Planning case based on an operator-described business structure

One operating business, three immigration paths

A U.S. company actually controlled by the TIHU operator, who also manages its hiring, carries warehousing, trucking and e-commerce operations. Three related individuals map to three different immigration paths: EB-5 investment, EB-1C management and an EB-3 professional position. This page is about governance and three separate statutory tests — not an established eligibility conclusion.

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Start with these four

Business flow and governance (two charts)
Three roles: function, statutory tests, records
Shared evidence vs. independent standards
Sequencing by condition, not by calendar

What this case is Business and governance Three roles Shared evidence Business risk Sequencing Governance and hiring

Nature of the case and source of facts

This is a planning case, not an approved success story

The facts here come from the operator's description and the underlying legal and financial records have not been reviewed, so this is a planning case and represents no approved outcome.

The case answers a concrete structural question: when a U.S. company genuinely operates and three people around it have different qualifications, which path fits each person, what must each of them prove, and what cannot substitute for what.

The known facts, as described by the operator: there is a single U.S. operating entity carrying warehousing, trucking and e-commerce, and the operator is its actual controller and manages hiring. Records still to be verified include equity and governance documents, any ownership-and-control relationship between the overseas entity and the U.S. entity, financial and payroll records, job descriptions and recruitment files. Amounts, percentages and dates must be confirmed against actual records under an actual engagement.

Structure charts

Business flow and governance: two charts that must stay separate

The first chart shows how goods and orders move. The second shows how authority and responsibility are allocated. Most of what immigration review cares about sits in the second chart.

Business flow: from the China factory to the U.S. end customer

01China export manufacturing
Overseas manufacturing and export business responsible for production and export delivery.
02Export and cross-border logistics
Goods are exported to the United States, with customs, freight and arrival handling.
03U.S. warehousing and fulfillment
This single U.S. operating entity carries warehousing, receiving, inventory management and order fulfillment.
04Truck delivery
The same entity's transport function delivers to customers or platform warehouses.
05E-commerce and order flow
Online sales, customer service and order flow generate the actual U.S. revenue.

There is one U.S. operating entity, carrying warehousing, trucking and e-commerce together. The business flow itself establishes no immigration category.

Governance: who controls, who invests, who is delegated, who is hired

U.S. operating entity (warehousing / trucking / e-commerce)

The only U.S. operating entity, and the connecting point for everything below: operating control, invested capital, delegated management and actual employment all run to it.

TIHU operator (actual controller)operating control and hiring managementU.S. operating entity
Role design, interviews, hiring decisions, compensation and duties run through the operator's management. The operator is the actual controller of the company.
Eldest brother (EB-5 investor)capital contribution and corresponding governance rightsU.S. operating entity
Invests as an EB-5 investor and holds policy-level voting and management rights under the investment or limited partnership agreement (8 CFR 204.6(j)(5)). He is an investor and need not serve as CEO; day-to-day operations stay with the operator.
TIHU operatordelegated management authority (genuine duties)Second brother
Within a written delegation, responsible for organizing and deciding within one business line, managing subordinate supervisors or functions, and setting budget and personnel matters while reporting to the actual controller. Whether EB-1C is met is assessed separately.
U.S. operating entity / operatorgenuine recruitment and a professional positionYoungest brother
The role is defined by the operator against real business need and filled through good-faith recruitment; the reality and professional level of the position are settled before any candidate.

To be verified: a qualifying ownership-and-control relationship between the overseas and U.S. entities

The parent, subsidiary, branch or common-ownership-and-control affiliate relationship EB-1C requires has not been established. Supply, purchase or logistics trade alone is not a qualifying relationship and cannot be drawn on the chart as an automatic link; equity and control documents must be checked, including whether the eldest brother's capital injection changes control.

This chart shows the allocation of authority and responsibility, not the movement of goods. Every line must be supported by actual documents, and a relationship absent from the chart cannot be presumed to exist.

Legend: three relationships that must not be conflated

Ownership / control: Who holds equity and who can decide major corporate matters. The qualifying corporate relationship EB-1C requires (parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate under common ownership and control) has to live in this layer.
Delegated authority: Decision authority granted by the controller: budget, personnel, functional scope. It can support genuine managerial duties, but it does not change who owns the company.
Commercial contracts: Sales, manufacturing, logistics and agency contracts. A trade contract alone is not a qualifying corporate relationship for EB-1C.

Role cards

Three people, three independent standards: function, statutory tests, records, stage conditions

One company can support all three paths at once, but the statutory tests are not interchangeable. Switch tabs to read each role.

An investor need not be CEO

Eldest brother: standalone EB-5 direct investor

A standalone direct EB-5 filing. The core requirements are a lawful source and path of funds, qualifying at-risk capital, a new commercial enterprise, ten qualifying direct full-time jobs, and a comprehensive credible business plan. The operator remains the actual controller and day-to-day manager.

Business function

· Provides capital supporting real expansion of the warehousing, transport and e-commerce operations.
· Holds the interests and governance rights set out in the investment agreement and organizational documents.
· Day-to-day operations are run by the actual operator and the investor need not serve as CEO; the policy-making or governance-level management rights the regulation requires must still be retained.

Statutory tests (in outline)

· Lawful source and path of the invested funds, fully documented.
· Qualifying capital placed at risk in a new commercial enterprise.
· Ten qualifying direct full-time jobs, created and sustained on the required timeline.
· A comprehensive, credible business plan consistent with actual operations.
· Legally sufficient management engagement: under 8 CFR 204.6(j)(5), through policy formulation or rights arising from the organizational form. Passive cash alone is not sufficient.

Supporting records

· Source-of-funds chain: income, tax, asset disposal, transfer and compliance documents.
· Governance rights in the investment agreement, operating agreement or LP agreement, documented consistently with the operator's actual control.
· Job creation evidence: payroll, employment records, hours and position descriptions.
· Consistency between the business plan and operating records (orders, revenue, leases, permits).

Stage conditions

· I-526 stage (a standalone direct filing; I-526E applies to regional center cases, not this one): source of funds and business plan established.
· Where eligible, conditional permanent residence through adjustment of status or consular processing.
· File Form I-829 within the 90-day window immediately before the second anniversary of admission as a conditional permanent resident (8 CFR 216.6(a)(1)(i)), showing the investment and jobs were sustained as required. Only the filing window is cited here.

Investment thresholds, targeted employment area designation and timing are covered on the EB-5 service pages and are not repeated here. Note that dollar amounts still printed in the regulatory text have been superseded by the current post-RIA rules and should not be cited. Governance rights must genuinely exist and be consistent with the operator's control — no role may be invented to satisfy a provision.

8 CFR § 204.6 ((j)(5) engagement; (e) definition of employee)

Full service pages for the three paths

EB-5 investment immigration L-1A / EB-1C corporate immigration PERM employer-sponsored (EB-2 / EB-3 / EW-3)Immigration execution guide

Evidence structure

The same records can truthfully support different propositions — the standards still do not transfer

The same contracts, payroll, premises and tax records can honestly support different claims. But EB-5 job counting, EB-1C managerial depth and the PERM local recruitment test are three different tests.

Same evidence	What it proves for EB-5	What it proves for EB-1C	What it proves for PERM / EB-3
Payroll and employment records	Whether ten qualifying direct full-time jobs were created and sustained.	Whether the organization contains managed personnel or a managed function.	Whether the position genuinely exists and the wage meets the determined level.
Customer contracts and orders	Whether the business plan is credible and operations are real.	Whether the U.S. entity has truly been doing business for a year at sufficient scale.	Whether real business need supports the position.
Premises leases and permits	Whether the new commercial enterprise actually operates.	Whether the managed function has an operational base.	Whether the worksite is defined, which affects recruitment and the wage determination.
Financial statements and tax records	Whether the capital was invested and remains at risk.	Whether the employer can pay the offered wage.	Whether the employer has ability to pay (8 CFR 204.5(g)(2)).

Payroll and employment records

What it proves for EB-5: Whether ten qualifying direct full-time jobs were created and sustained.
What it proves for EB-1C: Whether the organization contains managed personnel or a managed function.
What it proves for PERM / EB-3: Whether the position genuinely exists and the wage meets the determined level.

Customer contracts and orders

What it proves for EB-5: Whether the business plan is credible and operations are real.
What it proves for EB-1C: Whether the U.S. entity has truly been doing business for a year at sufficient scale.
What it proves for PERM / EB-3: Whether real business need supports the position.

Premises leases and permits

What it proves for EB-5: Whether the new commercial enterprise actually operates.
What it proves for EB-1C: Whether the managed function has an operational base.
What it proves for PERM / EB-3: Whether the worksite is defined, which affects recruitment and the wage determination.

Financial statements and tax records

What it proves for EB-5: Whether the capital was invested and remains at risk.
What it proves for EB-1C: Whether the employer can pay the offered wage.
What it proves for PERM / EB-3: Whether the employer has ability to pay (8 CFR 204.5(g)(2)).

Where the facts meet both tests, a sufficient number of qualifying U.S. employees can support both the EB-1C organization and EB-5 job creation — there is no blanket rule that each visa needs its own separate staff. The reverse inference fails just as clearly: the eldest brother himself, or the second or youngest brother in nonimmigrant status, cannot be counted toward EB-5 jobs merely because they appear on payroll. Countability depends on whether the employee meets the EB-5 employee eligibility rules.

Four boundaries to keep straight

· The youngest brother's future offer is not an already-created qualifying EB-5 job. EB-5 jobs follow actual status and job-creation rules, not family headcount.
· Ordinary contract drivers generally are not direct employees for EB-5 purposes; the nature of the engagement must be characterized truthfully.
· Three people are not three EB-5 investors, and one investment does not automatically produce three green cards.
· Each person's priority date, petition and (where applicable) work authorization stand alone and are never shared between the brothers.

Cross-path risk

A business failure can affect all three paths without changing anyone's separate criteria

The three paths share one commercial chassis, so they share commercial risk. Shared risk does not mean shared standards.

Real customer orders

Whether orders are genuine and sustainable bears directly on business-plan credibility and the reality of staffing needs.

Margins and payroll cash flow

Wage payment and job retention depend on cash flow, not just booked revenue.

Warehouse permits and leases

Site legality, permits and lease terms affect operational continuity and worksite definition.

Transport insurance and licensing

Insurance and applicable operating credentials for the transport function need verification against the actual business.

Employee vs. contractor classification

Classification affects the consistency of position evidence and payroll records and must follow the actual facts.

Customer concentration and foreign continuity

Heavy dependence on a few customers or a single overseas supply source weakens the factual base of several paths at once.

If the business itself fails, all three paths feel it: jobs cannot be sustained, managerial duties lose their operational base, and the professional position loses its real need. That does not merge the three standards. Each person still has to satisfy their own statutory criteria, and one person failing does not automatically defeat another — nor the reverse.

Sequencing

Sequenced by condition, not by a fixed calendar

The order below describes dependencies between conditions. It is not a schedule or a timing commitment.

01Verify control structure and foreign employment history
Confirm who actually controls the U.S. company, whether a qualifying relationship exists between the foreign and U.S. entities, and whether the foreign managerial history genuinely holds.
02Company formation, funding and job plan
Complete the funding arrangements and governance documents, and build a staffing plan consistent with real operations. Documented governance rights must match the facts of actual control.
03Real operations and parallel recruitment
The business actually runs, and recruitment is managed by the person with authority under the applicable rules, with records kept as it happens.
04Each person's own priority date and petition
Each person establishes their own priority date and files their own petition. Nothing is shared.
05Each chooses consular processing or adjustment at their own visa availability
At their own visa availability, each person chooses the workable route based on their own lawful basis and family situation.

No brother's priority date, visa availability, I-485 or work authorization can be used by another brother. Each person's eligible immediate family derivatives are separate from the other brothers'.

Procedural detail is in the execution guide

Consular processing and adjustment of status: execution guide Visa Bulletin and progress center

Governance records

Governance and hiring records

Governance belongs in documents: control and the capital arrangement are recorded in the organizational documents, the investment agreement and governance resolutions; delegated management is supported by written authority and records of it actually being exercised; hiring is managed independently by the person with actual authority, the position is genuinely open to U.S. workers as required by 20 CFR 656.17(l), and the recruitment process is fully documented. Where asked, the ownership structure and family relationships are disclosed accurately; the relationship itself is not a bar.

Official sources

Next step

Verify the structure before discussing paths

An initial conversation checks the control structure, foreign employment history, the reality of the position and the direction of source-of-funds work, and identifies which conclusions must come from an attorney. No eligibility determination and no outcome promise is made at this stage.

Request a structure and pathway consultation Read the immigration execution guide

Research checked: 2026-09-09