EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa: Requirements, Process, Costs, and Timeline

The EB-5 visa is a U.S. immigrant visa (green card) category for foreign nationals who invest at least $800,000 or $1,050,000 in a new U.S. business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. It is designed for investors, their spouses, and their unmarried children under 21 who want lawful permanent residence based on capital investment rather than on a job offer or a family relationship.

This page explains how the program works as of September 17, 2026: the two investment routes (regional center and direct), the reserved visa categories that currently have visa numbers available for investors born in China and India, the September 30, 2026 grandfathering date for regional center petitions, the government fees, the timeline, and the risks an experienced attorney would want you to weigh before you wire funds.

What is the EB-5 visa and who is it for?

EB-5 is the fifth employment-based preference category (INA section 203(b)(5)). Congress created it in 1990 to attract foreign capital and create U.S. jobs. The program was substantially rewritten by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the RIA), which took effect on March 15, 2022. Almost everything on this page reflects the post-RIA program.

The exchange works like this. You place capital at risk in a new commercial enterprise, that enterprise creates jobs, and in return you (the principal investor), your spouse, and your unmarried children under 21 may become lawful permanent residents. Permanent residence is first granted on a conditional basis for two years. You then file a second petition (Form I-829) to show the investment was made and sustained as required and the jobs were created, and, if approved, the conditions are removed.

EB-5 does not require a U.S. employer sponsor, a labor certification, or a qualifying family member. That independence is why it appeals to business owners, E-2 investors scaling into a larger enterprise, parents of students studying in the United States, and people from countries with long waits in other employment-based categories.

It is also a securities investment with real financial risk, which is why the program requires that capital be genuinely "at risk." An arrangement that guarantees repayment of your principal, or gives you a right to have the enterprise buy back your interest, disqualifies the investment.

EB-5 eligibility and requirements

To qualify for EB-5 classification, the investor must show each of the following. The governing rules are INA 203(b)(5), as amended by the RIA, and 8 CFR 204.6, supplemented by USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part G. USCIS has not yet issued final regulations implementing the RIA, so several points below rest on statutory text and USCIS policy guidance rather than updated regulations.

How much money do you have to invest for EB-5?

• $1,050,000 is the standard minimum investment.
• $800,000 is the reduced minimum if the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business in a targeted employment area (TEA), or if the investment is in a qualifying infrastructure project.

The RIA requires these amounts to be adjusted for inflation (based on the CPI-U) beginning January 1, 2027, and every five years afterward. As of September 17, 2026, the adjusted figures have not been published. An investor planning to file in 2027 should expect a higher minimum and should confirm the amount before committing capital. An investor who properly files a petition before the adjustment takes effect is evaluated under the threshold in effect on the filing date.

The full amount must be invested, or the investor must be "actively in the process of investing" it, at the time the petition is filed. Regional center offerings generally require the full contribution before filing, either paid into the enterprise or held in escrow with defined release conditions.

What counts as capital, and where can it come from?

"Capital" includes cash and cash equivalents, equipment, inventory, and other tangible property, as well as indebtedness secured by the investor's own assets (not by the assets of the enterprise). Capital must be valued at fair market value in U.S. dollars.

The money must come from lawful sources, and you must prove it. Under 8 CFR 204.6(j)(3) and the RIA's amendments, the investor documents the path of funds from origin to the enterprise: business income, salary, sale of property, inheritance, gifts, loans, and so on. The RIA added that gifted or borrowed funds qualify only if they were gifted or loaned in good faith and the donor or lender obtained them lawfully, with the same documentation standard applied to the donor's or lender's funds. The RIA also requires proof of the lawful source of any administrative fees paid to the regional center or project, not just the investment capital itself.

The source-of-funds package is the part of the petition that depends entirely on records you may need to reconstruct from years back, so it is where preparation should start.

The new commercial enterprise

The investment must go into a "new commercial enterprise" (NCE): any for-profit business formed after November 29, 1990, or an older business that has been restructured so that a new enterprise results, or that has been expanded so that its net worth or number of employees grows by at least 40 percent. Nearly any lawful for-profit form works (corporation, LLC, limited partnership, and others), but a passive purchase of a residence does not.

The job creation requirement

Each investor's capital must create at least 10 full-time positions (at least 35 hours per week) for qualifying employees: U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and certain other immigrants authorized to work. Positions for the investor, the investor's spouse and children, and nonimmigrant workers do not count.

The jobs must be created within two years of the investor's admission as a conditional permanent resident, or within a reasonable time afterward as the Policy Manual describes. In direct investments, the 10 positions must be held by qualifying employees employed by the new commercial enterprise itself in permanent full-time positions; payroll records and tax filings are the usual evidence. In regional center investments, the enterprise may count indirect and induced jobs shown through an accepted economic model, with RIA limits: indirect jobs may account for no more than 90 percent of the total, and jobs attributed to construction activity lasting less than two years may be credited only in proportion to the fraction of two years that the construction lasts (for example, an 18-month construction period supports 75 percent of the modeled construction jobs). USCIS also applies an overall limit on how much of an investor's job total may come from short-duration construction; the exact percentage should be confirmed with counsel.

Troubled businesses. If the investment is in a "troubled business" (a business that has existed for at least two years and lost at least 20 percent of its net worth in the 12 or 24 months before the petition's priority date), the investor may satisfy the employment requirement by showing that the number of existing employees is maintained at no less than the pre-investment level for at least two years, rather than by creating 10 entirely new positions (8 CFR 204.6(j)(4)(ii)).

The "at risk" requirement and the sustainment period

Capital must be placed at risk for the purpose of generating a return. Under Matter of Izummi, a guaranteed repayment of principal, a redemption or buy-back right, or any arrangement that removes the risk of loss disqualifies the investment. An opportunity to earn a return is expected; what matters is that the principal is genuinely exposed to loss.

For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the RIA requires the investment to remain invested for at least two years. USCIS's current interpretation, announced in October 2023 and reflected in Policy Manual Volume 6, Part G, Chapter 2, is that the two-year period begins when the full required investment is made and placed at risk in the new commercial enterprise in accordance with applicable requirements. This is agency interpretation, not regulatory text; the regulations still contain pre-RIA sustainment language. Your attorney should confirm the current guidance before you rely on early repayment.

For petitions filed before March 15, 2022, the older rule applies: the investment must be sustained throughout the two-year conditional residence period.

Management role: how a passive investor still qualifies

The investor must be engaged in the management of the enterprise, either through day-to-day managerial control or through policy formulation (8 CFR 204.6(j)(5)). The regulation states that a limited partner who holds the rights, powers, and duties normally granted to limited partners under the Uniform Limited Partnership Act is treated as sufficiently engaged. For LLC members and other structures, the petition must show comparable governance rights (for example, voting on major decisions under the operating agreement) or an actual day-to-day or policy role.

This is why regional center investors, who play no operational role in the project, can meet the requirement: the offering documents grant them governance rights as limited partners or members, and USCIS accepts those rights as engagement in management. The investor's day-to-day involvement is passive; the legal rights are not. Later sections of this page refer back to this point.

Admissibility

Like every immigrant, the investor and each dependent must be admissible to the United States or qualify for a waiver. Criminal history, prior immigration violations, misrepresentations, and health grounds are examined at the green card stage.

What Types of Businesses Qualify for an EB-5 Investment?

Under 8 CFR 204.6(e), a commercial enterprise includes any for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business, including:

• sole proprietorships
• limited and general partnerships
• holding companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries (if each subsidiary is engaged in a for-profit activity)
• joint ventures
• corporations
• business trusts
• limited liability companies
• other publicly or privately owned entities

To qualify for an EB-5 visa, you can:

• start a new business
• invest in an existing business (if it meets the new commercial enterprise definition)
• buy an existing business and restructure or expand it as required
• invest in a regional center project

Regional center investment versus direct investment: which is right for you?

There are two ways to make an EB-5 investment. Choosing between them shapes your legal work, your risk profile, and your timeline.

Regional centers are entities USCIS designates (via Form I-956) to sponsor pooled investment projects. Under INA 203(b)(5)(F), the regional center must file Form I-956F for a specific project before any investor files an I-526E petition based on that project. The investor does not need to wait for I-956F approval; a filed I-956F (evidenced by its receipt notice) is the prerequisite. If USCIS later denies the I-956F, the linked I-526E petitions are affected.

The pooled structure lets a large development, such as a hotel, apartment complex, or manufacturing plant, count jobs across the local economy. Because indirect jobs count, a project can project more jobs per investor than the 10 required, which provides a margin if actual results fall short. Projections are estimates produced by the project's economist, not guarantees.

Regional center investors do not operate the business. Their capital is generally a loan or equity contribution to the job-creating entity, and repayment depends on the project's success. The RIA imposed integrity rules on regional centers: annual Form I-956G reporting, audits at least every five years, background checks on principals, restrictions on foreign government involvement, and an EB-5 Integrity Fund funded by regional center and investor fees. Those rules reduce, but do not remove, fraud and business risk.

Direct investment means you invest in a business you form or control. It suits entrepreneurs who want to run a U.S. company and are prepared to create 10 qualifying full-time positions within roughly two years. It avoids regional center dependency and the program's periodic reauthorization cycle, because direct EB-5 is permanent law. It also concentrates the risk: if the enterprise cannot support 10 qualifying positions when Form I-829 is due, USCIS may deny the I-829 and terminate conditional resident status.

A related concept is the pooled direct investment, where several investors form one enterprise without a regional center. Each investor must still be credited with 10 direct jobs. Since the RIA, USCIS treats pooled direct investments under the standalone rules, so no indirect job counting applies.

Targeted employment areas and reserved (set-aside) visas

The TEA rules matter for two separate reasons: they lower the minimum investment to $800,000, and (under the RIA) they determine whether you fall into a reserved visa category with its own queue.

What is a targeted employment area?

A TEA is either a rural area or a high-unemployment area.

• A rural area is any area outside a metropolitan statistical area (as designated by the Office of Management and Budget) and outside the outer boundary of any city or town with a population of 20,000 or more, based on the most recent decennial census.
• A high-unemployment area is a census tract, or a group of contiguous census tracts made up of the tract where the enterprise principally does business plus tracts directly adjacent to it, in which the weighted average unemployment rate is at least 150 percent of the national average.

Since the RIA, only DHS (through USCIS) can designate a high-unemployment TEA. State and local government letters no longer control, which eliminated the assembled TEA maps that were a feature of the pre-2022 program.

How the reserved (set-aside) visa categories work

RIA reserves a share of each fiscal year's EB-5 visas for investors in specific categories:

Unused reserved visas carry over within the same reserved category to the next fiscal year, and if still unused after that second year, they move to the unreserved pool.

The reduced threshold and the reserved visa are related but not the same thing. A pre-RIA investor whose project sat in a TEA qualified for the lower investment amount of that era but has no claim to a reserved visa; those investors are in the unreserved queue. A post-RIA investor in a rural, high-unemployment, or infrastructure project gets both the $800,000 threshold and a place in the corresponding reserved category.

The practical effect in 2026 has been significant. In the September 2026 Visa Bulletin, all three reserved categories are listed as "Current" for every country, including China and India, while the unreserved EB-5 category shows a final action date of December 1, 2016 for applicants chargeable to China and is listed as unavailable for the rest of fiscal year 2026 for applicants chargeable to India. A "Current" listing means visa numbers are available now for otherwise eligible applicants in that category; it does not mean there is no processing backlog at USCIS.

Rural projects also receive priority processing at USCIS under the RIA. This is a statutory instruction to adjudicate rural petitions ahead of others, and it is different from the paid premium processing service, which is not available for any EB-5 form.

Benefits of the EB-5 visa

• No employer sponsor and no labor certification. You do not need a job offer, and no employer controls your case.
• Permanent residence for the whole immediate family. The investor's spouse and unmarried children under 21 are included as derivatives on the same investment, with age protection under the Child Status Protection Act in some circumstances (see the risks section).
• Freedom to live and work anywhere. Regional center investors are not tied to the project's location. You can live in any state, work for any employer, run your own business, or retire.
• Concurrent filing for eligible investors already in the United States. Since the RIA, INA 245(n) allows an investor to file Form I-485 (Adjustment of Status) at the same time as the I-526 or I-526E petition if an immigrant visa is immediately available in their category and they otherwise qualify for Adjustment of Status under INA 245, including the bars in INA 245(c) and any exception that applies (such as INA 245(k)). With a pending I-485, the investor may apply for employment authorization (Form I-765) and advance parole (Form I-131); work is permitted only after the employment authorization document is issued, and travel should wait for the advance parole document unless an exception applies.
• A path to citizenship. Time as a conditional permanent resident counts toward the continuous residence requirement for naturalization.
• Reserved categories with current visa availability. For investors born in China or India, the rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure set-asides currently offer visa numbers that the unreserved category does not.
• Potential return of capital. Unlike a fee-based residency program, EB-5 is an investment. If the project performs, capital may be returned after the sustainment period, subject to the offering terms. There is no guarantee.

The EB-5 application process, step by step

The process differs slightly depending on whether you are inside or outside the United States, but the core sequence is the same.

1. Confirm eligibility and plan the source of funds. Before choosing a project, work with counsel to map how the investment and administrative fees will be documented from origin to transfer. Tax returns, bank statements, property records, and business documents are gathered at this stage. Currency control rules in the home country are addressed here as well.
2. Choose the investment route and project. For regional center investment, confirm that Form I-956F has been filed for the project (the receipt notice is the prerequisite for your I-526E), then review the offering documents (private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, operating or partnership agreement), business plan, economic job study, and TEA designation. For direct investment, prepare a business plan that meets the Matter of Ho standard, showing how the enterprise will create 10 qualifying full-time positions.
3. Make the investment. Transfer the capital into the new commercial enterprise or a compliant escrow account, and pay any administrative fee. Keep every wire confirmation.
4. File Form I-526E (regional center) or Form I-526 (standalone) with USCIS. The petition includes the investment evidence, the source-of-funds package, and the business or project documents. USCIS generally treats the date it receives a properly filed petition as the filing date, and that date becomes your priority date, which controls your place in line for a visa number. Follow the form instructions and current filing-location rules; a submission USCIS rejects at intake (wrong fee, missing signature, wrong form) is returned without a filing date, which is different from a petition that is accepted and later denied. Regional center investors must use Form I-526E and follow its instructions.
5. If you are in the United States, eligible for Adjustment of Status, and a visa number is available, consider filing Form I-485 concurrently. With the I-485 you may also file Form I-765 (employment authorization) and Form I-131 (advance parole). Follow the I-526E instructions on fee payments; USCIS requires the $1,000 Integrity Fund fee to be paid separately from the I-526E filing fee and rejects I-526E packages submitted with a single combined payment covering the I-485, I-765, or I-131. Dependents file their own I-485 packages.
6. Respond to any Request for Evidence and wait for adjudication. Source-of-funds questions and project-level questions are the usual subjects.
7. After I-526/I-526E approval, complete the green card stage.
   • Consular processing (outside the United States): USCIS sends the approved petition to the National Visa Center. You submit Form DS-260, civil documents, and a medical exam, then attend an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate. On approval, you receive an immigrant visa, pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, and become a conditional permanent resident on admission to the United States.
   • Adjustment of Status (inside the United States): USCIS adjudicates the I-485 once the petition is approved and a visa number is available. Biometrics and, in some cases, an interview follow. Approval grants conditional permanent resident status as of the approval date.
8. Hold conditional permanent residence for two years. During this period you hold permanent resident status subject to conditions, and the card expires after two years. Maintain U.S. residence, keep your investment in compliance with the sustainment rule that applies to your petition's filing date (see the sustainment section above), and track the project's job creation.
9. File Form I-829 to remove conditions. Under 8 CFR 216.6(a)(1), the petition must be properly filed within the 90-day period preceding the second anniversary of the date you obtained conditional permanent residence. The I-829 must show that the capital was invested and sustained as required for your petition and that the jobs were created or will be created within a reasonable time. A properly filed I-829 automatically extends conditional resident status while it is pending, and USCIS issues a receipt notice that serves as evidence of status.
10. Receive the 10-year green card. On approval of the I-829, the conditions are removed and USCIS issues a permanent resident card valid for 10 years. Derivative family members included on the I-829 (or who filed their own) also have their conditions removed and receive 10-year cards.

Documents typically needed for an EB-5 petition

Every case is different, but the following categories appear in essentially every I-526 or I-526E filing.

Investor identity and status

• Passport biographical pages for the investor and each dependent
• Birth and marriage certificates (with certified translations)
• Current U.S. immigration documents if you are in the United States (Form I-94, visa, approval notices)

Investment evidence

• Wire transfer records showing funds moving from the investor's account to the enterprise or escrow
• Subscription agreement, escrow agreement, and proof of payment of administrative fees
• Evidence the investor is "actively in the process" of investing, if any portion has not yet been released

Source and path of funds

• Personal and business tax returns for the years relevant to the source of the funds (the span depends on how and when the capital was accumulated)
• Bank statements tracing each transfer
• Employment and salary records, business ownership documents, and financial statements if income is the source
• Sale contracts, deeds, and closing statements if real estate is the source
• Gift letters and the donor's own source-of-funds documentation if funds were gifted
• Loan agreements, collateral documents, and the lender's source documentation if funds were borrowed
• Inheritance documents (will, probate order, death certificate) where relevant
• Explanations and evidence of any currency exchange or use of third-party exchangers

New commercial enterprise and project documents

• Regional center: Form I-956F receipt or approval notice, offering memorandum, business plan, economic impact study, TEA evidence, organizational documents of the NCE and job-creating entity
• Direct: articles of organization, operating agreement, business licenses, leases, a comprehensive business plan, hiring plan and payroll projections, evidence of the 40 percent expansion or restructuring if an existing business is used

Later-stage documents

• I-485: Form I-693 medical exam, police and court records if any, evidence of lawful status and maintenance of status
• DS-260: civil documents, police certificates where the Department of State's country-specific reciprocity rules require them (requirements vary by age, nationality, and periods of residence), medical exam
• I-829: proof the capital was invested and sustained as required (bank statements, financial statements, K-1s), payroll records or the updated economic analysis showing job creation, evidence of the investor's continued residence in the United States

What are Some Examples of Lawful Sources of Funds for an EB-5 Visa?

One of the key requirements of the EB-5 visa is that the funds used for the investment, and any funds used to pay administrative fees to the regional center or project, were lawfully obtained.

This means that the funds must have been obtained through lawful activity and cannot be derived, directly or indirectly, from unlawful conduct. USCIS also requires evidence of the “path of funds,” meaning how the money moved from its source to the new commercial enterprise.

To prove this, you submit documents showing how the funds were earned, including bank statements, tax returns, and transaction records.

Examples of lawful sources of funds include:

Under INA 203(b)(5)(H), the petition must include tax returns filed within the previous seven years (or such other period as USCIS may require), and USCIS may request additional records. Gifts and loans may be counted only if they were given or made in good faith and not to get around the limits on permissible sources of capital.

EB-5 filing fees

Government fees are in addition to the investment itself, the regional center's administrative fee (set by the project, not the government), and attorney fees. USCIS fees change, so the live USCIS Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) controls on the day you file. The figures below reflect the G-1055 edition dated 08/29/25, confirmed as of September 17, 2026.

Regional centers also pay an annual EB-5 Integrity Fund fee of $20,000 for a regional center with more than 20 total investors in the preceding fiscal year, or $10,000 for a regional center with 20 or fewer total investors in the preceding fiscal year. Regional centers may build those costs into the administrative fee charged to investors.

The Form I-526E instructions require the $1,000 Integrity Fund fee to be paid separately from the $11,160 filing fee, and USCIS rejects I-526E packages submitted with a single combined payment covering concurrently filed Forms I-485, I-765, or I-131. Follow the payment instructions for each form you include.

EB-5 processing time and timeline

EB-5 is a multi-year process. There is no premium processing for any EB-5 form. USCIS publishes processing time ranges for Forms I-526, I-526E, I-485, and I-829 on its processing times tool, and those figures move month to month. USCIS notes that its published figure reflects how long it took to complete a defined share of recently decided cases and does not predict when a specific pending case will be decided. Check the tool for the current figure for your form and category before you plan around it, and expect the figure to change.

Within the I-526E category, rural petitions receive statutory priority processing, so a rural petition and an unreserved petition filed on the same day may be decided at very different times.

A realistic end-to-end picture:

For an investor chargeable to China in the unreserved category, the September 2026 final action date of December 1, 2016 signals a long queue, but it does not measure the wait for a newly filed case: movement depends on demand, annual limits, the number of derivatives per petition, and any spillover of unused visas. Timelines vary and can change with each Visa Bulletin.

The September 30, 2026 grandfathering date and the 2027 sunset

This is the most time-sensitive issue in EB-5 as of September 17, 2026, and it affects anyone still deciding whether to invest through a regional center.

The RIA reauthorized the regional center program only through September 30, 2027. Direct EB-5 does not expire; it is permanent law. The regional center program is the part that needs Congress to act again.

To protect investors from the kind of lapse that froze thousands of cases between July 2021 and March 2022, the RIA includes a grandfathering provision (section 103(b) of the Act). It states that a future repeal or expiration of the regional center provisions does not affect petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026, and requires USCIS to continue adjudicating those petitions and to treat their beneficiaries as eligible for the related benefits, including Adjustment of Status or an immigrant visa and removal of conditions. Regional center petitions filed after that date do not carry this statutory protection. If the program is not reauthorized by September 30, 2027, those later filers could face suspension of adjudication until Congress acts.

In practical terms, as of September 17, 2026:

• To be protected, a properly filed Form I-526E must be received by USCIS on or before September 30, 2026. USCIS generally uses its received date, not the mailing date, as the filing date. A submission rejected at intake for a wrong fee, a missing signature, or the wrong form has no filing date; that is different from a petition that is accepted and later denied.
• Investors who have not yet completed source-of-funds work are unlikely to assemble a complete petition in time. Filing an incomplete petition to meet the date invites a Request for Evidence or denial, and the fee is not refunded.
• Nothing about the date changes the substantive requirements or the visa queue. It only determines whether your case is insulated from a future program lapse.

Congress has extended or reauthorized the regional center program multiple times since it began in 1992, including through the RIA after the 2021 to 2022 lapse. Whether it does so again before September 30, 2027 is a legislative question no one can guarantee.

Visa availability, priority dates, and country of chargeability

An approved petition does not by itself give you a green card. You also need an immigrant visa number to be available in your category for your country of chargeability, and you must separately qualify for Adjustment of Status or an immigrant visa.

How many EB-5 visas exist each year? EB-5 receives 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment-based immigrant visa total. In a standard year that is roughly 10,000 visas, counting the investor and every dependent. Fiscal year 2026's employment-based limit was unusually high (186,317 visas) because unused family-based numbers from the prior year rolled over, so fiscal year 2027's EB-5 supply will be recalculated and may be lower.

Per-country limits. No single country's applicants may use more than 7 percent of the annual employment-based visas across the preference categories, though unused numbers can spill over. Demand from investors born in China, and more recently India, has exceeded their share, producing queues.

Country of chargeability. Your place in line is based on your country of birth, not your citizenship. An investor born in India who holds a Canadian passport is chargeable to India. Cross-chargeability may allow you to use your spouse's country of birth instead if the spouse is immigrating with you.

Priority date. Your priority date is the date USCIS received your properly filed I-526 or I-526E. The Department of State's monthly Visa Bulletin publishes cut-off dates. If your priority date is earlier than the final action date for your category and country, a visa number is available.

Where things stand in September 2026. The September 2026 Visa Bulletin (the last of fiscal year 2026) lists all three reserved EB-5 categories as Current worldwide. The unreserved category shows December 1, 2016 for China and is unavailable for India for the remainder of the fiscal year; all other countries are Current in unreserved. The bulletin states that the unreserved category may need to retrogress or become unavailable before the fiscal year ends. The Department of State has separately confirmed that annual limits reset on October 1, 2026 and that issuance may resume for qualified Indian applicants in the unreserved category in the new fiscal year. The October 2026 Visa Bulletin will show the actual fiscal year 2027 cut-off dates when the Department of State publishes it.

USCIS announces monthly whether adjustment applicants may use the Final Action Dates chart or the Dates for Filing chart. For September 2026, USCIS requires the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based adjustment filings.

Risks, traps, and edge cases in EB-5 cases

The following are the problems that surface in EB-5 cases and that deserve attention before you invest.

Loss of the investment. EB-5 capital must be at risk, and projects fail. Regional center loans can default, developers can run out of money, and investors have lost their investment in past projects. Immigration approval does not protect your money; project quality does. Independent due diligence on the developer, the capital stack, the exit strategy, and the regional center's compliance history is the main tool you have for reducing that risk.

Fraud. The SEC and USCIS have brought actions against regional centers and promoters that misused investor funds. The RIA's integrity rules (audits, background checks, fund administrators or annual audits for pooled funds, and third-party promoter registration) were written in response. They lower the risk. They do not eliminate it.

Source-of-funds gaps. A petition can be denied even when the money is entirely legitimate if the paper trail cannot be reconstructed. Cash businesses, informal loans, funds moved through third-party exchangers to avoid currency controls, and gifts from relatives with undocumented income each raise documentation problems. Currency control violations in the home country can also create issues under the lawful-source standard.

Material change. If the project changes materially after your petition is filed but before you become a conditional resident (for example, the job-creating entity or the business plan is replaced), USCIS may find the petition no longer approvable. Changes after conditional residence is granted are treated more flexibly at the I-829 stage.

Redeployment. If the project repays the enterprise before your sustainment obligation is met, the enterprise may need to redeploy your capital into another at-risk investment. The rules on where and how redeployment may occur have shifted over the years, and pre-RIA investors with long visa waits have been especially affected.

Children aging out. A child must be under 21 and unmarried to immigrate as a derivative. Under the Child Status Protection Act (INA 203(h)), the child's age for immigration purposes is calculated by taking the child's age on the date a visa number becomes available and subtracting the number of days the I-526 or I-526E was pending. If the result is under 21, the child remains a "child" for the case, provided the child seeks to acquire permanent residence within one year of visa availability. Time spent waiting for a visa number after petition approval is not subtracted, so a child of an investor in a backlogged category can age out even with CSPA. Filing while the child is young, choosing a reserved category with current visa availability, or having the child file as a principal investor are the strategies attorneys evaluate.

Divorce and family changes. A spouse who divorces the investor before obtaining conditional residence loses derivative eligibility. A spouse or child who already holds conditional residence may, in some circumstances, file a separate I-829 if the principal investor does not or if the family separates.

Relying on "Current" visa bulletins. "Current" for the reserved categories reflects the pace of visa issuance and USCIS adjudication as much as underlying demand, and cut-off dates can appear with little warning. An investor who files an I-485 concurrently while the category is Current, and then sees the category retrogress, keeps the pending I-485 (and any work and travel documents issued on it) but cannot be approved until a visa number is again available.

Conditional residence is real residence. Conditional permanent residents who spend most of their time abroad risk a finding of abandonment. A reentry permit (Form I-131) can help for planned long absences but does not cure a life lived elsewhere.

Tax. A green card holder is a U.S. tax resident on worldwide income from the date of admission or adjustment. Pre-immigration tax planning belongs in the timeline before the I-485 or the consular interview, not after.

Program lapse risk for late regional center filers. Discussed above. A regional center I-526E received after September 30, 2026 lacks statutory grandfathering if the program is not reauthorized by September 30, 2027.

Other proposals are not EB-5. Separate residency-by-investment proposals, including the "Gold Card" concept announced by the executive branch in 2025, have been structured outside the EB-5 statute. Their legal status and availability change and should be evaluated separately from EB-5; nothing in those proposals alters the EB-5 requirements on this page.

From conditional green card to permanent residence and U.S. citizenship

EB-5 permanent residence comes in two phases.

Phase one: conditional permanent residence (two years). You receive a green card valid for two years. You may live, work, and study in the United States and travel as a permanent resident, subject to the conditions on your status. Your investment must satisfy the sustainment rule that applies to your petition (two years from when the full investment was made and placed at risk, under current USCIS interpretation, for petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022; throughout the conditional residence period for earlier petitions), and the project must be on track to create the required jobs.

Phase two: removal of conditions. File Form I-829 within the 90-day period preceding the second anniversary of the date you obtained conditional residence. Pre-RIA investors show that the investment was continuously maintained throughout conditional residence (8 CFR 216.6(a)(4)); post-RIA investors show compliance with the RIA sustainment requirement as USCIS currently interprets it. Both must show the required job creation. The 10-year card follows approval. If USCIS denies the I-829, it terminates conditional resident status and may issue a Notice to Appear in removal proceedings, where the investor can ask an immigration judge to review the denial. Filing late without good cause leads to termination as well, which is why the 90-day window should be calendared the day conditional residence is granted.

Naturalization. Time in conditional resident status counts as permanent residence for naturalization. In general, a permanent resident may apply for U.S. citizenship (Form N-400) after five years of continuous residence as a permanent resident, with at least 30 months of physical presence in the United States during those five years, along with the other requirements of INA 316. Under 8 CFR 334.2(b), the application may be filed up to 90 days before the five-year residence requirement is met; the early filing does not shorten the residence period itself. The five years run from the date you were first admitted or adjusted as a conditional resident, not from the I-829 approval. Extended trips abroad, tax filings as a nonresident, and criminal issues can interrupt eligibility.

Frequently asked questions about the EB-5 visa

• What is the minimum investment for an EB-5 visa in 2026?
  The minimum is $1,050,000, or $800,000 if the enterprise is located in a targeted employment area (a rural area or a high-unemployment area) or the investment is in a qualifying infrastructure project. These amounts are scheduled for an inflation adjustment on January 1, 2027.
• Can I get my EB-5 investment back?
  Possibly, but not on a guaranteed basis. The law requires the capital to be at risk. Repayment depends on the project's performance and the offering terms, and it may not occur until after the required sustainment period. A guaranteed repayment of principal or a buy-back right disqualifies the investment.
• What happens to my green card if the EB-5 project fails?
  If the enterprise cannot show the required job creation, or the capital was not sustained as required, USCIS may deny the Form I-829 and terminate conditional resident status. Loss of the money and loss of the immigration benefit are separate risks; a project can lose investors' capital yet still have created the required jobs, and the reverse is also possible. Whether a failing project can still support an I-829 depends on the facts and should be reviewed with counsel early.
• Can I switch to a different regional center project after filing?
  A change in the job-creating entity or business plan before you obtain conditional residence is generally treated as a material change that can make the petition unapprovable, which would require a new petition and a new priority date. After conditional residence is granted, USCIS applies a more flexible standard at the I-829 stage. Any proposed change should be evaluated with counsel before it is made.
• What happens to my spouse's case if we divorce?
  A spouse who divorces the investor before obtaining conditional residence loses derivative eligibility. A spouse who already holds conditional residence may, in some circumstances, file a separate Form I-829.
• What if the reserved category retrogresses after I file Form I-485?
  Your pending I-485 remains pending, and any employment authorization or advance parole issued on it remains valid according to its terms, but USCIS cannot approve the I-485 until a visa number is available again under a later Visa Bulletin.
• Can my family come with me on an EB-5 visa?
  Yes. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may receive conditional permanent residence as derivatives of your petition. Under the Child Status Protection Act, the time the I-526 or I-526E was pending is subtracted from a child's age when a visa number becomes available, but waiting time in a visa backlog is not.
• Do I have to live where the project is located?
  No. Regional center investors may live anywhere in the United States. Direct investors who manage their own business will in practice need to be where the business operates, but there is no legal residence requirement tied to the project's location.
• Do I need to speak English or have a degree for EB-5?
  No. EB-5 has no education, language, age, or business experience requirement. The requirements are lawful capital, an at-risk investment, job creation, a qualifying management role (which limited partner or comparable governance rights can satisfy), and admissibility.
• Can I file for a green card at the same time as my EB-5 petition?
  If you are in the United States, a visa number is immediately available in your category for your country of chargeability, and you otherwise qualify for Adjustment of Status under INA 245, you may file Form I-485 concurrently with the I-526 or I-526E, along with Form I-765 and Form I-131. INA 245(n) has permitted this since the RIA took effect in March 2022.
• Is EB-5 faster for people born in India or China?
  In the reserved categories, visa numbers are currently available. The September 2026 Visa Bulletin lists the rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure set-asides as Current for all countries. The unreserved category shows a December 1, 2016 cut-off for China and is unavailable for India through September 30, 2026. Cut-off dates can appear in the reserved categories in future bulletins.
• What happens if the regional center program expires?
  Direct EB-5 continues regardless. For regional center investors, RIA section 103(b) protects petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026: USCIS must continue adjudicating them and treat their beneficiaries as eligible for the related benefits. Regional center petitions filed after that date do not have that protection if Congress does not reauthorize the program by September 30, 2027.
• Can I use a loan or a gift for my EB-5 investment?
  Yes, if the donor or lender obtained the funds lawfully and you document their source to the same standard as your own funds. A loan may not be secured by the assets of the new commercial enterprise.
• Can I invest in my own existing business?
  A business formed after November 29, 1990 can qualify as a new commercial enterprise. An older business can qualify if it is restructured into a new enterprise or expanded so that net worth or employee count grows by at least 40 percent, and the 10 new jobs must be in addition to pre-existing positions. A qualifying troubled business may instead satisfy the requirement by preserving its existing jobs.
• When do I file Form I-829?
  Within the 90-day period preceding the second anniversary of the date you obtained conditional permanent residence. A properly filed petition automatically extends your status while USCIS decides it.
• Can an E-2, H-1B, or F-1 holder apply for EB-5?
  Yes. Nonimmigrants in the United States who meet the EB-5 requirements may file the petition and, if a visa number is available and they qualify for Adjustment of Status, an I-485. A pending I-485 does not by itself preserve nonimmigrant status, so maintaining underlying status or relying on the I-485 pending period should be planned with counsel.