Jobs

Job sharing

Also called job-sharing arrangement, shared position, job share.

A job-sharing arrangement, where two or more qualifying employees share one full-time position, counts as full-time employment for EB-5 provided the position still requires at least 35 working hours a week.

What it decides

The rule sits inside the definition of full-time employment at 8 CFR 204.6(e), and the bar on combinations of part-time positions is the very next sentence, which is why the two get confused. What counts is the position, not the headcount: one role requiring a minimum of 35 working hours per week, shared by qualifying employees, is one qualifying job. Every sharer must be a qualifying employee, so the investor, the investor's spouse, sons or daughters, and any nonimmigrant cannot fill part of the shared position. The USCIS Policy Manual lists evidence that may be relevant, among other evidence, to show a position is genuinely shared: a written job-sharing agreement, a weekly schedule identifying the positions subject to the arrangement and the hours each employee will work, and evidence that the responsibilities or benefits of the permanent full-time position are shared between them. None of the three is a fixed requirement. One caution on authority: the statutory definition of full-time employment formerly at INA 203(b)(5)(D) was replaced wholesale by the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act, and the current subparagraph (D) is a list of definitions that does not define the term. The 35 hour floor and the job-sharing allowance now rest on the regulation and the Policy Manual, while the statute at INA 203(b)(5)(A)(ii) requires only full-time employment for not fewer than 10 qualifying people.

Governed by 8 CFR 204.6(e), definition of full-time employment, third sentence (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-204/subpart-A/section-204.6); USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part G, Chapter 2, Section D, subsection 3, Full-Time Positions for Qualifying Employees (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-g-chapter-2), whose job-sharing footnotes cite 8 CFR 204.6(e); 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A)(ii) and (D), as amended by Pub. L. 117-103

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into job sharing rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Combinations of part-time positionsTwo or more separate part-time positions can never be added together to make one qualifying EB-5 job, even when their hours combine to the 35 a week that counts as full-time. Only a single full-time position shared by two or more qualifying employees counts.
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.
Full-time employmentFull-time employment in EB-5 means employment of a qualifying employee in a position that requires a minimum of 35 working hours per week, not 40. The 35 hours are measured by what the position requires rather than by the hours any one person works, which is why job sharing counts, but the person filling the position must still be a qualifying employee.
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.

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