On September 30, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published its final EB-5 fee rule in the Federal Register. The headline: the Form I-526E filing fee for regional center investors more than doubles, from $3,675 to $7,850.
The new fees apply to any petition postmarked on or after November 30, 2026. If you’re already planning an EB-5 investment, that gives you roughly 60 days to decide whether your filing can go in under the current schedule.
What’s Changing
For most investors, three fees matter:
- Form I-526E (regional center investors): $3,675 → $7,850
- EB-5 Integrity Fund fee (paid with the I-526E): $1,000 → $1,100
- Form I-829 (removing conditions on your green card): $3,750 → $5,000
Standalone (direct) investors filing Form I-526 will pay $7,615, up from $3,675.
Put together, a regional center investor will pay $8,950 at the petition stage instead of $4,675, an increase of $4,275. Across all EB-5 forms, USCIS estimates the average filing cost rises by about 70.7%.
The rule also introduces a new form, Form I-527, for legacy investors who need to amend a pending I-526 petition after a regional center is terminated or a project entity is debarred. Its fee is $10,330.
Why Fees Are Going Up Now
This isn’t the first attempt. In April 2024, USCIS raised the I-526E fee to $11,160. In November 2025, a federal court in Colorado struck that increase down because USCIS hadn’t completed the program-specific fee study required by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). Fees went back to their pre-2024 levels.
USCIS has since completed that study. The agency says the new fees are needed to close a roughly $48.4 million annual funding gap and to support the processing times and integrity measures Congress set out in the RIA.
The good news, relatively speaking: the new I-526E fee is about $3,300 lower than the 2024 fee that was struck down.
EB-5 Reserved Categories Remain Current
All three reserved categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) remain current for all countries in October 2026, as they have every month since the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act set-aside structure took effect in 2022.
The unreserved category reopening for India does not change the comparison. An unreserved date can close again within the same fiscal year, as India saw in 2026. A current reserved category has no cut-off date to track at all. For investors from high-demand countries, rural and high-unemployment projects remain the most predictable path to visa availability, and rural projects also carry priority I-526E processing.
October is also the first month after the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline under the RIA. The Regional Center Program itself remains authorized through September 30, 2027, and the reserved set-asides continue to operate as before.
What This Means for Your Investment
In the context of an $800,000 or $1,050,000 investment, a $4,275 increase is modest. But it’s real money, and it’s avoidable if your petition is ready in time.
A few points worth knowing:
- The minimum investment amounts haven’t changed (yet): This rule affects government filing fees only. The investment remains $800,000 for projects in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) and $1,050,000 elsewhere.
- The postmark date is what counts: A complete petition postmarked before November 30 is filed at today’s fees.
- There are no fee waivers for EB-5: Every investor pays the published fee.
- A second date is coming: Under the RIA, EB-5 minimum investment amounts are scheduled for their first inflation adjustment on January 1, 2027. Industry analysts estimate the TEA minimum could rise from $800,000 to roughly $900,000 to $937,500, and the standard minimum to about $1.2 million. Investors who are already evaluating projects may want to keep both dates in view.
Filing Well Matters More than Filing Fast
An I-526E petition depends on thorough source-of-funds documentation, and rushing it to beat a fee deadline isn’t worth the risk of a request for evidence or a denial. The right approach is to talk with your EB-5 immigration attorney now about whether your documents can realistically be ready before November 30.
If they can, choosing your project early is the step that tends to take the longest. It’s also where the most important decisions happen: the project’s immigration track record, its TEA designation, and how investor capital is secured. Our guide to questions to ask before choosing an EB-5 Regional Center is a good place to start.
Where EB-5 Coast to Coast Fits in
EB-5 Coast to Coast has operated USCIS-approved Regional Centers since 2012. Today we operate 12+ Regional Centers covering 49 states, and more than 1,000 investors have invested in projects sponsored through our network.
We also manage EB-5 investments directly in a small number of projects we’ve selected for their immigration and financial profiles, including All Points North in Vail, Colorado (Rural TEA and High Unemployment Area, I-956F approved), The Pines of Grass Valley in Northern California (Rural TEA, I-956F approved), and Fidium Rural Broadband in Northern New England (Rural TEA).
If you’re planning to file before the new fees take effect, we’re happy to walk you through these projects and connect you with an EB-5 attorney so you can file.
Disclaimer: This update is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or investment advice. Visa availability is subject to change, and individual circumstances may vary. Prospective investors should consult with qualified immigration counsel and review all offering documents before making any investment decision.
