Full-time positions for qualifying US workers, generally at least thirty-five hours a week, created by the enterprise and evidenced by payroll and tax records. The investor and immediate family do not count, and part-time roles cannot ordinarily be added together to make full-time equivalents in a direct case.
Build the count from the operation, not the target
The wrong method is to decide ten jobs are needed and distribute them across a plan. The right method is to describe how the facility actually runs: how many operators a production line requires on each shift, how many shifts are planned in year one and year two, what maintenance, quality, shipping and administrative staff the operation needs, and when each hire happens. Then count. If the total falls short, the choices are to expand the operation, to reconsider the structure, or to look at whether a regional centre investment, where job counting works differently, is a better fit for the family. Deciding this before the capital is committed is the difference between a business plan and a problem, because the conditions-removal filing two years later will test the count against real payroll.
Hypothetical example: a renewable-natural-gas project investor receives funds from the sale of a privately held distribution company. A first review traces share ownership, sale agreement, tax reporting, closing statement and every transfer into the investment account. This chain settles lawful source and path of funds. EB-5 capital must be at risk, and the project must meet the employment-creation requirement; a large balance alone proves neither point. If a family loan or gift appears in the chain, document its source and terms rather than treating it as self-explanatory.