How long do EB-5 direct investors have to create the required jobs?

You may have to have someone in the United States starting operations before you make your entry as a conditional permanent resident, so that business can begin and employees can be hired.

An investor has to create at least 10 full time jobs within two years (and in certain situations within a reasonable period after the two years) upon entry/admission to the United States as a conditional permanent resident. While the consular processing time varies from country to country, generally it has no effect on the period of time an investor must create the required number of jobs upon admission.

Investors with a long consular processing time actually have an expanded time to create the jobs. The I-526 business plan must show that it is more likely than not that the required jobs will be created within 30 months of the I-526 approval. This is the current USCIS policy in order to get an approved I-526 petition. The legal/regulatory requirement for removal of condition is that the jobs actually are created within two years of obtaining conditional permanent residency or within a reasonable period of time after that (probably not to exceed one year). Therefore, the two year conditional time period to create the jobs starts after the consular processing has been completed and the investor enters the United States as a conditional permanent resident.

The best time to have all jobs in place is when you file the I-829.

The rule is currently 30 months. With current waiting lines of 26+ months for Chinese nationals, USCIS will have to recalibrate its 30 months job creation "rule."

Your time with respect to job creation begins at the time of the granting of your conditional residence - which is after you enter the United States as a conditional permanent resident.