Hiring should follow a credible operating plan and the applicable EB-5 job-creation requirements. There is no universal hiring date based on the applicant’s municipality, and immigration counsel should assess the relevant evidence and timing.
Make the schedule operationally credible
Identify permits, premises, customers and equipment needed before each hiring phase. Preserve actual start dates, hours and payroll when jobs begin. Update counsel if the business departs from its plan instead of postponing review until removal of conditions.
Business opening, petition adjudication and visa availability remain different events, so the investor’s own U.S. work plans require separate attention. Make the hiring schedule operationally credible rather than convenient, since the business has to actually reach it and the evidence will be assessed against what happened.
Hire when the work exists to justify each position, and where that means later than a plan would prefer, say so and explain the sequence. Consider the practical constraints: recruitment lead times, the training a new operation requires, and the revenue needed to sustain the payroll. Build in time for the positions to be created and maintained for whatever period the requirements contemplate rather than assuming that reaching a headcount at any moment is sufficient.
Where the business is likely to trade differently from the plan, raise that with counsel early rather than at the point where the later evidence is being assembled.