IN THIS GUIDE · Build a livestock-equipment maker's own U.S. plant as a direct EB-5 investment that really creates ten jobs
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Confirm the capital and where the plant sits
Current EB-5 capital thresholds are US$1,050,000 generally and US$800,000 for an investment in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project under the 2022 reform legislation; check the filing-date amounts because statutory inflation adjustments can change them. Whether the plant's location is in a targeted employment area is determined under current rules, with designations of high-unemployment areas handled by the government rather than by a state letter. Rural locations may qualify. Decide on the site early, because the capital requirement and the job-creation expectations both turn on it, and because premises are part of the evidence that the enterprise is real.
Create ten direct, full-time jobs and be able to prove them
In a direct EB-5 case the jobs must be full-time positions of at least thirty-five hours a week held by qualifying U.S. workers, employed directly by the new commercial enterprise and evidenced by payroll records and tax filings. Contractors, part-time positions combined into one, and jobs at suppliers do not count. The business plan should show the hiring schedule: welders, assemblers, a shipping clerk, a sales coordinator, with wages and start dates, reaching ten within the period allowed. Indirect jobs counted by economic models are a regional-centre concept and do not apply here. Plan the plant for the workforce, not the workforce for the petition.
Trace the funds out of the Canadian company lawfully
Capital that comes from the investor's company must be shown to be the investor's own and lawfully obtained: dividends declared and paid, a shareholder loan repaid, a sale of shares, or salary accumulated, each documented with corporate resolutions, financial statements, tax filings and bank records. Funds simply transferred from the company's account to the U.S. enterprise without becoming the investor's are a problem. USCIS treats lawfully obtained loan proceeds invested as cash, so personal collateral is not a condition; the lawful source and complete path of the loan proceeds must still be documented. A cross-border accountant should structure the extraction for tax before the transfer, since the immigration evidence and tax treatment must describe the same transaction.
Understand the stages and the family's position
The investor petition is filed on Form I-526 for a standalone direct investment, with fees on the USCIS schedule. Approval is followed by immigrant-visa processing or adjustment of status, subject to visa availability in the bulletin, then two years of conditional permanent residence and a petition on Form I-829 in the ninety days before the second anniversary showing the investment sustained and the jobs created. The spouse and unmarried children under 21 are derivatives, with the Child Status Protection Act governing age. The owner may manage the plant in person, which satisfies engagement; a nonimmigrant status to run it before residence is granted is a separate question.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.