EB-5 Fees Rise on November 30: I-526 Goes to $7,615 and I-526E to $7,850

USCIS has published the final rule that raises the fees of the EB-5 program. Starting November 30, 2026, petitions postmarked on or after that date pay the new amounts: Form I-526 rises from $3,675 to $7,615, and the initial regional center Form I-526E rises from $3,675 to $7,850. The rule was published in the Federal Register on September 30, 2026, and is not yet in force: through November 29, the current fees apply.

What changed

The final rule, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment-Based Immigrant Visa, Fifth Preference (EB-5) Fee Rule,” was published in the Federal Register of September 30, 2026, pages 61940 to 61985, document 2026-20016, docket USCIS-2025-0139, RIN 1615-AC93. The text finalizes the proposal published on October 23, 2025, and rests on the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the law that reformed the regional center program.

The stated purpose of the measure is to recover the full cost of administering the EB-5 program and to fund the integrity measures set out in the law, such as audits, site visits, and background checks. The document estimates about 16,600 program filings per year and a weighted-average fee increase of 70.7 percent, about $2,945.90 per filing.

The current fees, used as the basis of comparison in the rule, are the ones that were in effect before April 2024. After a November 2025 court decision, in Moody v. Noem, USCIS returned to accepting those older amounts for EB-5 forms. The EB-5 program page on this site (https://meridianglobalmobility.com/en/eb-5/) presents the category and its basic requirements.

The fee table: before and after

The I-526 and initial I-526E amounts already include the $75 technology fee, covered below. The I-526E amendment does not include that fee, which is why its final amount is lower than the initial petition, even though both start from the same current fee of $3,675.

Who pays each fee

Form I-526 is the petition of the standalone investor, who invests on their own, without a regional center. The amount rises from $3,675 to $7,615, with the technology fee included.

Form I-526E is the petition of the regional center investor. The initial petition rises from $3,675 to $7,850, also with the technology fee included. The amendment to an I-526E, to change a petition already filed, rises from $3,675 to $7,775, without the technology fee.

Form I-829 is the petition to remove the conditions on the conditional permanent residence obtained through the investment. The amount rises from $3,750 to $5,000.

Form I-527 is new. It serves the investor who filed the petition before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act and needs to amend it to retain eligibility after the regional center was terminated or the new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity was debarred. The fee is $10,330.

The $75 technology fee. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act authorized USCIS to charge a technology fee of up to 1 percent of some fees, to improve the information technology systems that process and archive applications. In the proposed rule, the amount was $95. In the final rule, the amount is $75.

The $75 fee is included in the I-526 and the initial I-526E. The text of the rule makes clear that it does not apply to the I-526E amendment: the new 8 CFR 106.2(d)(2)(iv) states that each Form I-526 and each initial filing of Form I-526E requires the additional $75 fee, included in the amounts of $7,615 and $7,850. The amendment, at $7,775, is outside that charge.

The Integrity Fund and regional centers

The EB-5 Integrity Fund pays for compliance, fraud investigation, audits, and site visits. The rule raises these fees by 10 percent, based on inflation measured by the CPI-U between 2022 and 2025.

The Integrity Fund fee paid by the investor, with each Form I-526E, rises from $1,000 to $1,100. The regional center annual fee rises from $10,000 to $11,000, when the center has 20 investors or fewer, and from $20,000 to $22,000, when it has more than 20 investors. The annual fee is due on October 1 of each year.

These Integrity Fund fees are separate from the form fees. The USCIS fee changes of October 16, 2026, covered in the article on USCIS fees (https://meridianglobalmobility.com/en/uscis-fees-october-16-2026-asylum-parole-tps/), are a different change, covering a different set of forms.

The November 30 postmark cutoff

The rule takes effect on November 30, 2026. The test is the postmark date: any petition, application, or request postmarked on or after that date must be accompanied by the new fees. Through November 29, the current fees apply.

The cutoff applies to every form in the table. There is no gradual transition period: the postmark date decides which fee table applies, and USCIS records that a filing with the old fee after the cutoff does not meet the rule.

What does not change

The rule does not change the EB-5 minimum investment amounts. The program continues to require an investment of at least $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area (TEA) or infrastructure project, in a U.S. business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs. The rule covers fees, not investment amounts.

The rule also does not change premium processing fees. The document records that the final rule makes no premium processing fee changes and does not consider the costs of that service in calculating EB-5 fees. The article on I-140 Premium Processing (https://meridianglobalmobility.com/en/i-140-premium-processing-eb1a-eb2-niw-timeframes/) covers that service in another category.

The November 2026 Visa Bulletin dates are in the article on the Visa Bulletin (https://meridianglobalmobility.com/en/november-2026-visa-bulletin-official-dates/). Immigration pathways by profile are gathered in the guide comparing immigration pathways (https://meridianglobalmobility.com/en/compare-immigration-pathways/).

Neighbouring deadline: OPT fee comments close today

Today, November 9, 2026, comments close on the DHS proposed OPT fee, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, only through the regulations.gov portal, under docket ICEB-2026-0100. The topic was covered in the article on the proposed OPT fee (https://meridianglobalmobility.com/en/dhs-proposed-opt-fee-70000-first-30000-subsequent/), with amounts of $70,000 for the first OPT and $30,000 for each subsequent OPT. Today’s closing is only a neighbouring deadline: the subject of this article is the EB-5 final fee rule.

Frequently asked questions

Are the new EB-5 fees already in force?

No. The final rule takes effect on November 30, 2026. Through November 29, the current fees apply. The test is the postmark date: filings postmarked on or after November 30 pay the new fees.

How much will the initial I-526E cost?

$7,850, including the $75 technology fee. The I-526E amendment costs $7,775 and does not include the technology fee. Both amounts start from the same current fee, $3,675.

Did the EB-5 minimum investment change?

No. The rule does not change the minimum investment amounts: $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project. The rule changes only the form fees and the Integrity Fund fees.

What is Form I-527?

It is a new form, at $10,330, for the investor who filed the petition before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act and needs to amend it to retain eligibility after the regional center was terminated or the new commercial enterprise or job-creating entity was debarred.

What happens to filings made by November 29?

They pay the current fees: $3,675 for the I-526 and the initial I-526E, $3,750 for the I-829, and a $1,000 investor Integrity Fund fee. The cutoff is the postmark date, not the date USCIS decides the case.

Disclaimer and compliance notice: Meridian Global Mobility (MGM) provides operational coordination, document organization, and logistical support for Brazil–U.S. mobility projects. MGM is not a law firm and does not provide legal services, legal advice, or representation before government agencies. Any legal services are provided independently by licensed, independent attorneys in the United States. The content of this article is informational and does not constitute consulting or an eligibility determination.