Overview: The EB-5 minimum investment is $1,050,000, or $800,000 if the business is principally doing business in a targeted employment area (TEA) or a qualifying infrastructure project. USCIS applies those figures to petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, according to USCIS. Before that law, the amounts were $1,000,000 and $500,000.
The two investment levels
The money must go into a new commercial enterprise and be genuinely at risk. The enterprise must create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. The amounts are the same whether an investor invests directly or through a regional center. What changes the number is location and project type.
What counts as a targeted employment area
A TEA is one of two things, and infrastructure projects also qualify for the lower amount.
- Rural area. Any area outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside the boundary of a city or town with a population of 20,000 or more, per the most recent census.
- High unemployment area. The census tract, or contiguous tracts, where the enterprise principally does business, which may include directly adjacent tracts, if the weighted average unemployment rate is at least 150 percent of the national average.
Reserved visas
The law also reserves part of each year’s EB-5 visas: 20 percent for rural investments, 10 percent for high unemployment areas, and 2 percent for infrastructure projects. This matters because waits differ by category. In the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, unreserved EB-5 is current for most countries, with Final Action DatesThe Visa Bulletin chart showing the priority dates for which a visa number can actually be issued or a green card approved in that month.See it in the glossary of December 1, 2016 for China and December 1, 2023 for India. The rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure set-asides are current for all areas.
Two changes on the calendar
Inflation adjustment. The law requires the amounts to adjust for inflation beginning January 1, 2027, and every five years after, per Fennemore’s summary. DHS has to publish the new figures. At the time of writing we found no official published amounts, and projections vary, so this page does not quote one.
A proposed rule. On July 2, 2026, DHS published a proposed rule (Docket USCIS-2026-0100) with comments due August 31, 2026. It would add a high employment area tier at $1,400,000, drop the use of repaid bridge financing to show job creation, and end troubled-business eligibility for future filings. It is a proposal, not a Final ruleThe version of a federal regulation that an agency publishes in the Federal Register after reviewing public comments on a proposed rule. It sets an effective date, which generally falls at least 30 days after publication, and its text is added to the Code of Federal Regulations.See it in the glossary, and we did not find a final rule as of this writing.
A separate fee rule. DHS also scheduled a final EB-5 fee rule for publication on September 30, 2026. It raises EB-5 filing fees, including for Forms I-526, I-526E and I-829, and takes effect November 30, 2026, according to AILA. The summaries we reviewed describe fee and filing changes, not new investment amounts.
There is also a program date. The Regional Center Program is authorized through September 30, 2027, and September 30, 2026 is the grandfathering cutoff for certain regional center petitions if the program later lapses.