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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating fees for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program to ensure EB-5 fees fully recover the cost of operating the program, meet statutory processing time goals, and support integrity measures such as audits and site visits. Congress created the EB-5 program in 1990 to promote U.S. economic growth through job creation and capital investment by immigrant investors. By investing in the U.S. and creating American jobs, aliens can become eligible for lawful permanent residence (also known as a Green Card). The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 directed USCIS to conduct a program-specific fee study and set EB-5 fees at a level that recovers the full cost of administering the program. The law also established processing time goals and strengthened program integrity requirements, including compliance reviews, audits, site visits, and measures to help prevent fraud and abuse. USCIS is largely funded by filing fees, not taxpayer dollars. This means the cost of reviewing applications, conducting background checks, verifying eligibility, detecting fraud, and maintaining program operations must be paid by those who use the immigration system. The new fees are designed to go into effect on Nov. 30, 2026. This rule finalizes the notice of proposed rulemaking that the Department of Homeland Security published in October 2025. |
