The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has finalized a substantial increase in application fees for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, set to take effect from November 30, 2026. This revised fee structure will impact all nationalities seeking permanent residency in the U.S. through investment, including a significant number of Indian applicants, with some petition costs more than doubling.
Significant Increases for Investor Petitions
For regional-centre investors, the combined cost of the initial Form I-526E petition and the mandatory Integrity Fund fee will surge from $4,675 to $8,950. This represents an increase of approximately ₹4.04 lakh for Indian applicants, based on the October 21, 2026 exchange rate of $1 = ₹94.39.
Standalone investors filing Form I-526 will see their fees jump from $3,675 to $7,615, an approximate rise of ₹3.72 lakh. Additionally, the fee for Form I-829, which is required to remove conditions on permanent resident status, will increase from $3,750 to $5,000. The EB-5 Integrity Fund fee for regional-centre investors will also see a slight increase, from $1,000 to $1,100, separate from the main petition fee.
What is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program?
The EB-5 program offers eligible foreign investors and their qualifying family members a pathway to U.S. permanent residency. This is achieved by investing in a qualifying American commercial enterprise and creating at least 10 full-time jobs for eligible U.S. workers.
Currently, the minimum investment requirement stands at $800,000 for projects located in targeted employment areas or eligible infrastructure projects. For other qualifying investments, the threshold is $1.05 million. It is important to note that these investment amounts remain unchanged by the newly announced fee revisions; the increases apply solely to government filing fees, not the principal investment.
Rationale Behind the Fee Adjustments
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that the primary reason for these revised fees is to recover the administrative costs associated with managing the EB-5 program. These costs include supporting application processing, enhancing program oversight, conducting compliance checks, performing audits and site visits, and investing in technology improvements to streamline operations.