EB-5 Investor Green Card in 2026: $800,000 or $1,050,000, 10 Jobs, New Fees and the Queue for China and India

EB-5 is the programme my investor clients ask about first, and it is the only one where money leads to a green card and, in the end, to a US passport. It exists since 1990 and was rewritten by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. Below are the rules from the USCIS EB-5 page, the Visa Bulletin and the BRIDGES EB-5 page, checked on 4 November 2026.

The investment amounts

Project	Minimum investment
Targeted employment area: rural or high unemployment	$800,000
Infrastructure project	$800,000
Any other project	$1,050,000

The investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for US workers per investor and stay at risk. The law also reserves visas: 20% for rural projects, 10% for high unemployment areas and 2% for infrastructure. For petitions filed from 1 January 2027 the amounts are to be adjusted for inflation. When I checked, the new figures were not yet published, so if you are close to a decision, timing matters.

Regional centre or direct investment

Most investors go through a regional centre: a company approved by USCIS that pools capital for a large project and can count indirect jobs. The regional centre programme is authorised until 30 September 2027. A direct investment into your own business is also possible, but then you must create 10 direct jobs yourself. In both cases USCIS examines the lawful source of every dollar, and this is where most requests for evidence come from.

The steps

1. Due diligence on the project and the documents on the source of funds.
2. Form I-526E for regional centre projects, or I-526 for direct investment.
3. If you are in the US and your date is current, you can file for adjustment of status at the same time. Otherwise the case goes to the National Visa Center and a consulate.
4. A conditional green card for 2 years.
5. Form I-829 within the 90 days before the second anniversary, to prove the investment was kept and the jobs were created.
6. A permanent green card, and after 5 years of residence counted from the conditional card the right to naturalise.

Fees

According to the USCIS fee schedule, until 29 November 2026 Form I-526E costs $3,675 plus the $1,000 EB-5 Integrity Fund fee, and Form I-829 costs $3,750. For filings from 30 November 2026 a new fee rule applies: $7,850 for I-526E, $7,615 for I-526, $5,000 for I-829 and $1,100 for the Integrity Fund. Add legal fees, the regional centre fee and consular costs.

The queue in November 2026

The queue depends on the country of birth, not citizenship. In the November 2026 Visa Bulletin the unreserved EB-5 category is current for every country except China, with a final action date of 1 December 2016, and India, with 1 December 2023. The reserved categories for rural, high unemployment and infrastructure projects are current for everyone. For an investor born in China or India a rural project is therefore the main way to avoid a long wait.

EB-5 and the Gold Card

The Gold Card launched in December 2025 is not an investment: it is a $1,000,000 gift to the US Treasury plus a $15,000 processing fee, and the money is not returned. Press reports in autumn 2026 counted only a few final approvals and the programme is being challenged in court. EB-5 keeps a statutory basis and a chance to get your capital back.

My honest view

EB-5 is expensive, slow and depends on the quality of the project more than on anything else. I advise choosing the project on documents, not on the quota or the marketing. For families born outside China and India, filing a well-prepared rural project before the inflation adjustment is in my view the most reasonable plan in 2026. The overview of all routes is in the complete guide.