IN THIS GUIDE · Separate operating cash from the investor’s qualifying capital
Identify ownership of each funding component
Hypothetical example: a business owner plans an investment while keeping reserves for Canadian operations. Record the actual owners, obligations and lawful funding steps. Do not describe the entire company balance as personal available capital or assume reserves have already been invested. Trace the order of events: record the original plan, the decision-maker, and the date on which an obligation became binding. That sequence often exposes whether a later explanation describes a fact or an aspiration.
Trace actual funds and commitments
Provide genuine source and transfer records and explain relevant distributions or financing. Separate fees and unrelated operating spending. Confirm the current applicable threshold and the actual capital-at-risk treatment rather than using a combined budget as the answer. Test labels against evidence. Job titles, corporate descriptions, and sales language are useful starting points, but the underlying duties, authority, and transaction records resolve the legal question.
Review the project’s qualifying jobs
Identify standalone or regional-center structure and the applicable method for qualifying job creation, generally ten jobs. A business contribution or employment forecast needs the appropriate supporting analysis. The applicant’s funding history does not establish every project requirement. Use originals that can be dated and connected to a person or entity. A chronology should identify gaps, translations, and documents that contradict the preferred narrative before anything is submitted.
Assess household and commercial questions separately
Review risk, repayment uncertainty, visa availability and individual eligibility. Family age and any CSPA issue need assessment using actual dates; filing does not automatically freeze age. An investment plan does not itself authorize present U.S. work or residence. Separate a future forecast from current proof. A business plan, anticipated hire, or intended assignment may matter, yet it cannot silently become evidence that the fact already exists.
Use the current capital, job and residence conditions
As checked September 7, 2026, the standard capital minimum is US$1,050,000, or US$800,000 for a qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027; confirm the filing-date amount. At least ten qualifying permanent full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers are required, with the applicable standalone or regional-center method assessed. The investor must engage in management or policy formulation. The investor petition does not itself grant residence: the applicable immigrant-visa or adjustment process follows. The investor, spouse and unmarried children under 21 may obtain two-year conditional permanent residence, after which conditions must be removed, with Form I-829 generally filed in the 90 days before the second anniversary. Finish with a decision record stating what is established, what remains conditional, and what must happen before the next immigration step. That record prevents a commercial deadline from dictating an unsupported filing position.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.
