Updated November 11, 2026

EB-5 visa cost: minimum investment and USCIS filing fees across every stage

The primary EB-5 visa cost is a qualifying capital investment in a commercial enterprise, with a reduced threshold for investments in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project and a standard threshold for other business investments, as set out in the fee table below. On top of capital, you pay non-refundable government filing fees across three stages: your initial investor petition, your permanent residence processing, and your petition to remove conditions. Under the Department of Homeland Security EB-5 Fee Rule effective November 30, 2026, USCIS established updated filing fees for investor petitions, regional center entities, and the statutory EB-5 Integrity Fund.

What are the EB-5 investment requirements and fees?

Every EB-5 investor plans for two main costs: the qualifying capital investment placed into a commercial enterprise, and the non-refundable government filing fees paid to USCIS across the life of the petition. One qualifying investment covers the principal investor, a spouse, and unmarried children under age 21.

You may see different USCIS fee figures across legal websites due to recent regulatory shifts. In January 2024, DHS published a broad immigration fee rule that increased EB-5 petition fees starting April 1, 2024. On November 12, 2025, a federal court in Moody v. Noem stayed those April 2024 EB-5 fee increases, prompting USCIS to revert to its earlier Form G-1055 fee schedule. On September 30, 2026, DHS published a dedicated EB-5 final rule establishing program-specific fees for petitions postmarked on or after November 30, 2026.

The table below gathers every statutory investment minimum, investor filing fee, and regional center entity fee into one place.

Fees from uscis.gov (Form G-1055), ecfr.gov, and federalregister.gov, as of November 2026

How much do you need to invest for an EB-5 visa?

Congress established the EB-5 program in 1990 to stimulate the domestic economy through capital investment and employment creation. The program provides roughly 10,000 immigrant visas each year to qualifying foreign investors and their derivative family members. Your primary cost outlay is the capital placed into a new commercial enterprise.

The law establishes two investment tiers, reflected in the table above. The lower capital threshold applies when you invest in an infrastructure project or in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA), which encompasses rural areas and qualifying high-unemployment areas. The higher threshold applies to all other locations across the United States.

Frequent project structures include multi-family housing, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure developments.

USCIS applies specific criteria on Form I-526 to evaluate project locations:

• Rural area: any geographic territory outside a metropolitan statistical area designated by the Office of Management and Budget, and outside the boundary of any municipality with a population of 20,000 or more based on the most recent decennial census.
• High-unemployment area: the census tract or contiguous census tracts where the business is principally operating, including directly adjacent census tracts, provided the weighted average unemployment rate equals at least 150 percent of the national average.
• Job creation standard: whether investing at the TEA threshold or standard threshold, your capital must create or preserve at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualifying workers, excluding yourself, your spouse, and your children.
• Troubled business standard: an enterprise existing for at least two years that suffered a net accounting loss of at least 20 percent of its net worth over the preceding 12 to 24 months must maintain pre-investment job counts for at least two years.

How do you prove where your investment money came from?

Both the money you put into the business and any funds used to pay administrative expenses associated with your investment must derive from lawful sources. Part 4 of Form I-526 requires you to document the exact dates and amounts of your capital alongside the dates and amounts of any administrative fees paid to project organizers.

A key structural cost difference exists between direct petitions and regional center filings. Direct investors on Form I-526 bear the ongoing operational and payroll cost of directly employing 10 full-time qualifying U.S. workers on their company payroll. Regional center investors on Form I-526E pay project-level administrative and syndication fees to the project sponsor, which allows them to satisfy the job requirement through pooled direct, indirect, and induced employment.

USCIS instructions for Form I-526 require an evidentiary trail spanning a 20-year employment history (with government or military service reported regardless of date), a 15-year lookback on civil actions or monetary court judgments, and 7 years of personal and business tax returns to prove where your money came from.

USCIS instructions explicitly disqualify certain financial structures from counting toward your qualifying capital:

• Assets acquired directly or indirectly through unlawful means.
• Capital provided in exchange for a note, bond, convertible debt, or any other debt instrument between you and the enterprise.
• Capital invested under a guaranteed rate of return.
• Capital encumbered by an agreement giving you a contractual right to repayment, including mandatory redemptions or sell-back rights.
• Gifted or borrowed funds, unless you provide records from the donor or non-bank lender showing the money was lawfully derived, provided in good faith, and not used to evade capital rules. Any loan must be secured by your own personal assets, with personal liability.

What are the Stage 1 filing fees?

Your initial government filing fee is paid when submitting your immigrant investor petition. The specific form and amount depend on whether you file independently or pool capital through a designated regional center.

Standalone direct investors submit Form I-526. Investors pooling capital through a regional center under INA section 203(b)(5)(E) submit Form I-526E. USCIS rejects any Form I-526 that indicates an association with a regional center. In regional center developments, up to 90 percent of the 10 required jobs may be satisfied through indirect or induced employment.

For filings postmarked on or after November 30, 2026, the EB-5 Final Rule sets updated fees shown in the table above. Initial filings require the updated petition fee and, for regional center investors, the statutory Integrity Fund fee.

Review these key rules before submitting Stage 1 fees:

• Technology fee inclusion: the 2026 EB-5 Final Rule incorporates the mandatory technology fee shown in the table above directly inside the listed filing fees for Form I-526 and initial Form I-526E petitions. You do not pay an extra technology surcharge on top of the published fee.
• Investor Integrity Fund fee: an initial Form I-526E filing requires the separate statutory Integrity Fund fee listed in the table above. DHS adjusted this fee for inflation using the CPI-U inflation measure from 2022 to 2025. This fee does not apply to Form I-526E amendments or standalone Form I-526 petitions.
• Separate payment mandate: since September 1, 2022, USCIS rejects any package that combines fees for Form I-526 or Form I-526E with Form I-485, Form I-131, or Form I-765 on a single check or payment authorization. Each form requires its own separate payment.

What are the Stage 2 green card application fees?

Once USCIS approves your immigrant investor petition, or concurrently if the Department of State Visa Bulletin indicates your priority date is current, you and your derivative family members apply for two-year conditional permanent residence. Your costs at Stage 2 depend on your processing location.

Applying inside the United States (Form I-485). Each family member files an individual Form I-485 and pays the per-person fee in the table above. Children under age 14 qualify for the reduced filing fee only when their application is filed concurrently with the Form I-485 of one parent. Separate biometric service fees are no longer charged for Form I-485 because biometric intake costs are built into the petition fee.

Unbundled employment and travel authorizations. For any adjustment application filed with a fee after April 1, 2024, USCIS no longer provides Form I-765 (work permit) or Form I-131 (advance parole) without charge. If you request employment authorization while your Form I-485 is pending, you pay the reduced Form I-765 fee listed in the table above. If you require travel authorization, you pay the separate Form I-131 fee shown in the table above.

Consular processing abroad. If you reside overseas, you complete immigrant visa processing through the Department of State. Consult travel.state.gov for consular application processing charges. After the embassy or consulate issues your immigrant visa, each traveling family member must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee in the table above to cover domestic processing and Permanent Resident Card production.

What are the Stage 3 fees to remove conditions?

When USCIS approves your adjustment of status or when you enter the United States on an immigrant visa, you receive conditional permanent resident status valid for two years.

To obtain unconditional lawful permanent resident status, you must submit Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, during the 90-day window immediately preceding the second anniversary of receiving your conditional status. The card expiration date marks that second anniversary.

The Form I-829 filing fee is set out in the table above. Approval removes conditions for the principal investor and any qualifying family members included on the petition. Dependent family members who must file independently under specific regulatory circumstances submit a separate Form I-829.

Filing timing is critical. Submitting Form I-829 before the 90-day window opens results in a rejection. Missing the 90-day deadline causes automatic termination of conditional permanent resident status and initiates removal proceedings, unless USCIS accepts a late submission accompanied by written evidence demonstrating good cause and extenuating circumstances.

How to pay USCIS fees without getting rejected

USCIS lockbox facilities reject petitions submitted with mismatched fee amounts, combined payments across restricted form categories, or invalid signature formats. Work through this six-step checklist before mailing your filing package:

• 1. Check the postmark date against November 30, 2026. USCIS determines the applicable fee schedule by the postmark date (or electronic submission date), while using the received date for statutory filing windows. Any EB-5 petition postmarked on or after November 30, 2026 must pay the fees established by the 2026 EB-5 Final Rule.
• 2. Consult Form G-1055 before sending. USCIS removed specific fee amounts from form instructions and consolidated all fee schedules, exceptions, and payment instructions onto Form G-1055.
• 3. Issue separate payments for each form. Never combine payments for Form I-526 or Form I-526E with Form I-485, Form I-765, or Form I-131. Provide an individual payment record for each form and for the statutory Integrity Fund fee.
• 4. Follow electronic payment rules for mailed packages. When filing by mail at a lockbox, pay by credit, debit, or prepaid card using Form G-1450, or through an ACH transfer from a U.S. bank account using Form G-1650. Filers qualifying for an exemption from electronic payment must submit Form G-1651. Cash is never accepted, even at USCIS field offices.
• 5. Observe the no-chargeback regulation. Fees submitted to USCIS by card cannot be disputed, charged back, or refunded through cardholder banks, except at the sole discretion of USCIS.
• 6. Confirm form edition dates. Print every page of your petition from the identical form edition, verify that the edition date and page numbering appear at the bottom of every page, and sign in handwritten ink. USCIS rejects unsigned forms and submissions with missing or mixed pages.

What do regional centers and project sponsors pay?

The 2026 EB-5 Final Rule also governs fee structures for regional center management, project filings, promoter registrations, and pre-Reform Act investor protections.

Form I-527 for legacy investors. Investors who filed Form I-526 prior to the 2022 Reform Act whose regional center is terminated, or whose commercial enterprise or job-creating entity is debarred, may file Form I-527 to amend their petition and retain eligibility under INA section 203(b)(5)(M). The filing fee is set in the table above, and fee waivers are not available.

Regional center filings and project applications. As of June 4, 2026, USCIS reported 567 approved regional centers across 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sponsoring entities submit Form I-956 for initial designation or amendments, Form I-956F for commercial project approvals, Form I-956G for annual statements, Form I-956H for personnel bona fides, and Form I-956K for promoter registrations. Under the 2026 final rule, USCIS allocates the estimated annual cost of regional center terminations and reaffirmations across initial Form I-956 and Form I-956F filings, excluding Form I-956 amendments.

Annual Regional Center Integrity Fund fees and late penalties. Every designated regional center must pay the statutory Integrity Fund fee listed in the table above, based on whether it had 20 or fewer investors or more than 20 investors during the prior fiscal year. Strict penalties apply for late payment, and USCIS terminates the designation of any regional center that fails to pay its required fee and accrued penalties.

What the officer may ask at your EB-5 interview

Whether you appear at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad for an immigrant visa interview or attend an adjustment interview at a USCIS office, the officer verifies that your statements match the documentation in your petition file. Below are four questions frequently posed to EB-5 applicants, what each verifies, and how to prepare.

• How did you accumulate your investment capital and administrative fees? What it checks: that both the capital and the funds used for project fees were obtained lawfully, matching Part 4 of your petition. How to prepare: know the exact dates, amounts, and sources of your funds, and have your 7 years of tax returns, banking statements, and gift or loan agreements organized for quick reference.
• Did you use a third party to move your investment funds into the United States? What it checks: disclosure under Part 4, Item 17 of Form I-526, covering money-service businesses, foreign exchange intermediaries, or personal transfer conduits. How to prepare: know the name, registration details, and wire dates for every financial intermediary used to transfer funds into the U.S. escrow or business account.
• What does the commercial enterprise do, and where is it located? What it checks: your knowledge of the enterprise and whether it satisfies TEA, infrastructure, or standard business criteria. How to prepare: review the project business plan, job-creating entity operations, and capital structure, confirming that your investment is at risk without a guaranteed return or redemption agreement.
• How does the business plan to satisfy the 10 full-time job requirement? What it checks: statutory job creation for qualifying U.S. workers under Part 5 of the petition. How to prepare: for direct investments, know the current employee counts, job titles, and hiring timeline. For regional center investments, understand how the project calculates direct and indirect employment.

Practice example

Where did the funds for your EB-5 investment and project administrative fees come from, and how did you move the money into the United States?

A strong, honest answer summarizes the lawful paper trail submitted in Part 4 of your petition in two or three direct sentences. Name the precise lawful origin of your investment capital and administrative fees, such as business earnings, dividends, property sales, or a documented loan or gift. State the dates and amounts transferred to the commercial enterprise or escrow account, naming any bank or licensed transfer service you used, exactly as reported in Item 6 and Item 17 of your form. Have your 7 years of tax returns, sale deeds or loan documents, and bank transfer receipts tabbed in your binder so you can present them immediately if requested.

The officer is checking that both your investment and your fee money came from legal sources you can prove, and that the transfer route into the United States matches your petition disclosures and tax records.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.