EB-5 Investment Amount in 2026

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act amended INA §203(b)(5)(C) to establish the present general investment amount.

The amount applicable to a petition is determined under the law in effect for the relevant filing.

The filing date matters because the statute fixes the required capital amount for the petition being filed. For a petition filed before the first 2027 adjustment takes effect, the general amount remains $1,050,000. That statutory capital requirement is separate from project administrative charges, legal fees, filing fees, and other transaction costs. An investor who is still actively in the process of investing should document that the full required capital amount is committed and moving into the qualifying investment under the governing petition structure.

The reduced amount applies when the investment satisfies the statutory targeted employment area or infrastructure project requirement.

A project marketed as low-investment EB-5 should be checked against the current statutory definition.

The $800,000 amount is available only when the investment independently satisfies the statutory targeted employment area or infrastructure project rules. A targeted employment area is based on the current rural or high unemployment definitions and designation process. Participation in a regional center does not by itself make every offering eligible for the reduced amount. Before relying on the lower threshold, the petition should identify the legal basis for the project's qualification and preserve the location or infrastructure evidence supporting that treatment.

INA §203(b)(5)(C)(iii) provides for automatic adjustment beginning January 1, 2027 and every five years thereafter.

The statutory formula uses cumulative CPI-U changes and directs DHS to publish updated amounts.

For petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027, the statute directs an automatic adjustment of the standard amount based on the cumulative CPI-U change measured from January 1, 2022. The adjusted standard amount is rounded down to the nearest $50,000, and DHS is directed to publish the updated figure through a technical amendment. The reduced amount is then set at 75 percent of the adjusted standard amount. Filing plans near an adjustment date should therefore use the amount legally effective on the petition's filing date.

Future qualifying investment amounts are rounded down to the nearest $50,000 under the statutory adjustment mechanism.

The rounding rule is part of the statutory adjustment formula, not permission to estimate a lower investment amount before DHS publishes the operative figure. Investors preparing a filing near January 1, 2027 should confirm the amount that applies to petitions filed on or after the adjustment date and should make subscription, escrow, and transfer documents consistent with that figure. If an offering document was prepared using an older amount, the petition record should address any later change rather than assume the earlier marketing materials control.

Regional center offerings commonly involve administrative or syndication fees in addition to the statutory investment.

Current USCIS instructions also require lawful-source evidence for certain funds used to pay administrative costs and fees.

Administrative or syndication fees are ordinarily separate from the capital amount that must be invested in the new commercial enterprise. They should not be treated as part of the required $1,050,000 or $800,000 merely because they are paid at the same time as the investment. The Reform and Integrity Act also requires the investor to establish the lawful source and lawful means of funds used to pay administrative costs and fees associated with the investment. Source documentation should therefore account for both the investment capital and these additional payments.

• Subscription agreement
• Bank transfers
• NCE bank records
• Capital account records
• Escrow records
• Asset transfers
• Investment agreement

The petition record should make the amount invested easy to verify from the underlying transaction documents. Useful evidence can include the subscription or investment agreement, escrow records, wire confirmations, bank statements showing the transfer, new commercial enterprise account records, and capital account records. When noncash assets are used as capital, the record should also support ownership, control, and fair market value under the governing definition of capital. The evidence should reconcile the amount stated in the petition with the amount actually transferred or invested.