Green card through investment: capital at risk in exchange for ten jobs

You won't find a green card in any catalog. What US law offers is an exchange: capital that is at risk in an American business and creates at least ten jobs there, in return for the right to live permanently in the USA with your family. This route is called the EB-5, and it has clear rules.

"Can you buy a green card?" We hear this question from Europeans again and again. It's understandable: some countries tie a residence permit to buying property or making a payment, so why would the USA be any different? It is different, and fundamentally so. American law has no purchase, only an exchange with conditions. This guide explains how a green card through investment works, what the investment has to achieve, what the route to the card looks like and how the Gold Card differs. For the full overview of the program, see the guide to the EB-5 investor visa.

1Not a purchase, but an exchange with conditions

The EB-5 is the fifth employment-based category of US immigration law. Congress created it in 1990 to bring capital and jobs into the country. If you use it, you get a green card for yourself, your spouse and your unmarried children under 21. In return, you must invest in a new American business that creates at least ten full-time jobs for US workers.

Three features set this apart from a purchase. First, the money is at risk: you can lose it, and you may not have any guarantee of getting it back. Second, the money has to achieve something, namely jobs. Third, after two years USCIS checks whether both have actually happened. Only then does the green card become permanent.

The number of EB-5 visas is capped: 7.1 percent of employment-based visas, roughly 10,000 a year. Spouses and children count toward this. 20 percent are reserved for investments in rural areas, 10 percent for areas of high unemployment and 2 percent for infrastructure projects.

2What the investment has to achieve

The amount is set by statute. For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the minimum is $1,050,000. In a Targeted Employment Area (a rural area or an area of high unemployment) and for an infrastructure project through a Regional Center, it is $800,000. For petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027, the law adjusts the amounts for inflation, and every five years after that. If you file close to that date, check the amounts USCIS publishes at the time.

Capital means more than cash. Assets you own also count, valued at fair market value in dollars. What doesn't count: money from unlawful sources, a loan to the business instead of an equity stake, capital with a guaranteed return, and capital the business contractually promises to repay you. Profit distributions are allowed as long as they are not guaranteed and do not come out of your minimum capital.

And you must prove the money comes from a lawful source. You document this without gaps, from the earnings, inheritance or business sale all the way to the account of the US company. The guide to source of funds explains how, and the guide to the investment amount covers the details of the amounts.

3Two routes: Regional Center or your own business

Most investors choose a Regional Center. This is an organization designated by USCIS that pools the capital of several investors in one project, often a construction or development project. The advantage: up to 90 percent of the ten jobs per investor may be created indirectly, at suppliers and in the region, proven through an economic model. You don't have to run a business. The Regional Center Program is authorized by law until September 30, 2027. For Regional Center petitions filed by September 30, 2026, the law requires USCIS to keep processing them even if the program expires. Later petitions do not have this protection.

The other route is direct investment. You start or buy a business and invest yourself. In that case, all ten jobs must be created directly in your business, on its own payroll. This suits entrepreneurs who want to build something in the USA anyway, and it doesn't depend on the Regional Center Program.

Which route is right depends on your capital, your role and whether you'd rather vet someone else's project or run your own. You'll find the comparison under Regional Center or direct investment, and the reserved visas and rural projects under TEAs, rural projects and reserved visas.

4What real estate cannot do

The idea that you can buy a house in Florida and get a green card for it is stubbornly persistent. The EB-5 expressly rules it out. USCIS requires an investment in a for-profit business and gives owning and operating a personal residence as an example of what does not qualify.

An arrangement that promises you the use of a particular property in return for your investment won't help either. Under the USCIS Policy Manual, the value of such a promise of use or ownership does not count as capital at risk. If you're looking for a holiday home that comes with a green card, you're looking for something US law doesn't offer.

A real estate project can still be an EB-5 investment: when you take a stake in the company that builds or finances the project and the jobs are created in that business. The line runs between living somewhere and running a business.

5From capital to green card: the route in brief

The route has four stages. First, you file your petition with USCIS: the I-526E through a Regional Center or the I-526 for a direct investment. The date it is received is your priority date. Once it's approved, you apply for an immigrant visa at a consulate from abroad, or adjust your status with the I-485 if you are already lawfully in the USA. If you are in the USA and a visa is immediately available, the I-485 can even be filed together with the petition.

Your conditional green card starts when you enter the country or your status is adjusted. It is valid for two years, for you and your family, with almost all rights. In the 90 days before it expires, you file the I-829 and show that the capital stayed invested and the jobs were created or will be created within a reasonable time. Then the green card becomes permanent.

The USCIS fee for the petition is $3,675 until November 29, 2026. For applications postmarked on or after November 30, 2026, a new fee schedule applies: $7,615 for the I-526, $7,850 for the I-526E, plus $1,100 for the Regional Center Program's Integrity Fund. The guide to the EB-5 process explains each stage, the guide to processing times covers timing, the guide to the conditional green card covers the two years that follow, and the guide to EB-5 costs covers all costs.

6The Gold Card: a different route, as of October 2026

Since September 2025, there has been a second program alongside the EB-5 that links money and immigration: the Gold Card. It is based on Executive Order 14351 of September 19, 2025. The order provides that a person who makes an unrestricted gift to the US Department of Commerce receives expedited processing for an immigrant visa. The gift is $1 million for an individual paying for themselves and $2 million when a company pays for a person.

Legally, the Gold Card is not a new visa category. The order instructs the agencies to treat the gift as evidence within existing categories: the EB-1 category for extraordinary ability, the EB-2 category for exceptional business ability, and the National Interest Waiver. USCIS created Form I-140G for this purpose. The fee is $15,000 for each person in the petition, including spouses and children. You can only file it online, and only after you have registered and received a confirmation. In its Federal Register notice, USCIS expects 1,520 individuals and 72 companies a year.

The key difference from the EB-5 lies in the word gift. With the EB-5, you invest: the money works in a business and can come back to you. With the Gold Card, the money is gone. We follow developments around the program in our article on the Gold Card. For this guide, the status as of October 2026, as published by the Federal Register and USCIS, is enough.

7What to sort out before you invest

A green card is not just a right to live in the US, it is also a tax status. As a green card holder you are a US tax resident from your first day as a permanent resident, and you are taxed on your worldwide income. That residency does not end because you go back to living mostly in Europe; it only ends once the status is given up or terminated. A green card without your life centered in the US is therefore an expensive combination.

On the European side, your home country may have its own exit tax rules, so clear them with your accountant at home before you move. And if you are bringing significant wealth, you should understand US estate tax, which covers residents' worldwide assets. The guide to US estate tax for non-US citizens is a good place to start.

Finally, it pays to look at the alternatives, and that is exactly the comparison the visa roadmap makes for your situation. An E-2 has no fixed minimum amount and gets you to the US faster, but it is a temporary visa. If you own a company at home that can transfer you, look at the L-1. And if you are outstanding in your field, the EB-1A or the EB-2 NIW can get you a green card with no investment at all.

8Who a green card through investment is right for

The EB-5 suits families who bring three things. Capital they can keep at risk for several years without a loss changing their lives. Documents that fully prove where that capital came from. And a real wish to live in America, because a green card requires the US to become your home.

If you tick all three boxes, the EB-5 gives you a path that does not depend on an employer, a company back home or an exceptional career. Our recommendation for anyone who truly wants America is Texas. And if you want to get to know the country before such a big decision, the best place to start is right here.

In short

• You cannot buy a green card. The EB-5 grants one in exchange for an at-risk investment of $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area, that creates at least ten full-time jobs.
• You can invest through a Regional Center, where up to 90 percent of the jobs may be created indirectly, or directly in your own business.
• Your first green card is conditional for two years. Only the I-829 makes it permanent.
• The Gold Card is based on an order dated September 19, 2025: a non-refundable gift of $1 million, used as evidence in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories.
• With a green card, you become taxable in the US on your worldwide income. Sort that out before you invest.

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.
• Moving to the USAVisa, bank account, taxes and where to live: your move with Mount Bonnell Advisors.
• Tax structureA clean structure between parent company and US subsidiary, or between you and your US company, coordinated with your accountant.