The Final EB-5 Fee Rule: New Fees, Effective Date, and What Changed

On September 30, 2026, DHS published a final rule setting new EB-5 filing fees, effective November 30, 2026 (91 FR 61940). The initial I-526E (Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor) fee rises from $3,675 to $7,850, and the I-829 (Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status) fee rises from $3,750 to $5,000. Both are lower than the fees DHS proposed in October 2025, and lower than the fees that applied from April 2024 until a federal court stayed them in November 2025. For the other dates on the EB-5 calendar, see key EB-5 dates.

New EB-5 Filing Fees, Effective November 30, 2026

Any petition, application, or request postmarked on or after November 30, 2026, must include the new EB-5 filing fees (91 FR 61940). The table compares the current fee, the fee DHS proposed in October 2025, and the final fee for each form.

*Final amounts include the $75 EB-5 Technology Fee. April 2024 fees are from the FY 2022/2023 fee rule, stayed in Moody v. Noem on November 12, 2025. Current fees are the earlier fees USCIS reinstated after the stay. Sources: 89 FR 6194; 90 FR 48517 (Table 1); 91 FR 61942-61943 (Table 1); 8 CFR 106.2(d), 91 FR 61984-61985.

Measured against the last fees DHS set, which took effect April 1, 2024, every EB-5 filing fee that existed then is lower in the final rule. The initial I-526E falls from $11,160 to $7,850, the I-829 from $9,525 to $5,000, and the I-956F from $47,695 to $42,675. The current fees in the table are older still: the court’s stay “reverted the EB-5 fees to those set in 2016” (91 FR 61944).

The $75 EB-5 Technology Fee is built into the final I-526 and initial I-526E amounts and is not paid separately (91 FR 61984-61985).

Form I-527 is new. It is the amendment an investor files to keep their eligibility after their regional center is terminated or their new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity is debarred, when the petition was filed before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 was enacted (91 FR 61984). For background, see how the old rules apply to petitions filed before the Act and the protections for investors when a regional center is terminated.

The EB-5 Integrity Fund fees, which are separate from the form filing fees, also rise. The Integrity Fund fee paid with each I-526E goes from $1,000 to $1,100. The annual regional center fee goes from $10,000 to $11,000 for centers with 20 or fewer total investors and from $20,000 to $22,000 for centers with more than 20. DHS measured a 10.01 percent CPI-U increase from 2022 to 2025 and raised the Integrity Fund amounts by 10 percent (91 FR 61952).

Which Fee Applies to My Petition, by Filing Date

The fee that applies depends on when the petition is postmarked. For the initial I-526E:

• Before April 1, 2024: $3,675.
• April 1, 2024, until a federal court stayed those fees in Moody v. Noem on November 12, 2025: $11,160 (89 FR 6194; 90 FR 48528, Table 7; 91 FR 61941).
• After the stay, until the new fees take effect: $3,675, the pre-April 2024 amount (91 FR 61945).
• On or after November 30, 2026: $7,850 (91 FR 61940, 61984).

DHS states that USCIS “is not required to issue a fee refund to investors who paid the fees that were effective April 1, 2024” and takes no action on the refund comment (91 FR 61956).

The November 30 fee date is separate from the September 30, 2026 grandfathering date, which comes from the statute: if the regional center program’s authorization expires, DHS must continue processing regional center petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026 (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(S)). See how the grandfathering deadline works. Separately, the minimum investment amounts adjust by statute beginning January 1, 2027 (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(C)(iii)). See the scheduled investment amount adjustment.

What Changed from the Proposed Rule

Compared with the proposal, the final EB-5 filing fees are lower for the investor petitions (I-526, I-526E, and I-829) and higher for a new regional center designation (initial I-956) and each project application (I-956F). The new I-527 also came in higher, at $10,330 against $8,000 proposed. DHS says the revised fees “are mainly the result of changes to budget and workload assumptions” (91 FR 61946), and its revised fee study “uses newer data, as requested by commenters” (91 FR 61946). The main changes:

• Receipt forecasts: DHS raised its projection of average annual EB-5 receipts from 11,262 to 16,604 (91 FR 61941), and of I-526E receipts from 3,500 to 8,500 a year (Table 4, 91 FR 61948). For why that forecast matters, see the EB-5 fee study’s volume forecast.
• Adjudicator time: DHS lowered its estimate of adjudicator time per petition, which it calls the completion rate, from 16.30 hours to 8.76 hours for the I-526 and 9.14 hours for the I-526E (Table 5, 91 FR 61949).
• Termination costs: “in response to public comments,” DHS now allocates regional center termination costs only to the initial I-956 and the I-956F (91 FR 61941).

DHS received 28 public comment submissions (91 FR 61953). Among the requests it declined were adding the processing-time goals to the regulatory text (91 FR 61955) and adopting tiered I-956 and I-956F fees (91 FR 61959).

What the EB-5 Filing Fees Are Meant to Fund

DHS projects EB-5 program costs of $105.0 million a year against revenue of $56.6 million at current fees, a gap of $48.4 million that the new fees are designed to close (91 FR 61950). Section 106 of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act directs that EB-5 fees recover the full cost of the program, including the cost of meeting its processing-time goals: on average, 240 days for an I-526E, or 120 days when the investment is in a targeted employment area, and 240 days for an I-829. DHS says it incorporated those goals “into the fee-setting methodology” (91 FR 61955). For investors, the practical yardstick is USCIS’s posted processing time for each form, measured against those goals.

Under 31 U.S.C. 902(a)(8), an agency’s chief financial officer must review its fees every two years. In the proposed rule, DHS said USCIS will review the EB-5 fees on that schedule, two years after they take effect (90 FR 48521; 90 FR 48523). The final rule adds that DHS “will closely monitor the effects of fee changes on program participation” (91 FR 61976).

Impact on Regional Center Sponsors

On the regional center side, the fee for a new designation (initial I-956) rises from $17,795 to $44,115, and the fee for each project application (I-956F) rises from $17,795 to $42,675. Each more than doubles. Two other fees fall: the I-956 amendment, from $17,795 to $9,835, and the I-956G annual statement, from $3,035 to $2,165. Two filings that had no fee now have one: the I-956H bona fides form, at $65, and the I-956K promoter registration, at $2,165. DHS finds that “at a minimum, 87.1 percent” of EB-5 regional centers are small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (91 FR 61979).

For help planning an EB-5 filing under the new fee schedule, schedule a consultation or request an EB-5 investment plan.

Sources

1. DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment-Based Immigrant Visa, Fifth Preference (EB-5) Fee Rule, Final Rule, 91 FR 61940 (Sept. 30, 2026), Federal Register, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/30/2026-20016/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-employment-based-immigrant-visa-fifth-preference-eb-5-fee
2. Same rule, official PDF, govinfo.gov, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-30/pdf/2026-20016.pdf
3. DHS, EB-5 Fee Rule, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 90 FR 48516 (Oct. 23, 2025), Docket USCIS-2025-0139, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/23/2025-19642/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-employment-based-immigrant-visa-fifth-preference-eb-5-fee
4. 31 U.S.C. 902(a)(8), https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title31-section902&num=0&edition=prelim
5. DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements, Final Rule, 89 FR 6194 (Jan. 31, 2024), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/01/31/2024-01427/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration
6. 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5), including the statutory note for the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-103, div. BB, sec. 106, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1153&num=0&edition=prelim

Important Disclosures

This article is provided for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, or immigration advice. EB-5 eligibility, project risks, and immigration outcomes depend on specific facts, evolving USCIS policy, and individual legal strategy. Investors should consult their own qualified immigration and securities counsel regarding how these concepts apply to their particular circumstances. References to USCIS, precedent decisions, or attorney commentary are descriptive only and do not imply any guarantee of outcome in any specific case.