EB-5 Business Plans for Direct and Regional Center Investors

EB-5 is an employment-based immigrant visa category for qualifying investors who invest lawfully obtained capital in a new commercial enterprise that creates the required U.S. employment. Unlike temporary investor classifications, EB-5 can provide a pathway to conditional permanent residence and, after the applicable requirements are satisfied, removal of conditions. Eligibility depends on the investment, enterprise, job-creation methodology, source and path of funds, visa availability, and other case-specific evidence.

For petitions governed by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, the current minimum is generally $1,050,000. The reduced amount is generally $800,000 when the investment is made in a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project. These statutory amounts are scheduled for adjustment beginning January 1, 2027 and every five years afterward, so the applicable amount should always be confirmed at the time of investment and filing.

A targeted employment area, commonly called a TEA, is generally a qualifying rural area or high-unemployment area under the EB-5 rules. A qualifying investment in a TEA may use the reduced investment threshold. Rural, high-unemployment, and qualifying infrastructure investments may also fall within reserved visa categories, but the classification and documentation must satisfy the definitions and procedures applicable when the petition is filed.

Each EB-5 investor must generally be credited with creating at least 10 qualifying full-time positions for U.S. workers. Full-time employment ordinarily means at least 35 working hours per week. The acceptable job-creation methodology depends on whether the investor uses a standalone investment or an approved regional center project. A business plan should ensure that its staffing assumptions, payroll costs, implementation schedule, and financial forecast support the job-creation strategy used in the petition.

A standalone investor generally relies on qualifying jobs created directly by the new commercial enterprise. A regional center investor participates through a USCIS-designated regional center structure and may rely on qualifying direct and indirect job creation supported by an accepted economic methodology. Standalone investors generally file Form I-526, while regional center investors generally file Form I-526E. The correct structure should be evaluated with qualified immigration, securities, tax, and business professionals.

A new commercial enterprise is a qualifying for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business. Depending on the governing rules, it may involve the creation of a new enterprise, investment in an existing qualifying enterprise, or an eligible restructuring or expansion. Merely purchasing and holding a passive asset without a qualifying commercial enterprise and employment-creation structure generally does not establish EB-5 eligibility.

The investor must place the required capital at risk for the purpose of generating a return. The investment cannot be protected by an impermissible guaranteed repayment, guaranteed return, or redemption arrangement that removes the investor’s risk of loss. At-risk does not mean that a business must be unnecessarily speculative; it means the investment must be genuinely committed to the qualifying enterprise under arrangements consistent with EB-5 requirements.

The investor must demonstrate that the invested capital was obtained through lawful means and trace how it moved from its source into the EB-5 investment. Evidence may involve employment earnings, business income, property sales, gifts, inheritance, qualifying loans, bank records, tax documents, contracts, and transfer records. The business plan can explain deployment of the capital, but it does not replace the financial documentation needed to establish lawful source and path of funds.

A comprehensive EB-5 business plan normally covers the enterprise, ownership and investment structure, products or services, market and competitive analysis, capital expenditures, use of funds, operating model, management, marketing, implementation milestones, staffing, job descriptions, hiring schedule, required permits and licenses, and detailed financial projections. Its assumptions should be credible, internally consistent, and supported by available evidence rather than presented as unsupported estimates or guaranteed results.

“Matter of Ho-compliant” is commonly used to describe an EB-5 plan that is comprehensive and credible under principles discussed in the precedent decision Matter of Ho. The plan should describe the business, market, permits where relevant, staffing, job descriptions, hiring timetable, financial projections, and the basis for those projections. The phrase is not a USCIS certification, and no writer can guarantee that a plan or petition will be approved.

An investment involving an existing business may potentially qualify, but simply purchasing an operating company does not automatically create the employment required for EB-5. The petition must establish a qualifying new commercial enterprise and a compliant job-creation strategy under the rules applicable to the transaction. A plan for an acquisition should distinguish existing employment from qualifying new jobs and document the post-acquisition investment, expansion, operating strategy, and hiring schedule.

Job creation must occur within the period allowed under the EB-5 framework. For a newly established standalone business that has not yet created all required positions, the petition generally needs a credible plan showing that the jobs will be created within the applicable period. The timing analysis can vary with the filing date, project structure, conditional residence process, and governing USCIS guidance, so the hiring timeline should be coordinated with immigration counsel.

Petition approval does not by itself issue permanent residence. When an immigrant visa is available, the investor may proceed through adjustment of status in the United States or immigrant visa processing abroad, as applicable. The investor and qualifying derivatives initially receive conditional permanent residence. The investor later files Form I-829 to request removal of conditions and must demonstrate compliance with the applicable investment and job-creation requirements.

A qualifying spouse and unmarried children under 21 may generally immigrate as derivative beneficiaries, subject to visa availability and other eligibility requirements. Questions involving a child approaching age 21 should be reviewed promptly with immigration counsel because priority dates, petition processing, visa availability, and the Child Status Protection Act can affect whether the child remains eligible as a derivative.

Yes. We can coordinate with immigration counsel, economists, regional center teams, project developers, accountants, and other professionals. Mikel Consulting focuses on the business plan, market analysis, operating narrative, capital deployment, staffing schedule, and financial forecast. Immigration counsel remains responsible for legal advice, petition strategy, source-of-funds analysis, forms, filing requirements, and the final legal submission.

Our EB-5 business plans start at $3,000 USD. Plans are typically 35–45 pages and generally completed within 7 business days after all required project, investment, operating, market, staffing, and financial information is received. The service includes unlimited revisions within the original agreed scope for factual corrections, professional feedback, attorney comments, and final refinement.

Plans for complex regional center or multi-entity engagements typically range from $3,000 to $5,000 USD, with the scope and quotation confirmed after the intro call.

Your immigration attorney leads the response to a Request for Evidence (RFE). If the RFE questions the business plan’s job-creation assumptions, market evidence, hiring timetable, or financial projections, we provide clarification and plan revisions within the original agreed scope. We can also prepare a supplemental summary for your attorney to review and include in the response.

Business-plan RFE support within the original scope is included. Major project changes or work requiring a substantial rebuild are quoted separately. Your attorney remains responsible for the formal response and submission to USCIS.

For a direct investment, the business plan documents the direct-job strategy, so a separate economic impact report is usually not needed. Regional center projects that count indirect or induced jobs need a separate economist’s report using an accepted methodology, often an input-output model such as RIMS II or IMPLAN.

The economic impact report is separate from the business plan and is not included in the base package. We coordinate with your project’s economist so the business plan and report use consistent figures, assumptions, and implementation timelines.

Mitch Fillman, our EB-5 lead writer, leads your plan and has prepared 10+ EB-5 business plans since 2017. Every plan is written in-house, with a second consultant review by Kelin Ainsworth for consistency with the financial model.

You speak with your writer directly, and your immigration attorney can send comments directly to them so the business plan remains coordinated with the petition strategy and supporting evidence.

An E-2 business plan supports a renewable nonimmigrant visa for eligible treaty-country nationals. There is no fixed minimum investment, but the investment must be substantial and the business must be more than marginal.

An EB-5 business plan supports an immigrant investor petition. The current minimum investment is generally $1,050,000, or $800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project, and the investment must generally create at least 10 qualifying full-time U.S. jobs. Our EB-5 plans address Matter of Ho principles and include a detailed hiring timetable and five-year financial projections.

We prepare both types of plans. See our E-2 Visa Business Plans for more information.