Yes, as a direct investment, if the qualifying capital is placed in a new commercial enterprise and the business creates ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers within the required period. Only the enterprise's own employees count, and the investor must be engaged in management.
Direct EB-5 counts only the payroll the business actually carries
A direct EB-5 investment does not require a regional center, but it changes what the evidence looks like. The ten jobs must be full-time positions of at least thirty-five hours a week for U.S. citizens, permanent residents or other authorized workers, excluding the investor and family, and they must be created within the period the regulations allow.
Hypothetical example: a Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval couple who have managed restaurants consider opening two units of a U.S. quick-service franchise with the required capital. The business plan must show credible staffing of ten qualifying full-time positions, not a headcount padded with part-time shifts, and the franchisor's own employees do not count.
The investor must be engaged in management or policy; an owner-operator clearly is. The capital must be at risk in the enterprise, so franchise fees and build-out costs paid by the enterprise count while a personal guarantee does not. At the removal-of-conditions stage, payroll tax filings for the two years are the proof.