EB-5 investor visa in the US
A US programme for investors: capital placed in an American enterprise, plus jobs created for local workers, leads to permanent resident status. Applications are decided by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. You can invest in your own business or through an approved regional centre project. The investor and their family first receive conditional status; it becomes permanent once the investment has been sustained and the jobs created.
How to choose between a direct investment and a regional centre
EB-5 has two formats — running the business yourself or investing through an approved regional centre; the choice decides how the created jobs are counted and how actively the investor has to be involved in management.
Suits a direct investment (Form I-526)
- You're ready to run the business personally, sit on the board or take management decisions
- You plan to create all 10 jobs directly in your own enterprise, without counting indirect ones
- You want full control of the project and aren't willing to rely on a third-party regional centre's team
Suits an investment through a regional centre (Form I-526E)
- You prefer passive involvement without running the business day to day
- You accept that up to 90% of the jobs count as indirect — created through the project's knock-on effect
- You choose a USCIS-approved regional centre project with an established job-counting methodology
When the programme won't suit you
You don't have free capital of at least the programme's minimum threshold with an evidenced lawful origin
Consider visas for entrepreneurs and specialists with a lower entry threshold — E-2 for citizens of treaty countries, or employment-based immigration
You need a quick result, not a long procedure that waits for the investment to be sustained and the jobs confirmed
Consider categories with a shorter review cycle, such as EB-1 for people with extraordinary achievement
You're not willing to keep the capital at risk for the whole period of conditional residence
Consider less risky routes to a green card — through employment (EB-2, EB-3) or family immigration
You can't document the lawful origin of every part of the investment for the required period
Document the sources of capital first (asset sales, inheritance, loans), or choose a route that doesn't require proving source of funds
What it costs
| Form I-526 petition (standalone investor, outside a regional centre)Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor — filed once if you take the direct investment route | 3 675 USD |
|---|---|
| Form I-526E petition (regional centre investor, with the mandatory EB-5 Reform Act fee)The base fee of $3,675 plus a separate $1,000 fee, mandatory for all I-526E petitions filed from 1 October 2022 | 4 675 USD |
| Form I-829 petition (removing the conditions on permanent residence)Filed within the 90 days before the two-year conditional status expires | 3 750 USD |
| Form I-485 application to adjust status inside the USA (paper filing)Paid only by those getting the green card through adjustment of status while in the USA; filing online costs $1,390. Investors going through consular processing abroad pay US State Department fees for the DS-260 instead | +1 440 USD |
| Total government feesThe sum of the mandatory rows in the table. “Form I-485 application to adjust status inside the USA (paper filing)” adds 1 440 USD; the “Form I-526E petition (regional centre investor, with the mandatory EB-5 Reform Act fee)” branch replaces the “Form I-526 petition (standalone investor, outside a regional centre)” line — 8 425 USD. Charges with no official price list are in the list below. | 7,425–8 865 USD |
Paid separately
- The annual EB-5 Integrity Fund contribution — Paid by the regional centre, not by the investor directly: $20,000 a year with more than 20 investors, or $10,000 with 20 or fewer
- The US State Department fee for consular visa processing (Form DS-260) — Charged by the State Department, not USCIS, so it isn't in the USCIS fee schedule
- Legal fees, regional centre commissions and the project's administrative costs — These aren't USCIS government fees and are set by each project or lawyer separately
Documents to gather
The pack differs by stage: some documents are needed for the initial petition, others later, when the conditions are removed from the green card.
- A completed Form I-526 or I-526E with all its exhibits
- Constitutional documents of the new commercial enterprise (articles, partnership agreement, business licences)
- Bank statements and wire transfer records evidencing that the capital went into that specific enterprise
- Personal — and where applicable corporate — tax returns for the past 5 years, as evidence of the lawful origin of the capital
- Source of funds documents: gift or loan agreements naming the donor or lender, records of asset sales, inheritance and so on
- A business plan, or employment contracts and I-9 forms already in place, evidencing the creation of at least 10 jobs
- A document evidencing the investor's role in managing the enterprise — director, board member or managing partner
- At the stage of removing conditions (Form I-829): copies of the conditional green cards, audited financial statements, payroll records and employees' I-9 forms, and evidence that the investment has been sustained
How the process runs
The path from filing the petition to an unconditional green card runs through two separate USCIS reviews and takes several years.
- 1
Filing the initial petition — I-526 or I-526E
The investor files Form I-526 (direct investment) or I-526E (through a regional centre), evidencing the lawful origin of the capital, the amount invested and the plan to create at least 10 jobs. If an immigrant visa is already available per the Visa Bulletin, Form I-485 can be filed at the same time.
- 2
Choosing how to get the green card once the petition is approved
The investor either files Form DS-260 with the US State Department and attends an interview at a consulate abroad, or — if they haven't filed already — files Form I-485 to adjust status while in the USA.
- 3
Receiving conditional permanent resident status
Once the I-485 is approved or the investor enters on an EB-5 visa, USCIS grants the investor and the family members included in the petition conditional permanent resident status for two years.
- 4
Evidencing the investment and filing to remove the conditions
Within the 90 days before the two years of conditional status expire, the investor files Form I-829, showing that the investment has been sustained and the jobs have been created or will be within a reasonable time.
- 5
Conditions removed and permanent resident status granted
Once the I-829 is approved, USCIS removes the conditions from the status of the investor and the family members in the petition — the green card becomes permanent, with no time limit on the status.
Who you can bring with you
The status covers not only the investor but their immediate family members included in the same petition.
The investor's spouse
Unmarried children under 21
Renewal and the grace period
EB-5 has no separate renewal procedure for the investor visa itself. Instead the status goes through the mandatory removal of conditions — the I-829 petition: without filing it in time the conditional status expires and permanent residence isn't confirmed. Once the I-829 is approved, the investor and the family members in the petition hold permanent status with no time limit — after that only the ordinary periodic renewal of the permanent resident card is needed, as for any green card holder, which is no longer specific to EB-5.
How it differs from the routes next to it
The comparison is built from the official terms of the routes themselves — the source links sit on their own pages.
| EB-5 investor visa | Asylum through USCIS | Asylum through the immigration court | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grounds | Capital invested in a new commercial enterprise that creates jobs | Persecution | Persecution |
| Work | Creating at least 10 permanent jobs for qualifying workers | After the grant — work without restrictions; while the case is pending, an EAD after 180 days | After the grant — work; while the case is pending, an EAD after 180 days |
| Residence | Leads to permanent resident status (a green card) | No minimum period; physical presence is required, filing within 1 year | Physical presence in the United States is required |
Frequently asked questions about EB-5 investor visa
How does a direct investment differ from going through a regional centre?
What happens if the regional centre or project doesn't create the required number of jobs?
What is a targeted employment area (TEA), and how does it lower the investment threshold?
Is Premium Processing available for EB-5 petitions?
How long does the regional centre programme run for?
Other ways to move to US
- Affirmative AsylumAsylum / refugee status
- Defensive AsylumAsylum / refugee status
- Refugee StatusAsylum / refugee status
- Humanitarian ParoleHumanitarian protection
- TPSHumanitarian protection
- U-Visa / T-VisaHumanitarian protection
- VAWAHumanitarian protection
- EB-1 extraordinary ability visaTalent permanent residence
- EB-3 employment immigrationEmployment-based permanent residence
- H-1B work visaWork visa
- Family immigration: immediate relatives and the preference categoriesFamily permanent residence
- DV visa lotteryLottery permanent residence
Every route in one list — migration programmes: US.
The terms and the amounts are checked against official sources — the link sits under each section.Last checked on: 7 August 2026.