US EB-5 Investor Visa
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program grants US permanent residence (Green Card) to investors who invest capital in a new commercial enterprise and create at least 10 full-time American jobs.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program grants a US Green Card (permanent residence) to investors who invest in a new commercial enterprise and create at least 10 full-time jobs for US workers. The minimum investment is USD $800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area or infrastructure project, or $1,050,000 elsewhere. The source of funds must be lawful and fully documented.
- Minimum Investment
- USD $800,000 (TEA) / $1,050,000
- Jobs Required
- 10 full-time US workers
- Processing Time
- 2–5+ years (country-dependent)
- Pathway
- US Green Card (Permanent Residence)
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Other routes in this category that may fit your situation
Who Is This For?
- You have a net worth sufficient to invest USD $800,000 (TEA or infrastructure project) or $1,050,000 (elsewhere)
- You can document the lawful source of your investment funds
- You are investing in a new commercial enterprise or an existing business that is being restructured
- Your investment will create or preserve at least 10 full-time positions for US workers
- You are not inadmissible to the US on criminal, health, or other grounds
- Regional Center investments (indirect job creation) are the most common route today
How It Works
- 1
Select an EB-5 investment project
Choose between a direct investment (you manage the business) or a USCIS-approved Regional Center project (pooled investment, indirect jobs). Regional Center is most common.
- 2
Transfer your investment capital
Wire your investment funds to the project's escrow account. Document the source of funds thoroughly — this is heavily scrutinized.
- 3
File Form I-526E (Immigrant Petition)
Your immigration attorney files your I-526E petition with USCIS, demonstrating your investment meets all EB-5 requirements.
- 4
Apply for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status
Once your priority date is current, you apply for a US immigrant visa (if outside the US) or adjustment of status (if already in the US).
- 5
Receive conditional Green Card (2 years)
USCIS issues a 2-year conditional permanent residence card.
- 6
File I-829 to remove conditions
After 2 years, file Form I-829 to prove your investment was sustained and jobs were created. Upon approval, you receive a 10-year Green Card.
Reviewed by Ramin Asadi · RCIC · CICC #R407111 Verify
US immigration law sits outside the RCIC licence. This page is maintained by ITC iLand and checked against USCIS sources; EB-5 petitions are prepared and filed by licensed US immigration counsel, with whom ITC iLand coordinates. Nothing on this page is US legal advice.
Figures on this page were last verified against their official sources on 4 September 2026.
What the EB-5 program is
EB-5 is the fifth employment-based preference category in United States immigration law. It grants permanent residence — a Green Card — to a foreign national who invests a qualifying amount of capital in a US commercial enterprise and, through that investment, creates at least ten full-time jobs for US workers.
Two features distinguish it from most other routes to a Green Card. There is no employer sponsor and no labour certification, so it does not depend on a US company being willing to petition for you. And it covers the immediate family on one petition: a spouse and unmarried children under 21 are included with the principal applicant.
What it is not is a passive purchase. The capital has to be genuinely at risk, the jobs have to actually materialise, and both are tested again two years after arrival before the residence becomes permanent.
How much you have to invest
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 set two minimum investment amounts. Which one applies depends entirely on where the project sits, not on who the investor is.
| Project location | Minimum investment | What qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Targeted Employment Area | $800,000 | A rural area, or an area of high unemployment |
| Infrastructure project | $800,000 | A public works project administered by a government agency |
| Everywhere else | $1,050,000 | Any project outside a TEA that is not an infrastructure project |
Why you will see other numbers online
Two superseded pairs of figures still circulate widely, including on pages that look authoritative. $500,000 and $1,000,000 were the original statutory amounts. $900,000 and $1,800,000 came from a 2019 rule that a federal court vacated in June 2021, so they never returned to force.
Only $800,000 and $1,050,000 are current. If a project, agent or brochure quotes anything else, that is a reason to ask questions rather than a difference of opinion.
Both amounts are tied to the CPI-U and adjust every five years. The first adjustment falls on 1 January 2027. Anyone weighing EB-5 against today's figures should treat that as a real date: these amounts have applied since March 2022 and the statute provides for them to rise with inflation.
Direct investment or a regional centre
Every applicant makes one structural choice before anything else. It determines which petition is filed, how the jobs are counted, and how much control the investor keeps over their own money.
| Direct investment | Regional centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Petition form | Form I-526 | Form I-526E |
| Your role | You run or actively manage the business | Passive investor in a pooled project |
| How jobs are counted | Direct employees on the payroll only | Direct, indirect and induced jobs, via an economic model |
| Who controls the capital | You do | The project sponsor does |
| Typical use | An operating business you intend to run | Real estate and infrastructure development |
Why most investors choose a regional centre
The job-counting difference is the reason. Creating 10 payroll positions inside a business you run yourself is a demanding target at this level of capital. A regional centre may count jobs generated indirectly through a project's supply chain and by the spending of its workers, which is a materially easier threshold to reach.
The trade is control. You are relying on another party's economic model, another party's project management, and another party's exit.
The Regional Center Program is authorised only through 30 September 2027. Authorisation is not automatic and has lapsed before — it expired on 30 June 2021 and was not restored until the Reform and Integrity Act took effect in March 2022. It is a scheduling factor to raise with counsel before committing, not a footnote.
The ten-job requirement
Every EB-5 investment must create at least 10 full-time positions for qualifying US workers. USCIS defines full-time precisely: a position requiring a minimum of 35 working hours per week. Two part-time roles cannot be added together to make one.
A qualifying employee does not include the investor, their spouse or their children, and does not include anyone without US work authorisation. The jobs are tested at the second petition, two years after conditional residence begins — not at the point of investment.
Visa set-asides, and why they changed the queue
EB-5 is subject to annual numerical limits and to per-country caps. For nationals of high-demand countries those caps have historically produced waits measured in years.
The Reform and Integrity Act reserved a share of the annual EB-5 visas for particular project types. These form separate queues that the general category does not draw down:
| Reserved category | Share of annual EB-5 visas |
|---|---|
| Rural project | 20% |
| High-unemployment area project | 10% |
| Infrastructure project | 2% |
The practical consequence is that the project determines the queue, and the queues do not move at the same speed. Cut-off dates change every month, so this page does not quote them — read the current dates from the Department of State Visa Bulletin, which is the only authoritative source for them.
What EB-5 costs beyond the investment
The investment amount is the headline figure, not the budget. A realistic total has several other components, and the qualifying investment is the only one that could ever come back:
- The qualifying investment itself — $800,000 or $1,050,000. This is capital at risk, not a fee, and it may or may not be returned.
- Regional centre administration or subscription fee — charged by the project sponsor on top of the investment, and generally non-refundable.
- US immigration counsel — EB-5 petitions are prepared and filed by licensed US attorneys, quoted per case.
- USCIS filing fees — payable at the petition stage, again for adjustment of status or consular processing, and again to remove conditions.
- Source-of-funds documentation — translation, notarisation, and frequently a forensic accountant where the funds have a complex history.
This page deliberately does not quote government fee amounts. USCIS reissues its fee schedule periodically, and a figure typed into a page is wrong from the moment it changes. Read the current amounts from the USCIS fee schedule itself.
Source: USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055)
Conditional residence and removing the conditions
A successful applicant does not receive a permanent Green Card at first. They receive conditional permanent residence, valid for 2 years. The conditions come off only after a second petition succeeds.
Form I-829 is that petition. It must be filed during the 90-day period immediately before conditional residence expires; the expiry date on the card is the second anniversary of admission as a conditional resident. Missing that window terminates conditional status, and a late filing is accepted only with evidence of good cause and extenuating circumstances.
Two things have to be shown at this stage: that the investment was sustained throughout the period, and that the required jobs were created. This is where a project that underperformed stops being only a financial problem and becomes an immigration one.
Source: USCIS — Form I-829
Proving where the money came from
Source of funds is the most document-intensive part of an EB-5 petition and a common reason for a request for evidence. USCIS is not simply asking whether the money exists. It is asking for a lawful path traced from the origin of the capital to the project account.
That means evidence rather than assertion: the earnings, business proceeds, sale, inheritance or gift that generated the capital; how it was taxed; and every transfer between origin and destination, including any intermediary account.
Where funds originate in a country with exchange controls or limited banking documentation, raise it at the very start. It is usually solvable, but it shapes both the timeline and the evidence strategy — and it is far harder to reconstruct after the money has already moved.
The risk that does not get marketed
EB-5 requires the investment to be genuinely at risk. That is a statutory condition of the visa, not a drafting convention. A guaranteed return, or a redemption right that functions as one, can disqualify the investment.
The consequence follows directly. If the project underperforms or fails, the investor can lose part or all of the capital — and because the immigration case and the investment are the same transaction, a failed project can cost both the money and the residence, since the jobs will not have been created and the second petition will not be approvable.
Repayment, where it happens at all, typically comes years after conditions are removed, and depends on the project's own performance and exit.
Anyone offering a guaranteed EB-5 return is describing either a structure that does not qualify for the visa, or a guarantee that will not survive contact with USCIS. Treat it as a reason to walk away rather than a selling point.
Who EB-5 suits — and who should look elsewhere
EB-5 fits a fairly narrow profile: someone who wants United States permanent residence specifically, can commit $800,000 or more of genuinely risk-tolerant capital, can document its lawful origin, and can wait years rather than months.
It is likely the wrong route if
- You need to be in a country quickly. EB-5 is measured in years, and for some nationalities in many years.
- The capital is money you cannot afford to lose. "At risk" is a legal requirement, not a disclaimer.
- Canada is the actual goal. A Canadian entrepreneur or economic route is a different proposition and usually a faster one.
- You or your funds are connected to a country subject to US sanctions. That sits outside immigration law entirely and has to be assessed by US counsel before any money moves.
Tax is a separate decision from immigration
A US permanent resident is a US tax resident, taxed on worldwide income regardless of where they live, and remains so until residence is formally relinquished — which can itself carry an expatriation tax. For anyone holding substantial assets outside the United States this is frequently the deciding factor, and it is not an immigration question. It should be modelled with a cross-border tax specialist before a petition is filed, not after.
Why ITC iLand for This Program?
While Canada is our primary focus, ITC iLand has guided clients through U.S. immigration pathways as part of comprehensive second-country planning. Our network includes U.S. immigration attorneys who collaborate on complex EB-5 and employment-based cases, backed by the same 25+ years of international immigration expertise that has driven 1,000+ successful applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
The minimum investment is USD $800,000 for projects in a Targeted Employment Area (a rural or high-unemployment area) or an infrastructure project, and $1,050,000 for all other projects. The vast majority of EB-5 investors use the lower threshold through Regional Center projects. Both amounts are tied to inflation and are scheduled to be adjusted on 1 January 2027.
A USCIS-approved Regional Center is an economic entity that pools EB-5 investors' capital and channels it into qualifying projects (typically real estate development). Regional Centers allow indirect job creation — meaning jobs created throughout the supply chain count, not just direct employees of the business.
EB-5 is a multi-year process. I-526E petition: 18–36 months. If born in China or India, priority date backlogs can add years of additional waiting. The conditional Green Card is then valid for 2 years, followed by the I-829 removal of conditions (12–24 months). Plan for a total of 5–10 years for the full process.
The I-829 is the petition to remove conditions from your Green Card filed approximately 2 years after receiving conditional residence. You must demonstrate that your investment was maintained and the required jobs were created. Failure to create jobs or sustain the investment can result in termination of your conditional Green Card.
EB-5 is a "risk capital" investment — your investment must be genuinely "at risk." If the Regional Center project fails or underperforms, you may lose some or all of your investment while your immigration case is still pending. ITC iLand works with due diligence specialists to evaluate Regional Center projects before you commit.
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