Jobs

90 percent cap on indirect jobs

Also called 90 percent limit, indirect job cap, 90 percent indirect jobs.

The 90 percent cap limits a regional center investor to meeting no more than nine of the ten required jobs with indirectly created ones, so at least one of the ten must be a direct job; a tighter 75 percent limit applies where the estimated jobs come from construction activity lasting less than two years.

What it decides

8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(iv)(I) directs USCIS to permit an investor to satisfy only up to 90 percent of the ten-job requirement in subparagraph (A)(ii) with jobs estimated to be created indirectly, and adds that an employee of the new commercial enterprise or the job-creating entity may be considered to hold a job that has been directly created. At least one of the ten must therefore be direct, and USCIS treats that 10 percent as satisfiable by employees of either the new commercial enterprise or the job-creating entity, and by direct jobs estimated through an economically and statistically valid methodology rather than by payroll evidence alone. USCIS applies the cap to regional center petitions filed on or after 15 March 2022. The 75 percent cap in clause (iv)(II) measures the same quantity on a tighter setting rather than something else: where the estimated jobs come from construction activity lasting less than two years, indirect jobs may cover no more than 75 percent of that same ten-job requirement, so no more than 7.5 of the ten, and USCIS applies that limit to petitions filed on or after 15 May 2022. Model-derived direct jobs from construction under two years are discounted as well, because 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(v)(II)(cc) counts them for purposes of clause (iv) only after multiplying by the fraction of the two-year period the construction lasts. A DHS proposed rule published 2 July 2026 would codify both caps at 8 CFR 204.407(e)(3), but it is a proposal and changes nothing as at 5 August 2026.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(iv)(I) and (E)(iv)(II), INA 203(b)(5)(E)(iv)(I) and (E)(iv)(II); 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(v)(II)(cc) (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title8/html/USCODE-2024-title8-chap12-subchapII-partI-sec1153.htm). USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part G, Chapter 2, Immigrant Petition Eligibility Requirements, Section D, Creation of Jobs, Subsection 4, Measuring Job Creation, 6 USCIS-PM G.2(D)(4) (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-g-chapter-2). Proposed rule: 91 FR 40676, 2 July 2026, FR Doc 2026-13392, proposed 8 CFR 204.407(e)(3), not in effect.

Related terms

75 percent cap on short construction jobsWhere a regional center project's estimated jobs come from construction activity lasting less than two years, the share of the ten-job requirement that may be met with indirect jobs falls from 90 percent to 75 percent.
Indirect jobsIndirect jobs are positions created elsewhere in the economy by a project's spending, estimated with an economic model rather than counted from a payroll, and available only to regional center investors. They may fill at most nine of the ten jobs each investor must create.
Direct jobsA direct job is a position held by an employee of the new commercial enterprise itself or, in a regional center case, of the job-creating entity, as distinct from an indirect job held at a supplier or other business outside them.
Induced jobsInduced jobs are jobs a model attributes to the project's direct and indirect employees spending their earnings on consumer goods and services, which USCIS treats for EB-5 purposes as a sub-set of indirect jobs.

Checked against primary sources on 6 August 2026. Back to the glossary