File the I‑526E petition by this date to lock in eligibility under the EB‑5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.
EB‑5 minimum investment amounts are scheduled to increase.
The Regional Center program will sunset unless Congress reauthorizes it by this date.
If you are planning to invest in the EB-5 Program in the near future, three upcoming dates can severely impact your petition. In this article, we walk through each one: the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline, the investment-amount inflation adjustment scheduled for January 1, 2027, and the September 30, 2027 program sunset date.
The Grandfathering Deadline
The first date is September 30, 2026, the grandfathering deadline. As long as you file your I-526E petition before September 30, 2026, your petition is grandfathered, which means USCIS must continue to adjudicate it even if the EB-5 Program were shut down the following year in September 2027. This is a significant protection, and many investors are already lining up to file ahead of the deadline.
That demand has practical consequences. Immigration attorneys are expected to fill their calendars with EB-5 investors filing before September 30, 2026. As we move into August and September, it will become progressively harder to find an immigration attorney with the bandwidth to take on a new case and file a petition before the deadline.
You can still file an I-526E petition after September 30, 2026. The issue is that a petition filed after the deadline would not be grandfathered. If the EB-5 Program were to sunset on September 30, 2027, which we do not anticipate, USCIS would not be required to adjudicate a petition filed after the grandfathering date. In short: file before September 30, 2026 and your petition is locked in for adjudication; file after, and adjudication is not guaranteed.
Price Increase Change
The second date is January 1, 2027. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), the statutory minimum investment is adjusted for inflation with the first adjustment scheduled for January 1, 2027. The current statutory minimum in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is $800,000. We anticipate that figure will rise to roughly $930,000 to $950,000 once the exact inflation adjustment is set.
For investors who want to invest at the current $800,000 TEA minimum, that means filing by December 31, 2026. After the adjustment takes effect, the minimum is expected to increase to the range noted above for EB-5 investments made in 2027.
The Program Sunset Date
The third date is September 30, 2027, the sunset of the current five-year extension of the EB-5 Regional Center Program. We anticipate that Congress will reauthorize the Program and that USCIS will continue to accept I-526E petitions, including from investors who file after September 30, 2026.
That said, confirmation will not come until September 2027.
Why we anticipate the EB-5 Program will continue
The EB-5 Program carries meaningful weight in the United States. It is making an impact in dozens of states across the country, both red and blue, and senators and congressional representatives are well aware of its value. Support for the Program spans both sides of the aisle, and we do not anticipate it going away. These are the dates to keep in view as you plan your EB-5 journey.
If EB-5 is part of your plan then the most consequential of these three dates is September 30, 2026. Filing your I-526E before then grandfathers your petition and secures USCIS adjudication. With attorney availability tightening as the deadline approaches, the investors who act earliest will have the most options.
Frequently Asked Questions about the EB-5 Program
Plan your family's future in the U.S.
Talk to our team about how the EB-5 Program works, what it costs, and how it compares to other employment-based pathways.
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