EB-5 Investment Check 2026

EB-5 guide

EB-5 Investor Green Card: The 2026 Numbers in Plain English

Reviewed for the 2026 tax year by the 1099tax.app team. These tools give estimates, not tax or legal advice.

What this tool calculates and who it’s for

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program offers a U.S. green card to foreign nationals who invest a set amount in a new U.S. business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included.

This tool checks where your capital stands against the 2026 minimums, whether your project’s location qualifies for the lower amount, and how ready the rest of your file is: source of funds, structure, fees and job creation. It flags gaps before you commit.

It’s for:

• Families abroad looking into investment-based residency in the U.S.
• E-2 treaty investors who want a permanent path.
• Parents funding an investment so a child studying in the U.S. can stay.
• Advisors and relatives helping someone compare options.

How it works and the 2026 rules

The minimum investment

Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, for petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022 (USCIS):

• $1,050,000 standard minimum.
• $800,000 if the project is in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or is a qualifying infrastructure project.

These amounts are scheduled to rise for petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027, and every five years after that, in line with inflation (CPI-U). If you’re close to deciding, the filing date matters.

What counts as a TEA

• Rural area: outside any metropolitan statistical area and outside any city or town of 20,000 or more people.
• High-unemployment area: census tracts where the business operates, plus any adjacent tracts, with unemployment of at least 150% of the national average.

The new business, or the job-creating entity it funds, must be principally doing business in that area.

Your money must be “at risk” and lawfully sourced

USCIS says capital can’t be a loan to the business, can’t carry a guaranteed return, and can’t come with a contractual right to be repaid. You must show the funds came from a lawful source and trace the path from that source to the investment. Gifts, home sales, business profits, loans secured by your own assets, and even crypto proceeds can work, but each needs a paper trail.

Two ways to invest

• Regional center (Form I-526E): you invest through a USCIS-designated regional center, and indirect jobs, such as those created at suppliers, can count. The 2022 Act reserves 20% of EB-5 visas for rural projects, 10% for high-unemployment areas and 2% for infrastructure (USCIS Policy Manual). The Regional Center Program is authorized through September 30, 2027.
• Direct investment (Form I-526): you invest in, and usually help manage, your own business, which must directly employ 10 people.

After approval

You receive a two-year conditional green card. Toward the end of that period, you file Form I-829 to show the investment was sustained and the jobs were created, so the conditions can be removed.

A worked example

A family has $900,000 in savings, from the sale of a business three years ago and a $150,000 gift from a parent. They’re considering a regional center hotel project in a high-unemployment census tract.

• TEA project minimum: $800,000. Their $900,000 is $100,000 above it. ✓
• If the project were not in a TEA: they’d need $1,050,000, which is $150,000 short. ✗
• Funds left after investing: $100,000 for regional center administrative fees (often charged on top of the investment and not counted toward it), USCIS filing fees, legal costs and moving expenses. Tight, but possible.
• Source of funds: the business sale needs its sale agreement, tax filings and bank records. The gift needs proof of the parent’s own lawful income and a gift letter.
• Timing: filing before January 1, 2027 locks in the current $800,000 minimum.

The tool would score this family’s capital as sufficient for a TEA project. It would flag the source-of-funds documentation and fee planning as items to work on.

How to read your result

• Capital vs. minimum: green if you meet the amount for the TEA type you picked, red if you don’t. “Unsure” TEA shows both.
• Cushion: money left after the investment. Too little can be a practical problem, even if you technically qualify.
• Checklist flags: missing items such as source-of-funds tracing, at-risk structure, job-creation plans or an approved project. Each one is a real reason petitions get delayed or denied.
• Date reminders: a nudge if the 2027 adjustment could affect you.

Common mistakes

1. 1.Counting admin fees toward the investment. They’re usually extra.
2. 2.Assuming a project is a TEA because it says so. Check the location and the current designation basis.
3. 3.Gaps in the money trail. Every transfer, including currency exchanges and transfers through relatives, needs documentation.
4. 4.Forgetting taxes on raising the money. Selling property or stock to fund the investment can trigger tax at home or in the U.S.
5. 5.Choosing a project for its “guaranteed” exit. Guaranteed returns or buy-back promises can make the capital ineligible.
6. 6.Waiting too long. Petitions filed in 2027 or later will face higher minimums.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• USCIS, About the EB-5 Visa Classification: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-the-eb-5-visa-classification
• USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 6, Part G, Ch. 1 (set-asides, Regional Center authorization): https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-g-chapter-1
• USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 6, Part G, Ch. 2 (investment amounts and TEAs): https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-g-chapter-2
• USCIS, Green Card for Immigrant Investors: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-immigrant-investors
• USCIS, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 update: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20221006-EB5ReformAndIntegrityAct.pdf
• USCIS, Form I-829: https://www.uscis.gov/i-829
• USCIS, G-1055 Fee Schedule: https://www.uscis.gov/g-1055
• IRS, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens (Publication 519): https://www.irs.gov/publications/p519

Want this handled, not estimated?

The amount is the easy part of EB-5. The hard parts are proving where every dollar came from, through years of bank records, property sales, gifts and currency transfers, and paying as little tax as possible as you raise and move that money. A qualified tax professional can document your source of funds in a form your immigration counsel can use, plan the tax on selling assets to fund the investment, and get your U.S. tax position ready for the day you become a resident.

These tools give estimates, not tax or legal advice.