IN THIS GUIDE · What has to remain true through the two-year conditional period
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Approval leads to conditional status, not to a settled outcome
A successful investor and family receive permanent residence on a conditional basis for two years. A further petition then has to be filed to remove those conditions, and it asks whether what was promised actually happened: whether the required capital was invested and sustained, and whether the required employment was created. That is a different exercise from the first petition, which was largely about plans and about the lawful source of the money. Couples planning an EB-5 investment should understand from the outset that they are committing to a period of performance, and should ask what evidence will exist at the end of it. The capital path should be documented from its lawful origin through each account and transfer to the new commercial enterprise. An early evidence audit usually identifies missing records while they can still be requested from banks, purchasers, employers or tax advisers. It also separates a real contribution exposed to loss from a side promise that would undermine the required risk.
Sustainment means the money stays where it was put
Capital has to remain invested and at risk for the required period rather than being returned once a petition is approved. An investor who treats the initial approval as the end of the obligation, and who then repatriates funds or renegotiates a guaranteed return, undermines the later petition. Any arrangement that promises the return of capital on a fixed date deserves scrutiny for the same reason, because guaranteed capital is difficult to reconcile with a requirement that the money be at risk. Grzegorz and Marta should read the project's documents specifically for what they say about redemption and returns, and take advice on them. The job model deserves the same scrutiny as the funds model. It should identify which positions count, when they are expected to exist, and what payroll or economic evidence will later demonstrate the result. A business plan that merely repeats a job number without connecting it to revenue, construction or staffing assumptions leaves the investor unable to evaluate execution risk.
Residence and intent are practical questions, not just legal ones
Conditional permanent residence carries the ordinary expectations attached to permanent residence, and a couple intending to spend most of two years operating a business in Canada should discuss that openly with an adviser rather than assume it is compatible. Extended absences from the United States raise questions about whether residence is being maintained, and those questions arrive at inconvenient moments such as a return trip or a later application. The point is not that a Canadian business must be sold; it is that the pattern of living has consequences that should be planned for deliberately and reviewed by a licensed adviser. Conditional residence creates a document-retention project. Bank statements, invoices, payroll records, tax returns, project reports and proof of the investor’s sustained capital should be saved as the business operates. That approach is safer than asking a regional centre or operating company to recreate years of records when the condition-removal filing approaches.
The rest of the framework runs alongside
The qualifying capital is currently $1,050,000, or $800,000 for an investment in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project; re-verify those figures against official information before committing funds. Capital must be lawfully obtained with a documented path from source to enterprise. At least ten full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers must be created, with direct investments limited to jobs within the enterprise itself. The investor must be engaged in management or policy formulation. Approval leads to two years of conditional permanent residence, with Form I-829 filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary to remove conditions. A spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one may be included as derivatives. The EB-5 framework calls for eligible capital exposed to loss plus the required employment result; resulting residence begins on a conditional basis. The investor should ask when the project expects to create the required jobs and what evidence supports that expectation. Investment performance can vary, but the immigration analysis cannot ignore whether capital remained committed and the employment model was carried out.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.