EB-5 costs: what the green card costs on top of the investment

On top of the $800,000 or $1,050,000 investment, the EB-5 comes with government fees, project fees, attorney fees and translations, plus costs that never show up on an invoice. And on November 30, 2026, the USCIS fees change.

"What does the EB-5 cost?" has two answers. The first is written in the law: $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted area, as explained in our article on the investment amount. That money isn't a price, it's an investment: it's at risk, and in the best case it comes back to you.

The second answer is the sum of all the costs that don't come back. It's smaller, but it's certain. That's what this page is about: government fees, project fees, attorney fees and translations, and the costs nobody puts on an invoice.

1Four kinds of cost

If you're running the numbers on an EB-5, sort everything into four columns:

1. The investment itself. $800,000 or $1,050,000, tied up for at least two years, with the risk of loss. It's the biggest item, but not a cost in the strict sense.
2. Government fees. What USCIS and the State Department charge for the petition, the visa or adjustment of status, and the removal of conditions. These amounts are public and can be pinned down exactly.
3. Project and advisory costs. The Regional Center's administrative fees, attorney, translations and, for a direct investment, the business plan and company formation.
4. Follow-on costs. Lost returns on tied-up capital, exchange rates, transfers, taxes in the US and in your home country.

Only the second column can be pinned down exactly from primary sources. There are no official rates for the third, but the law requires every fee to be disclosed. The fourth has rules, but no invoice.

2USCIS fees: what applies until November 29, 2026 and what comes after

On September 30, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published a dedicated EB-5 fee rule in the Federal Register (document 2026-20016). It applies to all filings postmarked on or after November 30, 2026. According to the Department, fees for EB-5 forms rise by a weighted average of about 70.7 percent.

Until the cutoff, fee schedule G-1055 in its October 16, 2026 edition applies. For the EB-5 forms it lists the fees that were in force before the general fee overhaul of April 2024, because a court had partly blocked that overhaul for the EB-5 forms.

The key numbers for you as an investor are in the table below. Three points to note:

• The petition: Through a Regional Center you file Form I-526E; for a direct investment, the I-526. The I-526E also carries a surcharge under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act that goes into the Integrity Fund: $1,000, rising to $1,100 from the cutoff. The new petition fees also include a $75 technology fee.
• Pay separately: If you file the petition together with the I-485 adjustment of status, the I-765 work permit or the I-131 travel permit, you need a separate payment for each form. A single combined payment gets the filing rejected.
• Removal of conditions: You pay for the I-829 once, and your spouse and children can be included in the same petition. Anyone not included has to file their own.

3Consulate or adjustment of status: the bill for your family

Once the petition is approved, there are two routes to the conditional green card. If you live abroad, you apply for the immigrant visa at the US consulate; the fee for employment-based immigrant visas is $345 per person. On top of that, everyone arriving on an immigrant visa pays the $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee. If you're already in the US on another status, such as an E-2, you file the I-485 adjustment of status with USCIS; that costs $1,440 on paper per person aged 14 or older, and $950 for children under 14 filing with a parent.

For a family with two children immigrating through the consulate and investing through a Regional Center, the worked example below shows the government fees before and after the cutoff. It doesn't include the medical exam with a consulate-approved doctor (the doctor sets the price), translations or attorney fees.

Which route suits you, and when you can file the I-485 together with the petition, is covered in our articles on the process and on concurrent filing.

3.1What the Regional Center pays

The Regional Center pays USCIS too, and a good deal more than before. These amounts aren't on your invoice, but they go into the project's budget and so into the fees the Regional Center charges its investors. The second table shows the main items.

4Project fees: what the law requires to be disclosed

The law itself lists the fees that can come with a project: administrative fees, fees for monitoring and servicing loans, commissions and similar compensation. No law sets how much they can be, and there are no official statistics on them. What the law does regulate is transparency:

• The offering documents the Regional Center files with its I-956F project application must list every fee, interest payment and compensation paid to intermediaries, finders and brokers, with the service and the recipient.
• Every I-526E petition includes a statement signed by you listing all fees and compensation paid in connection with your investment, including to agents and finders.
• In its annual report to USCIS, the Regional Center must itemize every fee charged to investors. You can request a copy of this report and receive it within 30 days.

Two rules make project fees part of your file. First, they cannot be paid out of the minimum investment: fees that reduce the capital going into the project do not count toward the investment. Second, the money for the fees must also come from a lawful source. How you document that is covered in our article on the source of funds.

5Attorneys, translations, reviews

An EB-5 case involves at least three filings, often years apart: the petition, the visa or adjustment of status, and the removal of conditions. Attorney fees are freely negotiated, so ask which steps a quote covers and which are billed separately.

On top of that come costs that are easy to underestimate:

• Translations. Every document in a foreign language needs a complete English translation with the translator's certification. With seven years of tax records, purchase agreements and registry extracts, you can quickly end up with hundreds of pages.
• Project review. If you want an offering reviewed independently, you pay your own advisors, for example for a legal review of the offering documents.
• For a direct investment: forming the US company, a comprehensive business plan, bookkeeping and payroll for the ten jobs. We form the company ourselves; for a business with investors and staff, the right entity is often the corporation.

Our own fees are not listed in this article but on the page for each service.

6Costs nobody puts on the invoice

6.1Tied-up capital

The capital must stay invested for at least two years, and in practice often longer, because repayment depends on the project. The return on an EB-5 offering is set out in the offering documents; a guaranteed return is not allowed, otherwise the capital does not count. The return you could have earned elsewhere is therefore a real cost, even though nobody bills you for it.

6.2Exchange rates and transfers

Capital is valued in dollars at the time of investment. If you convert from euros, pounds or kroner, you carry currency risk, conversion costs and bank fees, and you pay them a second time in the other direction when the money comes back.

6.3Taxes

Once you hold a green card, you are a US resident for federal tax purposes; this is the IRS green card test. From then on you pay US tax on your worldwide income, and your obligations in your home country do not end automatically. Our article on taxes in your home country covers what to watch for when you leave Europe. For the US side, we take care of your US tax return.

6.4Living in America

Health insurance, schools and housing cost differently in the US than in Europe. If you are running the numbers on an EB-5, include life afterwards too. Our article on health insurance in the USA gives you an overview.

7What you get back and what you don't

Government filing fees are generally non-refundable, no matter how the application turns out or how long processing takes. Any refund is at USCIS's discretion. This applies to every petition, every I-485 and every I-829.

The investment is a different story. It is at risk, which means it can be lost in whole or in part. There can be no contractual right to repayment; the only thing allowed is a buyback option that the US company exercises at its own discretion. If the money is still in the separate project account, it may be returned to you where the program rules permit, for example if the petition fails. When and how capital comes back after a successful case is explained in our article on project due diligence, risks and capital repayment.

8Cutting costs without adding risk

The biggest savings come not from the attorney but from deadlines and sequencing:

• Deadline: November 30, 2026. For fees, the postmark is what counts. A complete I-526E mailed before then is charged under the old fee schedule.
• Deadline: January 1, 2027. For petitions filed from this date, the investment amounts are adjusted to the Consumer Price Index. File before then and you stay at $800,000 or $1,050,000.
• Documents first. A petition that fails for lack of source-of-funds evidence means paying the fee a second time.
• Compare fees. Regional Center administrative fees vary. Because they must be disclosed, you can compare them.
• Check your route. Many entrepreneurs have options that don't require an investment of this size, such as the E-2 with your own business or a green card based on your own qualifications. For an overview of the costs of the entrepreneur routes, see Applying for a green card: costs and timelines.

9When each cost is due

EB-5 costs are spread over several years. Plan them in the order they come up and your bank account won't get any surprises:

1. Before the petition: gathering and translating source-of-funds documents, reviewing the project, the attorney for the petition.
2. With the petition: transferring the investment, often first into an escrow account, plus the Regional Center administrative fee, the fee for the I-526E or I-526 and, for a Regional Center, the additional Integrity Fund fee.
3. After approval: immigrant visa and immigrant fee per person at the consulate, or adjustment of status per person in the US, medical exam, travel and relocation.
4. In the 90 days before the second anniversary of your conditional green card: the I-829 for you and your family, with evidence that the capital stayed invested and the jobs were created.
5. Ongoing: US tax returns from the year you receive your green card, plus your obligations in your home country for as long as they apply.

What it all adds up to is a manageable sum compared with the investment, but not a small one. Know it before you sign, and you decide on the EB-5 with your eyes open. How long each step takes is covered in our article on processing times, the Visa Bulletin and the priority date, and what comes after the two years of the conditional green card in our article on the conditional green card.

In short

• USCIS fees for the EB-5 go up for filings postmarked on or after November 30, 2026: I-526E from $3,675 to $7,850, I-829 from $3,750 to $5,000, and the additional fee for Regional Center petitions from $1,000 to $1,100.
• For a family of four going through the consulate and a Regional Center, government fees come to about $10,745 before the deadline and $16,270 after it, not counting the medical exam, translations and attorney.
• Project and administrative fees are paid on top of the minimum investment, and this money must also come from a documented source.
• Government fees are generally non-refundable; with a green card you become a US tax resident.

How we help you

• Visa RoadmapIn writing: which visa fits you and your family, prepared with the immigration attorney on the firm's team.
• Visa and Green Card ConsultationWhich route to the USA fits you, settled in one conversation.
• Your US Tax ReturnForm 1040 or 1040-NR, handled in English.
• US Bank Account OpeningYour own access to the American financial system, even without an SSN.
• Moving to the USAVisa, bank account, taxes and where to live: your move with Mount Bonnell Advisors.