EB-5 Visa Requirements 2025: Investment, Jobs & Process - EB5Investors.com
EB-5 Basics

EB-5 Visa Requirements: investment, job creation and business entities

Updated by Joe Barnett in May 2022

Foreign investors must meet specific regulatory and United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) requirements to obtain their green card through the EB-5 visa program. In general, the investor must meet capital investment amount requirements, job creation requirements, and ensure that the business receiving the investment qualifies for the EB-5 program, as specified under 8 C.F.R. § 204.6. EB-5 visa applicants, their spouse, and their children under 21 will obtain their permanent residency green card once all requirements have been successfully met and approved by the USCIS.

EB-5 Visa Requirements Summary

To qualify for an EB5 visa, applicants must:

  • Invest: $1,050,000 in a U.S. business or $800,000 in a TEA (rural areas, high-unemployment zones, or infrastructure projects).
  • Create Jobs: Generate 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers, sustained for at least two years.
  • Business Type: Invest in a for-profit U.S. enterprise.

 EB-5 Visa Investment 

 The EB-5 investment can take the form of cash, inventory, equipment, secured indebtedness, tangible property, or cash equivalents and is valuated based on U.S. dollar fair-market value.

EB-5 Job Creation Requirements

The USCIS requires that EB-5 investments result in the creation of 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. These jobs must be created within the two year period after the investor has received their conditional permanent residency. In some cases, the investor must be able to prove that their investment led to the creation of direct jobs for employees who work directly within the commercial entity that received the investment. However, the EB-5 investor may only have to show that 10 full-time indirect or induced jobs were created if the investment was made in a regional center. Indirect jobs are those created in businesses that supply goods or services to the EB-5 project. Induced jobs are jobs created within the greater community as a result of income being spent by EB-5 project employees.

EB-5 Business Entities

There are several types of business entities in which an EB-5 visa applicant can invest. In general, the applicants can invest directly in a new commercial enterprise or through a regional center. New commercial enterprises are lawful for-profit entities that can take one of many different business structures. Such business structures include corporations, limited or general partnerships, sole proprietorships, business trusts, or other privately or publicly owned business structures. All new commercial enterprises must have been established after November 29, 1990.

However, older commercial enterprises may qualify if the investment leads to a 40-percent increase in the number of employees or net worth, or if an older business is restructured to such a degree that a new commercial enterprise results. In addition to individual business enterprises, EB-5 visa applicants can also through Regional Center projects, which may be more advantageous because the investor will not have to independently set up the EB-5 projects.

Frequently Asked Questions 

 

Who Can Apply for an EB5 Visa? 

  • Any foreign national from any country (except those restricted by U.S. sanctions). 
  • Must be at least 18 years old (minors can apply, but a legal guardian usually manages the investment). 
  • Must prove the investment funds were lawfully obtained (income, business profits, real estate sales, inheritance, etc.). 
  • Can apply individually or through a Regional Center (a USCIS-approved entity that pools investor funds for larger projects). 

How Many EB-5 Visas Are Issued Annually? 

The EB-5 visa program has an annual cap of 10,000 visas, including investors and their dependents, meaning only 3,000–4,000 actual investors receive visas each year. Each country is limited to 7% of the total visas (around 700 per year), and exceeding this limit results in a visa backlog (retrogression), leading to longer wait times, especially for high-demand countries like China, India, and Vietnam. Unused visas are redistributed to applicants from other countries. The 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) reserved 32% of visas for investments in rural areas (20%), high-unemployment areas (10%), and infrastructure projects (2%). Countries with lower demand typically have shorter processing times. 

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