EB-5 Business Plan Requirements

Matter of Ho describes a business plan that goes beyond general projections.

The plan should identify the business, market, organizational structure, staffing, financial assumptions, and implementation details supporting the job-creation claim.

Matter of Ho remains the principal EB-5 precedent describing what makes a prospective business plan comprehensive and credible. The decision requires enough detail for USCIS to draw reasonable inferences about job creation rather than relying on conclusory assertions. A plan should describe the business, products or services, objectives, market, competitors, pricing, customers, required permits, operations, marketing, organizational structure, staffing, and financial projections as applicable. The exact content varies by business, but the central requirement is credibility. The plan should explain why the enterprise can realistically execute the proposed activity and create the employment claimed within the governing EB-5 framework.

Products or services, competition, customers, pricing, marketing, supply relationships, and relevant market conditions should be addressed realistically.

The market section should show who will buy the enterprise’s products or services and why the projected revenue is plausible. Matter of Ho identifies market analysis, competitors, pricing, target customers, and comparative strengths and weaknesses as relevant components. Current filings can also use reliable industry data, local demand information, signed customer agreements, purchase orders, or other evidence suited to the business. The analysis should connect market demand to the sales assumptions used in the financial projections. Generic statements that an industry is growing are less persuasive than project-specific evidence showing how the enterprise expects to compete and generate activity sufficient to support its staffing plan.

Where licenses or permits are necessary, the plan should identify them.

The operational timeline should be consistent with the projected hiring schedule.

Operational details should explain how the enterprise will move from investment to actual business activity. Depending on the project, the plan may address facilities, leases, construction, equipment, suppliers, production, inventory, technology, licenses, permits, contracts, and implementation milestones. Matter of Ho specifically recognizes the importance of permits, production processes, materials, supply sources, and executed contracts where relevant. The timeline should be consistent with capital deployment and hiring. If a permit or site is essential to begin operations, the plan should identify its status rather than assume it will materialize. Project documents submitted elsewhere should corroborate the operational narrative.

For direct job creation, positions, duties, approximate hiring dates, and the business need for each position should be addressed.

When the required direct jobs do not yet exist, the business plan should identify the positions to be created, the business need for them, and an approximate hiring schedule. Matter of Ho calls for staffing requirements, a timetable, and job descriptions. The hiring plan should align with the opening, construction completion, revenue growth, or other milestones that make those positions necessary. It should also distinguish qualifying full-time positions from owners, contractors, nonqualifying workers, or part-time roles that cannot be counted. At the I-829 stage, USCIS can compare the original plan with actual hiring, so projections should be realistic rather than inflated to reach ten jobs.

Sales, costs, income, capital expenditures, payroll, and other projections should have a reasonable factual basis.

The plan should not predict staffing the business cannot plausibly support.

Financial projections should provide a factual basis for the enterprise’s proposed operations and staffing. Revenue, costs, payroll, capital expenditures, cash flow, and financing assumptions should align with the market analysis, contracts, capital stack, and operating plan. Matter of Ho specifically identifies sales, cost, and income projections and the bases for them as relevant to credibility. The plan should not project hiring that the business could not plausibly support or assume revenue without explaining the underlying volume and pricing. Where forecasts depend on construction completion, customer contracts, occupancy, or financing, the plan should identify those dependencies and use assumptions consistent with the documentary record.

• Market data
• Lease or real estate records
• Permits
• Contracts
• Construction documents
• Financial projections
• Hiring timetable
• Organizational chart

A comprehensive plan is strongest when its material assumptions are corroborated by independent records. Useful exhibits can include market studies, leases, deeds, permits, licenses, construction contracts, vendor agreements, customer contracts, purchase orders, equipment quotes, financing documents, organizational charts, resumes, and detailed financial models. Regional center plans should also remain consistent with Form I-956F and the economic report, while standalone plans should align with the investor petition and direct job evidence. The plan itself should explain the business; attachments should substantiate the key facts. Where assumptions later change materially, counsel should evaluate whether the immigration record needs an update rather than relying on an obsolete projection.