That the required capital was invested and sustained in the cidery, that the business created at least ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers or will do so within a reasonable time, and that the petition was filed in the ninety-day window before the second anniversary.
Sustained capital and ten jobs, proven at the end
The immigrant investor category admits the investor and family as conditional permanent residents for two years, and the conditions are removed only on a petition showing that the investment was made, sustained and produced the required employment. The capital must be the qualifying amount: US$1,050,000 for a direct investment outside a targeted employment area under the 2022 Act, to be confirmed against current USCIS guidance, since the couple’s cidery is not in a designated area. The jobs must be full-time positions for qualifying U.S.
workers, meaning citizens, permanent residents and others authorized to work, and not the couple or their children. Where the ten positions are not all filled at the second anniversary, the regulation permits approval if they will be created within a reasonable time, supported by a credible plan and the record so far. The couple’s children, as derivatives, are included and their conditions are removed on the same petition.
The first review should create a job-by-job ledger beside the capital ledger. For every claimed worker, retain start date, hours, payroll reports and work-authorization evidence; for every deployment, retain the bank transfer, invoice and company accounting entry. Those records settle whether the capital remained committed to the job-creating enterprise and whether each position qualifies.
A slow business does not automatically defeat the petition, but an unsupported forecast does not establish reasonable-time job creation. Hypothetical example: a recycled-glass manufacturer has eight qualifying employees and signed purchase orders that support hiring two production technicians after a new furnace is delivered. The investor must decide whether the documentation makes that timing credible before filing, rather than counting prospective workers as already employed.