EB-5 Economic Report and Job Creation Methodology

Common inputs may include construction expenditures, operating expenditures, revenue, or other project activity permitted by the applicable methodology.

A regional center economic report converts qualifying project activity into an estimate of direct or indirect employment under the methodology used for the project. Current Form I-956F instructions require a credible economic analysis concerning estimated job creation based on economically and statistically valid and transparent methodologies. The report should therefore identify the project facts that drive the calculation rather than present only a final job total. Common inputs may include eligible construction expenditures, operating expenditures, revenues, payroll, or other activity supported by the business plan. USCIS must be able to understand how the project inputs lead to the number of jobs claimed.

The assumptions, geographic inputs, industry classifications, exclusions, and source data should be stated clearly.

The methodology should be reproducible enough for USCIS to evaluate its assumptions and calculations. The report should identify the economic model, data source, geographic region, industry codes, multipliers, exclusions, time period, and treatment of direct, indirect, or induced effects as applicable. Methodological choices should correspond with the actual project and should not be selected merely because they generate a larger job count. If the analysis uses several industries or expenditure categories, the report should explain the allocation and avoid overlap. Transparent methodology allows later Form I-829 evidence to apply actual project inputs to the same framework in a coherent way.

For ordinary regional center job creation, only up to 90 percent of the requirement may be satisfied with indirectly estimated jobs.

The Reform and Integrity Act limits how much of the regional center employment requirement can be satisfied with jobs estimated to be created indirectly. INA section 203(b)(5) permits only up to 90 percent of the requirement to be satisfied through indirect estimates. The economic report should distinguish jobs treated as directly created from those treated as indirect and should explain how the statutory mix is satisfied for the expected number of investors. Employees of the NCE or JCE can be treated as directly created when they meet the statutory rule, which also means the model should avoid counting those same jobs again indirectly.

When construction activity lasts less than two years, only up to 75 percent of the requirement may be satisfied through indirect construction jobs.

Modeled direct construction jobs are subject to a separate statutory proration rule.

Construction activity lasting less than two years is subject to a restrictive indirect-job rule. INA section 203(b)(5) permits only up to 75 percent of the requirement to be satisfied through indirectly estimated jobs generated by such short construction activity. The economic analysis should identify the construction duration, qualifying expenditures, and any direct construction employment treatment separately. If the project schedule changes, counsel and the economist should assess whether the original construction assumptions remain valid. A report that depends on a two-year duration should be supported by the business plan, development schedule, contracts, and other project records rather than by an unsupported duration statement.

Project budget, eligible expenditures, timing, revenue, construction records, and operating assumptions should reconcile with the business plan.

An economic model is only as reliable as the project data supplied to it. Construction budgets, invoices, draw records, development schedules, operating forecasts, actual revenues, and other source documents should support the material inputs used in the report. Ineligible costs, land acquisition, financing items, transfers, or other expenditures should not be included merely because they appear in the overall project budget if the methodology does not treat them as qualifying job-creating inputs. At Form I-829, actual project records should be reconciled with the model. Material changes in cost, scope, timing, or operations may require an updated economic analysis.

• Economic report
• Project budget
• Construction schedule
• Invoices
• Draw records
• Revenue assumptions
• Industry codes
• Source data

The project file should preserve the economic report together with the records supporting every material input. Depending on the methodology, useful evidence can include the comprehensive business plan, project budget, construction schedule, contracts, invoices, draw reports, bank records, revenue statements, payroll, industry classifications, geographic data, and the underlying model source data. Form I-956F should identify the estimated jobs and project characteristics consistently with the report. A later I-829 record should then show which inputs actually occurred. Keeping the model, assumptions, and source documents aligned across project stages reduces the risk of unsupported or double-counted job claims.