1 January 2027: the first EB-5 investment adjustment and the filing-date question

The EB-5 minimum investment has been fixed since March 2022. On 1 January 2027 the statute adjusts it for the first time, for petitions filed on or after that date. The rule is simple; the number is not yet known.

What the statute says

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5)(C), the standard amount is $1,050,000 and the amount for a targeted employment area or infrastructure project is $800,000. Beginning on 1 January 2027, and every five years after that, the standard amount adjusts for petitions filed on or after the effective date, based on the cumulative change in the unadjusted consumer price index for all urban consumers between 1 January 2022 and the date of adjustment. The result is rounded down to the nearest $50,000. The TEA and infrastructure amount is then set at 75 percent of the adjusted standard amount. DHS is to publish the new amounts by technical amendment in the Federal Register.

As of the date of this article, that technical amendment has not been published. Estimates circulating in the market are third-party calculations, not official figures. The USCIS EB-5 programme page is where the agency will announce the change.

Why the filing date carries the cost

The amount is set by the date the petition is filed, not the date the money moves. An investor who files a complete I-526E before 1 January 2027 is assessed at the current amount; one who files later is assessed at the adjusted amount. That makes the weeks around the new year the most valuable filing window of the next five years, and also the most crowded, with the fee change of 30 November in between, described in EB-5 fees from 30 November.

Filing early does not shorten adjudication. The petition then waits in a queue that the D.D.C. has found reasonable even at close to two years, as discussed in the 120-day goal in court. The cost of that wait is the subject of I-526E delays and committed capital.

Do not rush a weak petition

A petition filed incomplete to beat the date invites a request for evidence or a denial, and an incomplete source-of-funds file is the usual weakness. The principle in calculating the cost of delay applies: price the higher investment against the cost of a weak filing, and present the conservative case.

The protections for petitions filed by 30 September 2026 are a separate question, covered in grandfathering and the 2027 sunset. Mandamus.com analyses the adjustment from the delay side on the 2027 EB-5 investment increase.

Questions

What is the new minimum investment?

Not yet published. The statute requires DHS to publish the adjusted amounts in the Federal Register; until it does, any figure is an estimate.

Does the adjustment affect petitions already filed?

No. It applies to petitions filed on or after the effective date of the adjustment.

How is the TEA amount calculated?

It equals 75 percent of the adjusted standard amount, after the standard amount is rounded down to the nearest $50,000.

General information, not legal advice. Rules and processing practice change; verify against the agency's own published figures and take advice on your own facts.