There have been more EB-5 Visa changes in 2026 than in any other year since the Reform and Integrity Act passed in 2022. Some of the major changes are the upcoming grandfathering deadline and its impact on investors, how petitions get processed, the upcoming investment price increase, and the regulatory noise swirling around the adjustment of status and the new Gold Card program.
However, none of these updates change what the program is, its requirements, and other core structural features. In this article, we’ll clearly explain the recent changes to the EB-5 Visa and how investors can better prepare their petitions for success.
EB-5 Visa Changes – Key Takeaways
EB-5 Visa 2026 Changes/Updates Overview
| Item | Status as of June 2026 |
|---|---|
| Grandfathering deadline | 30 September 2026. Regional Center Investors must file by this date to lock in current rules against future possible program changes. |
| Investment price increase | Effective 1 January 2027; projected price increases are: ~$900,000-$937,500 (TEA) and ~$1.2M-$1.25M (standard), pending final DHS/CPI-U figures. Investors must apply before this date to lock in current prices. |
| Regional Center program end date | 30 September 2027 |
| USCIS processing model | New “Inventory Management” FIFO approach in effect since March 30, 2026 – project (I-956F) approval gates investor petition review |
| Adjustment of Status memo | PM-602-0199 (issued 21-22 May 2026) re-frames adjustment of status inside the U.S. as “a matter of discretion and administrative grace” available only in “extraordinary circumstances,” rather than a routine right. While USCIS later clarified it will evaluate cases individually, the memo significantly increases scrutiny on applicant history and intent, particularly whether the applicant’s conduct was consistent with the purpose of their original visa. |
| Gold Card status | Operational since 10 December 2025; one confirmed approval as of April 2026; active litigation |
EB-5 Visa Changes Timeline
Here are the current timeline changes to the EB-5 Visa that investors must be aware of in 2026 and beyond.
The 30 September 2026 Grandfathering Deadline
Investors who file Form I-526E petitions on or before 30 September 2026, are ‘grandfathered’, which means these petitions are statutorily protected against any future lapses or changes to the program. This deadline is very important for regional center investors, as the program is set to expire on 30 September 2027 unless Congress reauthorizes it.
Note that investors can still file their petitions after the Grandfathering deadline; however, these petitions may not be processed by USCIS if the Regional Center Program ends or changes in 2027.
What Grandfathering protection does and doesn’t do:
- It does require DHS to continue processing a grandfathered petition and bars denial or suspension of visa allocation solely because the program later lapses.
- It does lock in the investor’s priority date and secures their place in the Green Card queue.
- It does not lock in the lower investment price by itself. The upcoming investment price increase is a separate trigger on 1 January 2027. To keep today’s lower price, investors must file before that date, not just before 30 September 2026.
- It does not guarantee approval. The investor still has to prove a lawful source of funds, at-risk capital, and job creation.
- It does not eliminate visa backlogs or per-country limits, as those run on a separate track entirely.
- It does not require approval by the deadline. USCIS only needs to have received and accepted the properly filed petition by 30 September 2026.
What it means for investors: A well-prepared EB-5 petition usually takes anywhere from 6 weeks to 14 months, mostly due to source-of-funds documentation and the selection of the right project.
The closer the grandfathering deadline gets, the more bottlenecks arise, such as fewer open slots in solid projects, regional centers, and escrow agents stretched thin. Investors with complex, multi-country finances may also face longer waits. Filing early also locks in an earlier priority date, which can mean a shorter wait for investors from high-demand countries like India and China.
The 1 January 2027, EB-5 Investment Increase
Under the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act, the EB-5 Visa minimum investment amounts are adjusted for inflation every 5 years, and the first adjustment is due on 1 January 2027. The current price projections point to roughly $900,000-$937,500 for TEA projects and $1.2M-$1.25M for standard projects. These figures are up from today’s $800,000 and $1.05 million, respectively. However, the exact figure depends on the final CPI-U data that DHS has yet to publish.
| Current (June 2026) | Projected from Jan 1, 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| TEA / rural / infrastructure minimum | $800,000 | ~$900,000-$937,500 |
| Standard (non-TEA) minimum | $1,050,000 | ~$1.2M-$1.25M |
What it means for investors: Investors who file on or after 1 January 2027, have to invest at the new, higher minimum. Since EB-5 petitions take several months to prepare, starting and applying as soon as possible locks in a lower investment price for investors.
Another deadline worth noting is that the data sets (five-year ACS and BLS LAUS data) the government uses to decide which areas qualify as high-unemployment zones were due for review in early 2026. Because unemployment has been low lately, some areas that currently qualify might lose that status. If a project doesn’t file its Form I-956F and lock in its TEA status before that update happens, its required investment amount could suddenly go up. So, investors must check that a project’s TEA status is actually locked in and not just something the project claims.
USCIS’s New Inventory-Management (FIFO) Model; March 2026
Effective 30 March 2026, USCIS announced a First-In-First-Out restructuring approach to how they sequence EB-5 petitions. A project’s Form I-956F must now be officially decided before any of its investors’ Form I-526E petitions are even assigned for review. This means that project approval, not just filing date, determines how fast a case moves.
This new sequencing has three parts:
- Project-first adjudication. No investor’s I-526E is assigned for review until USCIS has decided the associated I-956F. The project’s approval is now the “pacing item” for every investor in it.
- Rural priority queue. Rural I-526E petitions are pulled first, in their own FIFO queue, to use up the fiscal year’s reserved rural visas.
- Everyone else after. HUA, infrastructure, and unreserved petitions are assigned only once the rural queue clears or once USCIS decides it has processed enough rural cases. USCIS can also group these into sub-categories, which can make it harder for you to know where you actually stand in line.
What it means for you: Regional Center investors now look for an already-approved I-956F first, as it means USCIS has already vetted the business plan, job model, and offering. A project still waiting on I-956F approval is asking investors to commit capital to an unconfirmed regulatory status, and for any HUA projects filing now, the approval may not land until after the Grandfathering window closes.
May 2026 Adjustment of Status Memo: What Changed?
Investors who are already in the United States on non-immigrant visas such as F1, H-1B, or L-1 can obtain their Green Card without having to leave the country by filing Form I-485, known as “adjustment of status”. However, on May 21-22, 2026, USCIS released Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199, describing in-country Green Card adjustment of status as discretionary and reserved for “extraordinary circumstances”. This triggered a real alarm before the statement was quietly softened within days. The EB-5 Visa program was largely insulated by protections written into the 2022 RIA, though the memo itself was never formally rescinded.
As of mid-June 2026, the memo has not been formally rescinded, amended, or superseded. Instead, the news was softened in background statements and private reassurances.
Is the EB-5 Program Ending?
No. The EB-5 program is not ending, and there is no news or current laws pointing to the program stopping, especially since the program is approved by Congress and backed by law. Also, the Regional Center Program is authorized through September 30, 2027. What is changing is cost and processing, and not whether the program is ending.
Program Authorization vs. Program Lapse – What’s the difference?
For clarity, the EB-5 Visa program offers investors two investment pathways:
- Direct investment: I
investing in your own business rather than through a regional center. This is a permanent part of the law. It isn’t tied to any renewal deadline at all. - The Regional Center Program: I
investing through an approved regional center. This is the structure most high-net-worth investors actually use and is only authorized through September 30, 2027. Congress has to act again by then to keep it running.
This isn’t the first time the Regional Center Program has faced a renewal deadline. The program lapsed for about eight months in 2021, which froze pending cases and led some investors to sue. This is the main reason for the grandfathering provision in the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act (the one tied to the 30 September 2026, deadline). It exists specifically so a program lapse does not trap investors again.
What happens if Congress doesn’t reauthorize the Regional Center Program by 30 September 2027?
If Congress doesn’t act in time to reauthorize the Regional Center Program, the outcome will depend entirely on when you filed:
- Filed by 30 September 2026 (grandfathered): Your petition keeps moving. By statute, DHS has to keep processing it and can’t deny it just because the program lapsed.
- Filed between October 2026 and September 2027 (not grandfathered): This brings real uncertainty. Whether your case keeps moving depends on how the lapse plays out, as there is no built-in protection.
- Filing after a lapse: Not possible under the Regional Center structure until Congress reauthorizes it again.
Note: A program lapse is not the same thing as ending forever. The EB-5 program has been renewed multiple times since the 1990s. However, “usually gets renewed” isn’t the same as “guaranteed,” which is exactly why the Grandfathering deadline matters so much for any investor filing now.
EB-5 vs the Trump Gold Card: How the Changes Compare
No. These two programs are fundamentally different in the way they are designed and their legal footing.
EB-5 is written into the Federal statute. Congress created it in 1990, and only Congress can end or substantially change it. On the other hand, the Trump Gold Card exists by Executive Order 14351, signed September 19, 2025, and went live December 10, 2025. The Gold Card is also built on existing EB-1 and EB-2 Green Card frameworks and is not a “standalone” visa program.
EB-5 Visa vs Gold Card Comparison Table
| Feature | EB-5 | Trump Gold Card |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Investment-based U.S. residency for foreign nationals for job creation and economic growth in the U.S. | Premium, high-tier investment-based U.S. residency for foreign nationals for contribution to the U.S Government. |
| Minimum Investment | $1.05 million (or $800,000 in Targeted Employment Areas) | $1 million per individual; $2 million per employee for Corporate Gold Card |
| Visa Caps / Availability | Annual cap on EB-5 Visas; some countries have long waiting times | Processed under existing EB-1/EB-2 categories, so the associated annual caps and per-country limits apply |
| Processing Time | Typically 5-8 years, depending on the country of origin | Promoted as faster, potentially completed in weeks. |
| Family inclusion | Applicant’s family members (spouse and unmarried children under 21) receive derivative Green Cards | Dependent family members can be included, but also require a separate $1 million contribution and a $15,000 DHS processing fee. |
| Pathway to Citizenship | Eligible for U.S. citizenship after meeting residency requirements (typically 5 years) | Same as EB-5 |
| Target Applicants | Foreign investors who can meet investment and job-creation requirements | Wealthy foreigners who can contribute at least $1 million to the U.S government. |
| Annual visa cap | 10,000 (for both principal investor and derivative beneficiaries) | Processed under EB-1/EB-2 Visas, so the same caps apply |
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