For most of the EB-5 Program’s history, its minimum investment amounts changed very little. Congress established a $1 million minimum when it created the program in 1990, and implementing regulations set a reduced $500,000 threshold for targeted employment areas (TEA) in 1991. Those amounts remained in place for nearly three decades.
When DHS finally adjusted them in 2019, the increase was significant: the standard minimum was raised to $1.8 million and the TEA minimum to $900,000. A federal court later vacated that rule, temporarily returning the program to its previous thresholds.
Congress then established the current $1.05 million and $800,000 minimums through the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA).
This trend shows that changes to the EB-5 investment requirement have not necessarily meant modest increases of a few thousand dollars. The 2019 rule, for example, added $400,000 to the amount required for a TEA investment.
The RIA subsequently increased the pre-2019 TEA minimum by $300,000.
Now, another change is approaching for EB-5 investors.
The RIA requires the EB-5 minimum investment amounts to be adjusted for inflation beginning January 1, 2027. The final 2027 amounts have not yet been announced, but the statutory formula makes an increase from today’s thresholds increasingly likely.
At the same time, DHS is considering a separate change that could make certain EB-5 investments considerably more expensive. Its July 2026 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would create a new “high employment area” category and establish a $1.4 million minimum for investments in those areas. The proposal is not yet final, but if adopted, it would introduce a third investment tier and make project location even more consequential in determining how much an investor must commit to the program.
These developments coincide with another important date.
Regional center investors who file Form I-526E on or before September 30, 2026 can obtain the grandfathering protection enacted by Congress while also filing before the scheduled 2027 increase in the minimum investment amounts.
For prospective EB-5 investors, the coming months offer a rare window to secure their immigration benefits. By completing their due diligence and filing Form I-526E while the current rules remain in effect, investors can secure their immigration benefits under today’s investment thresholds.
The Current EB-5 Minimum Investment Amount Is $800,000 for TEA Projects
The $800,000 Investment Minimum Is Expected to Increase in 2027
The NPRM Proposes a Separate $1.4 Million Minimum for High Employment Areas
Project Location Could Become Even More Important
September 30, 2026 Is the More Immediate Deadline for Regional Center Investors
Investors Should Prepare Early Rather Than Rush a Filing
Filing Under the Current EB-5 Investment Amounts
The Current EB-5 Minimum Investment Amount Is $800,000 for TEA Projects
Congress established the current investment amounts when it enacted the RIA in March 2022.
The standard EB-5 minimum is $1,050,000. For an investment in a TEA or qualifying infrastructure project, the reduced minimum is $800,000. TEAs include rural areas and qualifying high-unemployment areas.
For most investors, the $800,000 threshold is the relevant figure because projects located in rural and high-unemployment TEAs qualify for the reduced investment amount.
The RIA, however, did not freeze these amounts permanently. Congress included an automatic mechanism for adjusting them for inflation.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the standard minimum investment amount will be adjusted based on the cumulative change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) since January 1, 2022. The resulting standard amount is to be rounded down to the nearest $50,000.
The minimum for TEA and infrastructure investments will then be set at 75% of the standard minimum. The same process will occur every five years thereafter.
This is an important distinction from many of the other changes currently being discussed in EB-5. The 2027 inflation adjustment does not depend on DHS deciding whether to adopt a new policy. The adjustment mechanism is already part of federal law.
The question is primarily how large the increase will be.
The $800,000 Investment Minimum Is Expected to Increase in 2027
The final 2027 investment thresholds have not yet been announced, so investors should be cautious about treating any projected figure as final.
There is nevertheless good reason to expect an increase.
An analysis presented at the 2026 IIUSA EB-5 Industry Forum, using CPI-U data available through March 2026, modeled several possible outcomes for the 2027 adjustment. Under those earlier scenarios, the $800,000 TEA minimum could increase to approximately $900,000 at the low end, approximately $937,500 under a mid-range scenario, or approximately $975,000 under a higher-inflation scenario. More recent industry analysis using April 2026 CPI data estimates that the TEA and infrastructure minimum will settle at approximately $937,500, although the official figure has not yet been announced.
Those estimates remain projections. Subsequent inflation data will affect the calculation, and DHS will ultimately publish the applicable investment amounts.
Recent government data nevertheless reinforces the broader point. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the CPI-U in July 2026 remained 3.4% higher than one year earlier. The statutory adjustment will account for the cumulative inflation that has occurred since the beginning of 2022, not merely inflation during 2026.
Even an increase near the lower end of existing projections would be significant for an investor.
An increase from $800,000 to $900,000 would require another $100,000 of investment capital.
The financial consequences also extend beyond simply obtaining additional capital. EB-5 investors must document the lawful source and path of the funds used for their qualifying investment. A higher investment requirement can therefore mean that an investor must identify, liquidate, transfer, and document additional assets as part of the immigration filing.
For a family already capable of completing an $800,000 investment and preparing a qualifying petition, waiting until 2027 could make the same immigration strategy significantly more expensive.
The NPRM Proposes a Separate $1.4 Million Minimum for High Employment Areas
The scheduled inflation adjustment is not the only development that could change how much an EB-5 investor must invest.
On July 2, 2026, DHS published a lengthy Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement numerous provisions of the RIA. The rule remains a proposal, and comments are due August 31, 2026.
Among the most consequential proposals is a new definition of a “high employment area” and a higher investment threshold for projects located in such areas.
Federal law gives DHS authority to impose a higher investment amount for an investment in a high employment area. Until now, DHS has not exercised that authority by establishing a separate higher minimum.
The proposed rule would change that.
DHS proposes to define a high employment area using census tracts within a metropolitan statistical area where the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business. Under the proposed formula, the national average unemployment rate would have to be at least 150% of the unemployment rate in the project area. In other words, the provision is designed to identify metropolitan locations experiencing high employment.
For an investment in one of those areas, DHS proposes a minimum investment of $1.4 million.
DHS reached that amount by taking 133% of the current $1.05 million standard minimum and rounding the figure up to the nearest $50,000. If the proposal is finalized, the high-employment amount would subsequently adjust alongside the other EB-5 investment thresholds.
The NPRM’s proposed regulatory text states that the $1.4 million requirement would apply to covered petitions filed on or after 60 days following publication of a final rule. No such final rule has been published as of August 23, 2026.
The distinction between this proposal and the scheduled inflation adjustment matters.
An investor in a rural or high-unemployment TEA is not currently facing a $1.4 million minimum. Those investments remain eligible for the $800,000 minimum under current law.
If this rule is finalized, the result could be a much wider difference in the amount of capital required depending on where an EB-5 project is located.
Project Location Could Become Even More Important
EB-5 project location already affects both investment requirements and visa availability.
Under current law, rural and high-unemployment projects qualify as TEAs and therefore receive the reduced $800,000 investment threshold. Congress also reserves portions of the annual EB-5 visa supply for rural, high-unemployment, and qualifying infrastructure investments.
The NPRM could add another financial consequence at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Today, an investor generally compares an $800,000 TEA investment with a $1.05 million standard investment. Under the proposed high-employment rule, certain investments that currently fall within the standard category could instead require $1.4 million.
That would create a $600,000 difference between today’s $800,000 TEA minimum and the proposed high-employment minimum.
And the $1.4 million figure would not necessarily remain at that level. DHS proposes to adjust the high-employment amount beginning January 1, 2027 so that it remains approximately 133% of the inflation-adjusted standard minimum.
For prospective investors, this makes careful project selection increasingly important. A project’s location may determine not only whether the investment qualifies for a visa set-aside or the reduced TEA threshold, but potentially whether the investor falls into a substantially more expensive investment category.
September 30, 2026 Is the More Immediate Deadline for Regional Center Investors
The scheduled investment increase takes effect on January 1, 2027, but regional center investors have an earlier date to consider.
The RIA reauthorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027. It also created a grandfathering provision protecting qualifying regional center petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026 if the program later expires.
The September 30, 2026 deadline and January 1, 2027 investment adjustment therefore serve different purposes.
A regional center investor who files Form I-526E by September 30 can obtain the RIA’s grandfathering protection. Because that filing also takes place before the January 1 adjustment, the investor can file while the current minimum investment amounts remain applicable.
By contrast, an investor who waits until October, November, or December 2026 may still be able to invest at the current $800,000 TEA minimum because the statutory inflation adjustment has not yet taken effect. But that investor would have missed the September 30 grandfathering deadline.
Waiting until January 1, 2027 or later creates another issue: the investor would then be subject to the newly adjusted investment amount applicable to petitions filed on or after the adjustment’s effective date.
For investors who are already planning an EB-5 filing, September 30 therefore represents the strongest point at which these timing considerations converge.
Filing by that date can preserve the statutory protection available to regional center investors while also allowing the investor to complete the case before the scheduled increase in minimum investment amounts.
Investors Should Prepare Early Rather Than Rush a Filing
The possibility of higher investment requirements does not justify choosing an unsuitable EB-5 project simply to meet a deadline.
An EB-5 investment is a major financial and immigration decision. Investors still need to evaluate the project, understand its capital structure and repayment strategy, assess job-creation projections, retain qualified immigration counsel, and prepare a complete source-of-funds case.
That is precisely why the approaching deadlines are relevant now rather than only in late September or December. Investors who wait until the final weeks may have fewer project choices, less time for due diligence, and less time to resolve complications in their source-of-funds documentation.
The difference could be financially significant. The $800,000 TEA minimum is scheduled to change in 2027. Existing industry projections point to an increase of at least $100,000 under plausible scenarios. And for certain non-TEA investments, DHS is separately considering a $1.4 million high-employment threshold.
None of those future developments improves the financial position of an EB-5 investor who could otherwise qualify and file today.
Filing Under the Current EB-5 Investment Amounts
The current EB-5 investment structure offers investors a valuable opportunity: $800,000 for qualifying TEA and infrastructure investments and $1.05 million for standard investments.
That structure is now approaching its first statutory inflation adjustment, while DHS is simultaneously considering a new regulatory framework that could require substantially more capital for certain project locations.
The exact future investment landscape is not yet known. What is known is that the current amounts remain available today, the statutory adjustment is scheduled for January 1, 2027, and regional center investors face an earlier grandfathering deadline on September 30, 2026.
For investors who have decided that EB-5 is right for their family and are able to complete the necessary due diligence and petition preparation, filing before September 30 can provide something increasingly valuable: the ability to move forward under today’s investment thresholds while obtaining the grandfathering protection Congress created for regional center filings.
To learn more about taking your first steps towards your EB-5 Green Card, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with EB5AN.