Investment of the required capital — $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project — in a new commercial enterprise, creation of at least ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers, lawful source and path of funds, and engagement in the enterprise through management or policy formulation. Approval leads to two-year conditional permanent residence.
The same statute applies whether or not a regional center is involved
A regional-center project changes how jobs are counted and how involved the investor must be, but every core requirement remains. The capital must be the full amount, at risk, contributed by the Okonjos themselves from lawful funds they can trace; the project's fees do not count toward it. Ten full-time jobs for qualifying workers must be created, and the regional center's economic model determines how indirect jobs are credited.
The investors must hold and exercise the rights of a limited partner or member under the enterprise documents. After conditional residence is granted, they must file Form I-829 within the ninety days before the second anniversary to show the investment was sustained and the jobs created. Derivatives include the spouse and unmarried children under 21, with age protection under the Child Status Protection Act calculated from the petition's pendency.
Regional-center designation itself is subject to the 2022 integrity rules, so the center's standing should be checked.