Who does what

Immigrant investor

Also called alien investor, EB-5 investor.

An immigrant investor is the person whose own capital goes into a new commercial enterprise and who self-petitions for employment-based fifth preference classification on that investment; the statute calls this person the alien investor, and neither the investor nor the investor's spouse, sons or daughters may be counted among the ten jobs the investment must create.

What it decides

8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A) makes fifth preference visas available, in a number not to exceed 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment based level, to a person who has invested or is actively in the process of investing the amount set by subparagraph (C) in a new commercial enterprise, which is expected to remain invested for not less than two years, and which will create full-time employment for not fewer than ten United States citizens, United States nationals or immigrants lawfully authorised to work, other than the immigrant and the immigrant's spouse, sons or daughters. 8 CFR 204.6(e) repeats that exclusion in the definition of qualifying employee and adds any nonimmigrant. The investor also has to be engaged in the enterprise beyond writing the cheque, as a corporate officer, a board member or in policy formation, under 8 CFR 204.6(j)(5). A spouse and unmarried children under 21 follow as derivatives under 8 U.S.C. 1153(d) and never count toward the ten. Since 15 March 2022 INA 216A reads alien investor wherever it once read alien entrepreneur.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A) and 1153(d), cited as INA 203(b)(5)(A) and INA 203(d); 8 U.S.C. 1186b(f)(1) (INA 216A(f)(1)), which defines alien investor, as amended by Public Law 117-103, division BB, section 104(a)(2), 15 March 2022, which substituted investor for entrepreneur wherever appearing; 8 CFR 204.6(e), definition of qualifying employee, and 8 CFR 204.6(j)(5), read from the eCFR on 5 August 2026. The regulation is good for the employee definitions and the management test but not for the investment amounts, which the statute now carries.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into immigrant investor rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

EB-5 Immigrant Investor ProgramEB-5 is the employment-based fifth preference immigrant visa category: a foreign national who invests the required capital in a new US commercial enterprise receives permanent residence, granted first on a two year conditional basis, and keeps it by proving that the investment created full-time jobs for at least ten qualifying US workers. It leads to residence, not citizenship.
Qualifying employeeA qualifying employee is a US citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or another immigrant lawfully authorized to be employed in the United States, and only their full-time positions count toward an investor's ten. The statute adds United States nationals to that list.
Ten full-time jobsTen full-time jobs for qualifying employees is the EB-5 job creation requirement: each investor's capital must produce its own ten, which is the number an offering's economic report has to show for every investor it takes in.
Derivative beneficiaryA derivative beneficiary is the spouse or unmarried child under 21 of an EB-5 investor who, under 8 U.S.C. 1153(d), takes the same classification, the same order of consideration and the same priority date as the investor without filing a petition of their own.
Conditional permanent residenceConditional permanent residence is the status an EB-5 investor and their spouse and children hold for the first two years: full lawful permanent residence, evidenced by a Green Card valid for two years, whose conditional basis must be removed on Form I-829 or the status ends.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary