent job cushion.

Usually jobs are afforded in order of filing, so sometimes being the last to file is not good, unless there is a job cushion.