Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs) play a central role in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program and can significantly affect both the cost of investment and the speed of obtaining a U.S. Green Card.
For many foreign nationals, choosing a project located in a qualifying TEA can make the EB-5 process more accessible and strategically advantageous.
Each year, thousands of investors from around the world pursue U.S. permanent residence through the EB-5 visa.
However, growing demand for EB-5 visas, particularly since 2020, has led to longer processing times and visa backlogs. Investors from high-demand countries often face especially lengthy waits due to annual visa limits and adjudication delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
In response to these challenges, Congress enacted the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), signed into law in March 2022. The RIA introduced important updates to the EB-5 program, including new rules governing TEAs. Under the current framework,
TEAs generally fall into two categories: rural areas and high-unemployment areas. Projects located in either type of TEA may qualify for a lower minimum investment amount and, in certain cases, priority visa processing.
These changes have made TEA investments more attractive than ever. By investing in a properly designated TEA project, EB-5 investors may reduce their capital requirement and, depending on the category, potentially shorten their path to U.S. permanent residence. As a result, demand for well-structured TEA projects is expected to remain strong.
In this article, we provide a comprehensive guide to Targeted Employment Areas under the EB-5 program. We explain what qualifies as a TEA, how the rules changed under the RIA, and what investors should consider when evaluating TEA-based EB-5 projects to maximize both immigration and financial success.
What Is a Targeted Employment Area?
The main goal of the EB-5 program is to promote economic growth through foreign investment, especially in TEAs. In general, TEAs are areas that show a significant need for economic development.
The EB-5 program has two main types of TEAs: high unemployment areas and rural areas. A small number of designated infrastructure projects also qualify for TEA benefits.
High-unemployment TEAs must meet two basic requirements:
- Has an unemployment rate of at least 150% of the national average unemployment rate.
- Is located in a metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
To qualify as rural TEAs, an area must meet the following criteria:
- Have no more than 20,000 residents.
- Not border a municipality with a population of 20,000 or more.
- Not be located within a metropolitan statistical area.
An EB-5 investor in a rural TEA project must include demographic statistics in their Form I-526E that prove the project’s location is rural. Form I-526E is the initial immigrant petition for EB-5 investors and is filed after the applicant has invested in a project.
Rural TEA status must be sustained with demographic data from the latest 10-year U.S. census. Data from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and verified third-party statistics can also be used for this purpose.
The data that proves rural TEA designation must be current as of the date of the EB-5 investment or the date Form I-526E is submitted. If the relevant population data change before the investor files Form I-526E, USCIS may not accept the investor’s claim that the project is in a rural TEA.
Why Invest in a TEA Project?
Investing in a TEA project offers EB-5 investors meaningful advantages, including a lower minimum investment and potential priority visa processing. TEA projects, whether rural or high-unemployment, can provide a more efficient path to U.S. permanent residence while supporting job creation in underserved communities.
Reduced Minimum Investment Amount
The standard EB-5 investment amount is $1,050,000. EB-5 investors who choose projects in TEAs are allowed to invest only $800,000.
Priority Processing
The RIA grants EB-5 investors in rural TEA projects “priority processing” of Form I-526E. This change has added significant value to rural projects as processing times for Form I-526E continue to rise. Priority processing noticeably shortens the time it takes for investors to immigrate. As a result, quality rural projects have become highly sought after.
Reserved EB-5 Visas
EB-5 investors from countries with EB-5 visa backlogs face months or years of added processing delays. Foreign investors in rural projects gain access to reserved EB-5 visas. These reserved visa categories were introduced by the RIA and allow investors to effectively skip the normal line for EB-5 visas.
The next two sections explain what EB-5 visa backlogs are, who is affected by them, and how investors can avoid delays by choosing rural projects.
Understanding EB-5 Visa Retrogression and Processing Delays
The total supply of visas issued to the EB-5 program each year does not cover global demand.
USCIS evenly distributes EB-5 visas to participating countries, which allows each country access to no more than 7% of the total number of EB-5 visas. For most countries, the 7% visa allotment is more than enough.
A small number of countries, however, have an especially high demand for EB-5 visas. When a country’s number of EB-5 visa petitions exceeds its supply, USCIS considers this country to be in EB-5 visa retrogression.
Following approval of Form I-526E, foreign investors must apply for an EB-5 visa. Countries in visa retrogression, however, are subject to cutoff dates, which restrict when investors can apply for and receive their EB-5 visas.
An EB-5 investor’s priority date is usually the date USCIS receives the Form I-526 or I-526E petition. An investor can move forward in the immigration process only if the relevant cutoff date falls before the date on which they submitted Form I-526E, which is known as the “priority date.”
For example, as of the January 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-5 investors from China who invested in unreserved categories (meaning in projects outside TEAs) can receive their Green Cards only if their priority date is before August 15, 2016.
USCIS processing data for EB-5 petitions shows that the backlog of pending I-526E filings is growing each year. Cutoff dates move forward slowly and unpredictably.
As of the January 2026 Visa Bulletin, Mainland Chinese and Indian investors who invest outside of TEAs are subject to cutoff dates due to visa retrogression.
How TEA Investment Helps Investors Avoid Backlogs
The RIA provides a unique way for EB-5 investors from countries with EB-5 visa backlogs to avoid delays.
Each year, USCIS now sets aside 32% of the total EB-5 visa supply for three categories of investments:
- Rural TEAs (20%)
- High-unemployment TEAs (10%)
- Infrastructure projects (2%)
Foreign nationals who invest in these types of projects qualify for reserved EB-5 visas. While the supply of reserved EB-5 visas lasts, qualifying investors will be exempt from cutoff dates. This is true even if their country is currently in retrogression.
Reserved visas allow investors from any backlogged country to avoid extra wait times. Effectively, they are able to “skip the line” over investors who do not qualify for reserved visas.
They also require a lower investment amount of $800,000, instead of $1,050,000.
One unique benefit offered by rural projects is lower demand relative to the number of reserved visas available.
On the other hand, high-unemployment TEA projects are the most common project type in the EB-5 industry. The popularity of high-unemployment TEA projects means the 10% of visas reserved under this category is likely to run out first.
Finally, infrastructure projects are a new and fairly obscure project type. Demand for such projects is low from both investors and project developers.
Rural projects occupy a sweet spot, with an ample supply of reserved visas and lower demand for this project type.
An additional benefit offered by rural projects is priority processing. As stated above, priority processing can help investors work through the EB-5 process more quickly. Priority processing of Form I-526E is not an option for any other type of EB-5 project.
Investing in rural projects offers benefits to all EB-5 investors. But investors who live outside the United States will benefit the most. Unlike applicants who hold U.S. non-immigrant visas, and who can immediately adjust their immigrant status after investing, applicants living out of the country often have to wait many years to immigrate. Faster processing and reserved visas for rural projects can significantly reduce that wait.
Choosing a Low-Risk Rural TEA Project
All EB-5 investments involve some financial and immigration risk, even high-quality rural projects. Before investing, foreign nationals should evaluate a project’s industry, capital structure, and credentials.
Some industries, such as hotels or build-to-rent developments, require large upfront costs and depend heavily on projections. If forecasts are inaccurate, projects may fail to generate sufficient revenue or create the required 10 jobs per investor, jeopardizing immigration outcomes.
In contrast, projects that generate revenue quickly and rely less on projections are preferable. Single-family home developments are often well-suited for EB-5 because they require less upfront capital, can adjust construction to market demand, and reinvest sales revenue into the project.
A strong capital structure is also essential. Safer projects do not rely on EB-5 funds for completion and have secured senior bank financing or are already under construction.
Finally, investors should prioritize reputable developers and experienced regional centers with proven EB-5 compliance and job-creation records. Careful evaluation improves both immigration and financial success under the RIA.
EB5AN’s Rural TEA Projects
Rural TEA projects offer a major advantage for EB-5 investors by helping avoid visa backlogs and significantly speeding up the immigration process.
Under current EB-5 rules, rural projects are set aside a dedicated portion of visas, which are often immediately available. In addition, USCIS prioritizes the processing of rural EB-5 petitions, leading to faster I-526E adjudications.
As a result, investors in rural TEAs often reach permanent residency much sooner than those investing in urban or non-TEA projects.
EB5AN is pleased to offer an array of high-quality, low-risk projects with rural targeted employment area status.
EB5AN’s Regional Centers
EB5AN manages a robust network of more than 10 regional centers throughout the United States.
Regional centers are USCIS-licensed entities that manage EB-5 funds. They control the flow of capital into each project they sponsor. Under EB-5 program rules, regional centers have greater flexibility in calculating job creation. As a result, more than 96% of EB-5 investors choose to make regional center investments.
EB-5 projects that work without regional center sponsors can count only standard payroll positions toward job creation. Projects sponsored by regional centers, on the other hand, may count direct, indirect, and induced jobs. Indirect and induced jobs are created by a project’s economic impact and can be calculated based on spending.
EB5AN has helped more than 2,700 families from 70+ countries become lawful permanent residents of the United States. Our expert team has more than a decade of experience and offers clients first-rate, low-risk EB-5 regional center projects with a 100% USCIS project approval rate.
If you would like to know more about your EB-5 investment options, book a free call with our expert team today.
