Citizeo
Pathway

U.S. Investor Green Card

United States Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

EB-5 is a green card route for investors who place a large qualifying investment into a U.S. commercial enterprise and plan to create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. It is capital-intensive and documentation-heavy.

Type
Investment residence
Investment fit
Investors making a qualifying investment in the United States
Core requirements
Investment amount, source of funds, and required approvals
What to know
Meeting the listed requirements does not guarantee approval; the authority retains discretion
Duration
Starts with 2-year conditional permanent residence.
Renewal / path
Conditions can be removed if investment and job-creation rules are met.

Summary

EB-5 is an immigrant-investor route for a person who invests lawfully obtained capital in a qualifying new commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. It can be a direct investment or an investment through a USCIS-designated regional center.

For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the current statutory minimum is generally USD $1,050,000, or USD $800,000 for an investment in a targeted employment area or qualifying infrastructure project. The statute schedules inflation adjustments beginning January 1, 2027, so these figures should be rechecked before any later investment.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The investor generally must show:

Regional-center cases can count qualifying indirect jobs under the statute and must comply with the Reform and Integrity Act, project-application, fund-administration, promoter, and regional-center requirements. Targeted employment area status is determined under current federal rules, not by an old state letter.

Policy watch 1 development we’re tracking
The USD $1.05 million and USD $800,000 minimums will change
Enacted — not yet in effect

The USD $1.05 million and USD $800,000 minimums will change

Current official stage: Automatic statutory adjustment scheduled; new amounts not yet published

The investment amount is determined by the petition filing date. A petition filed from 1 January 2027 must use the adjusted amount that USCIS publishes, not the current USD $1.05 million standard or USD $800,000 reduced minimum.

Timing: The adjustment applies on 1 January 2027. USCIS must publish the resulting amounts in the Federal Register and update its website. Until then, the exact future minimums are not known.

Current pathway rules still apply.

Last checked U.S. Code — EB-5 investment amounts and adjustment ruleFederal Register — 2026 proposed EB-5 rule explaining the statutory adjustmentUSCIS — EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
Read the full briefing

What This Route Allows

An approved petition plus an available visa number can lead to two-year conditional permanent residence for the investor, spouse, and unmarried children under 21. Near the end of the conditional period, the investor files Form I-829 to show the investment and job-creation requirements were sustained and to remove conditions.

The statute reserves EB-5 visa numbers for rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure investments. Visa availability still varies by category and country.

What This Route Is Not

EB-5 is not a government-guaranteed investment, guaranteed green card, or simple real-estate purchase. USCIS designation or approval is not an endorsement of financial safety. Securities, fraud, project, redeployment, and loss risks require independent diligence.

Petition approval does not guarantee visa issuance or admission. Nationality-based immigrant-visa restrictions may apply to consular cases.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm the current investment amount, program authorization, set-aside, and Visa Bulletin position before transferring funds.
  2. Obtain independent immigration, securities, tax, and investment advice; do not rely solely on the project's promoter.
  3. Trace every source and transfer of funds, including gifts, loans, sales, taxes, and currency exchanges.
  4. Review the business plan, job-creation method, offering documents, conflicts, fees, exit terms, and regional-center compliance.
  5. Plan for both the I-526E/I-526 petition and later I-829 proof; keep records for the full lifecycle.
Compare your options

Similar investment pathways in other destinations.

Sources