IN THIS GUIDE · A direct investment where every job has to be a real payroll position
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Direct investments count direct jobs only
The distinction that matters most to the Ferreiras is that a new commercial enterprise not associated with a regional center must create the required employment directly, through positions in the enterprise itself, rather than relying on economic modelling of indirect and induced employment. A regional-center project can count jobs created elsewhere in the local economy through recognized methodologies; a family building its own greenhouse cannot. The requirement is at least ten full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers, and in a direct case those are people on a payroll with hours that can be evidenced. That single difference reshapes the business plan, because the venture now has to be designed around genuine headcount.
Full-time means hours, and seasonal work is a problem
A qualifying position is full-time employment, understood as a minimum number of hours per week, and two part-time positions arranged as a job share can satisfy the requirement while ordinary part-time or intermittent work cannot. Horticultural ventures often plan around peak-season labour, which is exactly the pattern that struggles here. The Ferreiras would need to show year-round positions rather than a headcount that swells for a harvest and collapses afterwards. Independent contractors are also not employees of the enterprise. Getting this right is a business-design question rather than a paperwork question, and it belongs at the start of planning rather than at the filing stage.
The capital, its origin and its path all have to be evidenced
The current qualifying capital is $1,050,000, or $800,000 for an investment in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project. The capital must be lawfully obtained and its path traced from origin to the enterprise, which for a farming family may mean documenting land sales, equipment disposals and business income across many years. It must be genuinely at risk in the enterprise rather than held in reserve, and administrative or professional expenses are treated separately from the qualifying capital.
The investor's role, the conditional period and the family
An EB-5 investor must be engaged in the enterprise through management or policy formulation. A successful petition leads to two years of conditional permanent residence, with Form I-829 filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary to remove the conditions and show that the investment and job requirements were met. A spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one may be included as derivatives, and a child's age calculation should be reviewed against current policy rather than a remembered rule.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.