Updated November 1, 2026

EB-5 visa requirements: the investment, the jobs and the paperwork

To qualify for an EB-5 green card you must invest $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project, of lawfully obtained capital at risk in a new commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying US workers. You must also be engaged in the business, through management or policy. These amounts apply to petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022.

Every requirement below comes from USCIS, 8 CFR 204.6 and the Federal Register, checked on November 1, 2026. Note the deadline: the I-526 and I-526E filing fees roughly double for petitions postmarked on or after November 30, 2026.

What are the EB-5 visa requirements?

How much do you need to invest?

The amounts are due to change. USCIS says they will be adjusted for inflation every five years using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from March 15, 2022, starting with petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027. As of November 1, 2026 we found no published figure for the new amounts, so treat any number you see quoted as a guess until USCIS posts it.

• Rural area: anywhere outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside the boundary of any city or town of 20,000 or more people in the latest census.
• High unemployment area: the census tract or contiguous tracts where the business mainly operates, with a weighted average unemployment rate of at least 150% of the national average.
• Infrastructure project: a public works project run by a government entity that contracts with a regional center or enterprise to receive EB-5 capital. Only regional center investors can use it.

What counts as qualifying capital?

Capital is cash and real, personal or mixed tangible assets you own and control, valued at fair market value in US dollars. USCIS excludes:

• assets acquired, directly or indirectly, by unlawful means
• money invested in exchange for a note, bond, convertible debt or any other debt arrangement with the business
• money invested with a guaranteed rate of return
• money invested under an agreement that gives you a contractual right to repayment (a buyback at the business's sole discretion is allowed)

Borrowed money can count only if the loan is secured by your own assets, not the business's, and you're personally and primarily liable, per 8 CFR 204.6(j)(2). Stock the business must redeem at your request doesn't qualify.

How do you prove the source of funds?

Under 8 CFR 204.6(j)(3), the petition includes, as applicable:

• foreign business registration records
• corporate, partnership and personal tax returns of any kind filed within five years, in or outside the US
• evidence identifying every other source of the capital
• certified copies of any judgments, and evidence of pending civil, criminal or administrative actions involving money judgments against you, from any court within the past fifteen years

To show the money is actually invested, the regulation lists evidence such as US business bank statements, invoices and purchase contracts for assets, customs records for property brought from abroad, and records of money transferred for shares.

What are the EB-5 job creation rules?

• Qualifying employees are US citizens, permanent residents and other immigrants authorized to work, including conditional residents, asylees and refugees. You, your spouse, your children and anyone on a nonimmigrant visa such as H-1B don't count.
• Full time means 35 hours a week or more. Two people sharing one full-time job counts, but combining part-time jobs doesn't. Intermittent, temporary, seasonal or transient jobs don't count, though jobs expected to last two years or more generally aren't treated that way.
• Troubled business: if you invest in a business at least two years old that lost at least 20% of its net worth in the 12 or 24 months before your priority date, you can keep existing jobs instead, at no less than the pre-investment level for at least two years.

How does the EB-5 process work?

1. Petition. File Form I-526 (standalone) or I-526E (regional center). USCIS rejects a single combined payment for these forms with an I-485, I-131 or I-765: each form needs its own payment.
2. Green card application. If a visa is immediately available, you can file Form I-485 inside the US with the petition, while it's pending or after approval. From abroad, after approval, you file the DS-260 and interview at a US embassy or consulate.
3. Two years of conditional residence. You, your spouse and your children get conditional green cards for two years.
4. Remove conditions. File Form I-829 in the 90 days before the second anniversary of your admission or adjustment. If approved, the conditions come off for you and the family members you included.

If you apply from abroad, the embassy interview is where an officer checks the story behind the paperwork: where the money came from, how it reached the business, and what the project does. Our US visa interview tips cover how consular interviews run, and the 221(g) guide explains what happens when a case is held for more review.

Is there a wait for an EB-5 visa?

EB-5 visas are capped each year, and the Reform and Integrity Act reserves part of them: 20% for rural areas, 10% for high unemployment areas and 2% for infrastructure. Unused set-aside visas stay in their category for one more year, then go to the unreserved pool.

For November 2026, USCIS says employment-based applicants filing inside the US use the Dates for Filing chart. On that chart:

Current means you can file if otherwise eligible. A listed date means your priority date (generally when the petition was filed) must be earlier. Final approval and visa issuance follow the separate Final Action Dates chart in the State Department's Visa Bulletin, so check it for your month. The regional center program itself is authorized through September 30, 2027.

What does EB-5 cost, before and after November 30, 2026?

Our math: a regional center investor's initial USCIS fees go from $4,675 to $8,950, an increase of $4,275. A standalone investor's go from $3,675 to $7,615. The new fees come from the EB-5 Fee Rule (91 FR 61940), published September 30, 2026, which applies to anything postmarked on or after November 30, 2026. Regional centers and lawyers charge their own fees on top, which vary.

EB-5 or E-2?

Our E-2 visa requirements guide covers the treaty investor rules in full, and the E-2 interview questions guide shows how officers question investors about their business and money.

Visaful is an AI mock interview app for US visa interviews: an AI officer asks your visa's questions out loud and shows what to fix.

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.