New EB-5 USCIS Fees in 2026: What Investors Need to Know

Sep 30

4 min read

USCIS is introducing a new EB-5 fee structure effective November 30, 2026. For Regional Center investors, the government fees due at the Form I-526E stage will total $8,950. The new rule also significantly changes fees for EB-5 Regional Centers, projects and promoters.

If you are considering an EB-5 investment in late 2026 or 2027, there are two important changes to keep on your radar: new USCIS filing fees taking effect on November 30, 2026, and a scheduled adjustment to EB-5 minimum investment amounts in January 2027.

Here is what prospective EB-5 investors need to know.

How Much Will the I-526E Filing Fee Be in 2026?

Beginning November 30, 2026, a Regional Center investor filing Form I-526E will face the following USCIS fees:

EB-5 Fee	New Amount
Form I-526E filing fee	$7,850
EB-5 Integrity Fund fee	$1,100
Total USCIS fees at I-526E filing	$8,950
Form I-829 filing fee	$5,000

The new Form I-526E filing fee also incorporates a $75 EB-5 Technology Fee, intended to support improvements to USCIS technology systems used to administer the EB-5 program.

The new fees apply to filings postmarked on or after November 30, 2026.

Why Are EB-5 USCIS Fees Increasing?

The new EB-5 fees are connected directly to the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA).

The RIA authorized the Department of Homeland Security to conduct an EB-5-specific fee study and establish fees designed to recover the cost of administering the program while working toward statutory processing-time goals.

This distinction is important.

The new fees are not simply part of a general USCIS fee increase. They were calculated specifically for the EB-5 program using projected EB-5 workloads, operating costs and the processing goals established under the RIA.

According to the final rule, USCIS estimates that administering the EB-5 program will cost approximately $105 million annually. Under the existing fee structure, projected annual EB-5 revenue is approximately $56.6 million, leaving a funding gap of roughly $48.4 million.

USCIS intends the new fee structure to provide additional resources for adjudications, program administration, compliance and fraud-prevention activities, and technology improvements.

Will Higher EB-5 Fees Mean Faster Processing?

This is likely to be one of the biggest questions for prospective EB-5 investors.

The RIA established specific processing-time goals, and USCIS incorporated those targets into the methodology used to establish the new fees.

The statutory goals include:

120 days for an investor petition involving an investment in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA);
240 days for other investor petitions and petitions to remove conditions;
90 days for an application for investment in an NCE located in a TEA; and
180 days for other Regional Center applications or applications for investment in a new commercial enterprise.

There is an important caveat.

These are processing-time goals — not guaranteed USCIS processing times.

USCIS specifically states that actual adjudication times may continue to vary depending on filing volumes, staffing levels and case complexity.

For investors, therefore, the new fee structure should not be interpreted as a promise that an I-526E petition involving a TEA will automatically be approved within 120 days.

New USCIS Fees for EB-5 Regional Centers and Projects

Individual investors are not the only participants affected by the new EB-5 fee rule.

Regional Centers, EB-5 projects and other program participants will also face a new fee schedule beginning November 30, 2026.

EB-5 Filing	New USCIS Fee
Form I-956 – Initial Regional Center Designation	$44,115
Form I-956 – Regional Center Amendment	$9,835
Form I-956F – Project Filing/Amendment	$42,675
Form I-956G – Regional Center Annual Statement	$2,165
Form I-956H – Persons Involved with Regional Center Program	$65
Form I-956K – Direct/Third-Party Promoter Registration	$2,165

Regional Centers will also be subject to annual EB-5 Integrity Fund fees of $22,000, or $11,000 for Regional Centers with 20 or fewer qualifying investors.

The changes therefore reach well beyond the individual investor. The new fee structure affects virtually every level of the Regional Center EB-5 process — from Regional Center administration and project filings to promoter registration and individual investor petitions.

Are EB-5 Investment Amounts Changing in November 2026?

No. The November 30 fee rule changes USCIS filing fees, not the amount of capital an investor must invest in an EB-5 project.

For now, the minimum EB-5 investment amounts remain:

$800,000 for an investment qualifying for the reduced investment threshold, including investments in a Targeted Employment Area or qualifying infrastructure project; and

$1,050,000 for other EB-5 investments.

However, investors considering filing in 2027 should pay attention to a separate provision of the RIA: EB-5 minimum investment amounts are subject to a scheduled inflation adjustment beginning in January 2027.

That makes the end of 2026 particularly important for prospective investors: the USCIS filing fee change arrives first, followed shortly afterward by the scheduled investment-threshold adjustment.

What Does the New EB-5 Fee Rule Mean for Investors?

For someone considering the EB-5 program, the immediate financial impact is clear.

A Regional Center investor filing an I-526E on or after November 30, 2026 should expect $8,950 in USCIS fees at the initial petition stage, in addition to the EB-5 investment amount and any project administrative, legal or other professional fees.

But the larger story is what USCIS intends to accomplish with those higher fees.

Congress directed DHS through the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 to evaluate what it actually costs to administer the EB-5 program while working toward defined processing-time goals. The new fee structure is the result of that process.

Whether the additional funding ultimately produces materially shorter EB-5 processing times will depend on USCIS implementation, staffing, petition volumes and other operational factors.

For prospective investors, two dates now deserve particular attention:

November 30, 2026 — new EB-5 USCIS fees take effect.

January 2027 — EB-5 minimum investment amounts are scheduled for their next inflation adjustment.

Investors considering EB-5 during this period should factor both changes into their planning while allowing sufficient time for project due diligence, source-of-funds preparation and immigration counsel review rather than making an investment decision based solely on an approaching deadline.