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USCIS Finalizes Major EB-5 Application Fee Increases Effective on November 30
USCIS has finalized a new fee schedule for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, and for most participants the direction is the same: costs are going up, in several cases sharply. The rule implements a fee study that the Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 directed the agency to conduct, and it raises average EB-5 filing costs by roughly 70% while introducing a handful of new fees and a new form. The changes take effect on November 30, 2026, which gives investors and regional centers with filings in progress a window to act before the higher amounts apply. Here is what is actually changing, and for whom.
The Core Investor Fees
For most prospective investors, the fee that matters most is the one attached to the initial petition, and it is more than doubling. The I-526E, filed by regional center investors, rises from $3,675 to $7,850, an increase of 114%. The I-526, used by standalone investors, goes from $3,675 to $7,615. Both initial filings now also include a new $75 EB-5 technology fee. An I-526E amendment will run $7,775.
The other petition every investor eventually files, the I-829 to remove conditions on permanent residence, increases more modestly, from $3,750 to $5,000, a 33% rise. Taken together, the two filings an investor makes over the life of an EB-5 case will cost more than they did, with the largest jump concentrated at the front end.
It is worth noting that USCIS softened the initial proposal somewhat. An earlier version floated a $9,625 fee for the main investor form. But after reviewing public comments and its own workload assumptions, the agency settled on the lower final figures above. The increases are significant, but they came in below what was first proposed.
The New Form I-527 and the Investors It Affects
One of the more consequential pieces of the rule is a new form, the I-527, created specifically for certain Pre-2022 investors. It exists to solve a problem the RIA was designed to address: an investor losing their immigration pathway through no fault of their own, such as when a regional center is terminated or a new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity is debarred. The I-527 lets these legacy investors amend their petition to preserve eligibility and keep their place in line for permanent residence.
The catch is the price. Filing the I-527 carries a fee of $10,330, and the difficult part is who bears it. This form is most relevant precisely to investors whose project has already collapsed or whose regional center has been terminated, meaning many of the people who need it may have already lost money before facing a five-figure fee to protect their immigration status. USCIS acknowledged that commenters called the fee punitive, but finalized it roughly $2,000 above its original proposal, citing the cost of adjudicating these petitions and its expectation that relatively few will be filed.
What Changes for Regional Centers
Regional centers face the steepest increases in the rule. The I-956 application for initial regional center designation rises from $17,795 to $44,115, a 148% jump, and the I-956F project application climbs from $17,795 to $42,675. Both of those now fold in a regional center termination cost, which accounts for much of the increase. Not every regional center fee rose, though: the I-956 amendment fee actually falls from $17,795 to $9,835, and the I-956G annual statement drops from $3,035 to $2,165.
The rule also puts a price on two filings that were previously free. The I-956H, covering the bona fides of persons involved with the program, now costs $65, and the I-956K promoter registration, tied to the new promoter-registration regime, costs $2,165.
Integrity Fund fees rise across the board by about 10% to reflect inflation from 2022 through 2025. The investor Integrity Fund fee goes from $1,000 to $1,100, and the regional center fee rises from $10,000 to $11,000 for centers with 20 or fewer investors, and from $20,000 to $22,000 for larger ones.
Alongside these, the rule codifies late-payment penalties for regional centers that miss their annual Integrity Fund payment:
10% penalty for payment made between November 1 and 30
20% penalty for payment made in December
Termination if payment is not made by December 30.
A Useful Clarification on Dependent Filings
Not everything in the rule is about cost. It also clarifies the circumstances in which dependent family members may file Form I-829 separately from the principal investor. Under the updated procedures, certain spouses, former spouses, and children may file their own I-829 petitions in specified situations, and dependents may continue pursuing removal of conditions even if the principal investor does not file or has died, provided the statutory requirements are met. For families, this is a meaningful protection, since it means a dependent's path to permanent residence need not collapse simply because of the principal's circumstances.
Why This Matters, and the Timing to Watch
USCIS estimates the changes will affect more than 16,000 EB-5 filings a year. The agency frames the increases as necessary to fully cover the cost of running the program, meeting the processing-time goals and integrity measures, such as audits, site visits, and fraud prevention, that the RIA itself required. USCIS is largely funded by the fees it charges rather than by tax dollars, and the rule is its response to an earlier fee increase that a federal court struck down, this time built on the program-specific fee study the RIA mandated.
For anyone with a filing in progress, the practical takeaway is about timing. The new fees apply to filings submitted on or after the effective date, so a petition filed before it falls under the current, lower amounts. The published effective date is November 30, 2026.
Final Thoughts
The finalized fee schedule raises the cost of participating in EB-5 across nearly every stage, with the sharpest increases falling on initial investor petitions and regional center applications, and a notable new five-figure fee for legacy investors who need to protect their status after a project failure. None of it changes the core requirements of the program, the investment amount, the job creation, the source-of-funds showing, but it does change the arithmetic of when to file. For those with a petition close to ready, filing before the new fees take effect preserves the current amounts, which is reason enough to confirm the timeline with qualified immigration counsel and move deliberately rather than wait.
Because your Green Card Shouldn't Take a Lifetime
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