U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services finalized a new EB-5 fee schedule on September 29, raising charges for most investor and regional-center filings from November 30, 2026. The agency says the new amounts are intended to cover the program’s full operating costs, meet processing-time goals and pay for oversight.
The changes affect standalone investors, regional-center investors, conditional residents seeking to remove conditions, and regional-center operators. Some petition charges more than double, while one annual regional-center filing fee falls.
The agency set new amounts for investor petitions, project applications and regional-center designations. It also established additional charges for certain filings and a new form for some investors with older cases.
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Filings submitted on or after November 30, 2026, will use the revised schedule. The rule finalizes a proposal the Department of Homeland Security published in October 2025.
The changes apply to both people seeking permanent residence through investment and the organizations that sponsor regional-center projects. The largest increases in the main form schedule fall on regional-center designation and project filings.
| India | China | ROW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Feb 01, 2023 ▲109d | Jul 01, 2023 | Current |
| EB-2 | Nov 01, 2013 | Oct 01, 2021 ▲30d | Jan 01, 2025 |
| EB-3 | Jan 01, 2014 | Jan 08, 2022 ▲7d | May 15, 2024 ▼109d |
| F-1 | Jan 22, 2020 | Jan 22, 2020 | Jan 22, 2020 |
| F-2A | Sep 22, 2026 ▲31d | Sep 22, 2026 ▲31d | Sep 22, 2026 ▲31d |
The affected forms cover distinct stages of the process. Form I-526 is used by standalone investors; Form I-526E is for regional-center investors. Form I-829 is filed by conditional residents seeking to remove the conditions on their residence.
Investor and regional-center forms face sharply different changes
| Filing | Current fee | New fee from November 30, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Form I-526 | $3,675 | $7,615 |
| Form I-526E | $3,675 | $7,850 |
| Form I-526E amendment | $3,675 | $7,775 |
| Form I-829 | $3,750 | $5,000 |
| Form I-956 | $17,795 | $44,115 |
| Form I-956F | $17,795 | $42,675 |
| Form I-956G | $3,035 | $2,165 |
Form I-956 covers regional-center designation, while Form I-956F applies to project applications. Regional centers also file Form I-956G annually. Its new fee is lower than the current amount, unlike the increases for the other forms shown.
Regional-center investors will face more than the Form I-526E charge. The rule sets a separate EB-5 Integrity Fund fee for those investors, and an annual Integrity Fund payment for regional centers varies by the number of investors they serve.
New charges add costs beyond the petition fee
A new technology fee of $75 applies to initial Form I-526 and Form I-526E filings. Regional-center investors filing Form I-526E also face a $1,100 EB-5 Integrity Fund fee.
Regional centers will pay an annual Integrity Fund fee of $11,000 if they have 20 or fewer investors. Larger centers will pay $22,000. These annual payments are separate from the filing fees for designation, project applications and annual statements.
The rule also creates Form I-527, with a fee of $10,330. It is for certain legacy investors who need to amend older petitions in specified circumstances. The new form provides a route for some investors whose cases predate the current framework, but it carries its own substantial filing charge.
The listed fee changes therefore reach beyond the initial investor petition. Investors may encounter fees at different stages, while regional centers face charges tied to designation, project filings, annual reporting and integrity-fund requirements.
The 2022 law tied fees to costs and oversight
Congress created the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program in 1990 to encourage U.S. economic growth through investment and job creation. Investors who meet the program’s requirements can become eligible for lawful permanent residence, commonly called a Green Card.
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 directed the agency to conduct a program-specific fee study and set charges to recover the full cost of administering the program. The law also established processing time goals and strengthened oversight requirements.
Those requirements include compliance reviews, audits and site visits, along with measures intended to help prevent fraud and abuse. The agency says the new fee schedule will support those activities as well as the work needed to review applications, conduct background checks, verify eligibility and maintain program operations.
The agency is largely funded by filing fees rather than taxpayer dollars. Under that structure, people and organizations using the immigration system pay for its application review and related operational work.
The final rule follows DHS’s October 2025 proposal. For some forms, the final amounts are lower than the earlier proposals, including the main EB-5 investor petition. The program remains authorized through September 30, 2027.
The revised schedule begins November 30, 2026. Any new filing submitted on or after that date falls under the new fees.
