EB-5 investor green card: how the immigrant investor path works

The employment-based fifth preference category, usually called EB-5, is one of the most distinctive green card paths because it is based on investment and job creation rather than a standard family petition or employer-sponsored labor-market case.

Congress created the EB-5 program in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through capital investment and job creation. That basic policy goal is still the same today, but the current rules, filing forms, and minimum investment amounts have changed over time.

1. What the EB-5 investor category is

USCIS describes EB-5 as the employment-based fifth preference category for immigrant investors. To qualify, the investor must place the required capital into a qualifying new commercial enterprise and create or preserve at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers.

That means EB-5 is not really an employer sponsorship case in the normal sense. It is an investor-based permanent residence path inside the employment-based immigrant system.

2. The current minimum investment amounts

USCIS says the current investment minimums depend on the filing date and investment location.

For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the standard minimum investment amount is $1,050,000. If the investment is in a targeted employment area or an infrastructure project, the minimum amount is $800,000.

• Standard amount for newer filings: $1,050,000
• Targeted employment area or infrastructure project amount for newer filings: $800,000
• These amounts are scheduled for inflation-based adjustment every five years, with the first such adjustment for petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027

3. What a targeted employment area means

USCIS says a targeted employment area, often called a TEA, can be either a rural area or a high-unemployment area. That is what creates access to the lower investment threshold.

A high-unemployment area is generally defined around an unemployment level of at least 150 percent of the national average, and a rural area has its own statutory geographic definition. The current rules also allow infrastructure projects in the lower-threshold bucket.

4. How job creation works

The EB-5 investor must generally create at least 10 full-time positions for qualifying employees. USCIS explains that full-time generally means at least 35 working hours per week.

The details depend on whether the case is a standalone investment or a regional center case. In a standalone case, the enterprise usually must directly create the jobs. In a regional center case, job creation can include indirect jobs, and USCIS says up to 90 percent of the requirement may be met that way.

• At least 10 full-time jobs
• Jobs must be for qualifying workers
• Temporary, seasonal, transient, or intermittent jobs generally do not count as permanent full-time jobs

5. Standalone EB-5 vs regional center EB-5

This is another major structural distinction. USCIS now separates standalone-investor filings from regional-center-investor filings.

A standalone investor generally uses Form I-526. A regional center investor generally uses Form I-526E. USCIS also notes that immigrant visas under the Regional Center Program are authorized through September 30, 2027 under current law.

6. The filing path: I-526 or I-526E first

The first major petition step is usually Form I-526 for a standalone investor or Form I-526E for a regional center investor. Those petitions ask USCIS to classify the investor under the EB-5 category.

USCIS also explains that if an immigrant visa is immediately available, some applicants may file Form I-485 while the petition is pending or after approval, depending on their situation and the current Visa Bulletin.

7. EB-5 leads to conditional permanent residence first

One detail that many people miss is that EB-5 does not usually lead straight to unrestricted permanent residence. USCIS says approval through this path results in conditional permanent resident status for a two-year period.

That conditional status applies to the principal investor and qualifying derivative family members once they adjust status in the United States or enter with an EB-5 immigrant visa.

8. Removing the conditions with Form I-829

After conditional residence is granted, the case is not over. USCIS says the investor must file Form I-829 during the 90-day window immediately before the second anniversary of admission or adjustment as a conditional permanent resident.

If USCIS approves the I-829, the agency removes the conditions on residence. If the investor does not file on time and does not have a valid excuse accepted by USCIS, conditional resident status can be terminated.

9. The Visa Bulletin still matters for EB-5

Employment-based immigrant categories can have backlogs, and that remains true for EB-5. The State Department’s Visa Bulletin now breaks the category into unreserved and set-aside visa groups.

As of April 2026, the Visa Bulletin shows the unreserved EB-5 category as current for most chargeability areas, but not for China-mainland born or India. The set-aside categories for rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure projects are current across the board in the April 2026 bulletin.

• Unreserved EB-5: current for many countries, but not all
• China-mainland born and India currently show cut-off dates in the April 2026 bulletin for unreserved EB-5
• Rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure set-asides are current in the April 2026 bulletin

10. A practical way to think about EB-5

If you are evaluating EB-5, the core questions are straightforward. Are you using a standalone or regional center path? Is your project in a TEA or infrastructure bucket? Can the case support the required lawful-source capital and job-creation evidence? And is the visa category current for your chargeability area?

Those questions matter more than generic summaries because EB-5 is a document-heavy category where outdated numbers and outdated assumptions create expensive mistakes.

11. The bottom line

EB-5 is the investor green card path inside the employment-based fifth preference category. It was created to stimulate the U.S. economy through capital investment and job creation, and it still works on that basic logic today.

But the details now require up-to-date sources. The current thresholds are $1,050,000 or $800,000 depending on the project, the main petitions are Form I-526 or I-526E, and successful cases still have to clear the two-year conditional-residence stage and Form I-829.