The investor’s children are excluded from the qualifying job count.
Separate household participation from qualifying employment
The job evidence should not count an excluded family position merely because it appears in a broader report. Derivative children generally must be unmarried and under 21, with individual CSPA review; immigrant-visa derivatives enter with or after the principal.
Remove the investor, spouse, and children from any claimed qualifying job total, regardless of hours or payroll treatment. EB-5 generally requires ten full-time positions for qualifying US workers; a child’s part-time shifts cannot be pooled into that requirement. Family inclusion differs: the investor’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 may qualify as derivatives, subject to age and admissibility review. Review each child’s birth date and case stage instead of assuming project employment preserves eligibility. The principal must document lawful source and path plus the applicable capital. The standard is US$1,050,000; an infrastructure project or eligible targeted employment area may use US$800,000. Form I-526 covers direct investment and Form I-526E regional-center participation; after admission or adjustment, the investor receives two years of conditional residence; removing those conditions requires Form I-829. The common mistake is using a family payroll entry twice.
Hypothetical example: A Sainte-Rose-du-Nord ceramics-studio owner reviews a direct investment where her twenty-year-old child worked inventory shifts. She excludes those hours from the job count, separately reviews the child’s derivative age position, and asks for ten qualifying nonfamily full-time roles. Household participation never repairs a staffing shortfall.