Obtain the actual definition, calculation and relevant supporting evidence for the project’s structure.
Keep the underlying methodology visible
Identify whether the figure aggregates hours, estimates economic effects or represents another measure. Do not relabel the total as qualifying permanent full-time positions without explaining the actual basis.
Ask the project issuer to define every input behind the full-time-equivalent total. For a direct investment, review position titles, weekly hours, start dates, payroll evidence, employee eligibility, and whether claimed job sharing represents one full-time position rather than pooled part-time jobs. For a regional-center investment, obtain the economic report, cited model, project expenditures or revenue inputs, construction timeline, and reconciliation to source documents. The petition form follows the structure: Form I-526E applies to regional-center investors, while Form I-526 serves direct investors. Keep job evidence alongside proof of the standard US$1,050,000 amount or the US$800,000 level available to an infrastructure project or qualifying targeted employment area, plus records tracing lawful source and path. Track future evidence for the two-year conditional period and eventual Form I-829 filing. A summary spreadsheet without its definition and methodology is the recurring documentation gap.
Hypothetical example: A surveying-services owner near Sainte-Rose-du-Nord receives a regional-center dashboard showing twelve equivalents. He obtains the economist’s calculation, expenditure inputs, construction assumptions, and source records, then checks that they match the offering materials. The dashboard becomes an index to evidence, not a substitute for the underlying job analysis.