Is ROI (return on investment) considered by USCIS?

No. When reviewing an EB-5 petition, USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) does not evaluate return on investment (ROI) as an approval criterion. The profitability of the venture is a legitimate concern for the investor, but it plays no part in the immigration analysis.

What USCIS examines is something else entirely: whether the invested capital has a lawful source and whether the investment actually resulted in the job creation required by the program. The focus is on the structure of the commercial enterprise and on demonstrating that the required positions were created or preserved, directly or indirectly, by the capital contribution.

• ROI and profitability measure financial performance, not immigration eligibility.
• The lawful origin of the funds must be documented and traceable.
• The required job creation is at the heart of the EB-5 analysis.

In other words, a project may yield modest financial returns and still meet the EB-5 requirements, as long as it generates the required jobs and demonstrates the lawful source of funds. Since each case is reviewed individually, it is worth checking updated requirements on the official source (USCIS) and evaluating your project with a specialist before investing.

About the author

Victoria Harper

Editor-in-Chief

Meet the author

As a journalist and lead editor at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps ensure that immigration topics are covered in a clear, trustworthy, and easy-to-understand way. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.