This category does not require a petition from an employer nor does it require a labor certification. In order to be admitted to the United States under this category, the immigrant must be an investor who will create 10 jobs at a minimum through investment in a new commercial enterprise that will benefit the economy of the United States. The alien must invest a minimum of $1 million in the enterprise. (This amount may be reduced to as little as $500,000 if the investment is planned for a rural area or in an area of high unemployment. Furthermore, if the investment is in an area of low unemployment, the USCIS has the discretion to raise the required investment amount to as much as $3 million.)

The investment being entered must involve a degree of risk that does not exist in plans involving a guaranteed return or buy-back option. The immigrant must also be able to demonstrate a comprehensive business plan and document the source of his/her funds.

Because of potential issues with fraud, immigrants coming under this category are only granted conditional permanent residence status for two years. After the two years has expired, the USCIS will review the investment in order to determine whether the person should be granted permanent status.

1. Invest or be in the process of investing at least $1,000,000. If your investment is in a specifictargeted high unemployment area
at least 150 percent of the national average, then the minimuminvestment requirement would be $500,000.
2. The investment must benefit the U.S. economy by providing goods or services to U.S. markets.
3. The investment must create at least 10 full-time employmentswith 35 or more hours a week forU.S. workers. This includes U.S.
citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other individualslawfully authorized to work in the U.S. In this case, the immigrant investor
and investor’s familysuch as a spouse, sons, or daughters cannot be included in the employments.
4. The investor has to be involved in the management of the new business or directly manage it as acorporate officer or board member.
5. The investment material must be clear and should prove to be legitimate sources.
6. If an investor invests in an existing company, the investor has to prove an increase of at least 40percent of the company’s assets due
to the corporate investment.
7. If several investors invest in a company, each investor must invest a minimum of $500,000 or$1,000,000 based on prescribed
investment amount.
8. If the company suffered a managerial loss of more than 20 percent for 12-24 months after theinvestment, the investor needs to
prove that the company provided the same number ofemployment positions for two years.