Investor Green Card in the USA: Investment, Petition, and I-829

An investor green card in the USA is available through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which grants lawful permanent residence to foreign nationals who invest either $800,000 or $1,050,000 in a qualifying U.S. business that creates at least 10 full-time American jobs. The lower figure applies if the business sits in a rural area, a high-unemployment area, or qualifies as an infrastructure project; otherwise the standard minimum is $1,050,000.¹ Congress created EB-5 in 1990, and the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) reshaped the thresholds, visa allocation, and investor protections that apply today.²

How Much You Need to Invest and Where

For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the baseline capital contribution is $1,050,000. Invest in a targeted employment area (TEA) or an infrastructure project and the minimum drops to $800,000.³

A TEA is either a high-unemployment area, meaning a census tract (or group of contiguous tracts) with a weighted average unemployment rate of at least 150 percent of the national average,⁴ or a rural area, meaning anywhere outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside the boundary of any city or town with 20,000 or more residents.³ The category matters for more than the price: rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure projects also get reserved visa numbers, which can shorten the wait significantly.

Whatever you put in has to be “at risk.” No guaranteed return, no contractual right to repayment. The statute requires the capital to stay deployed for at least two years,¹ and for post-RIA investors USCIS treats the requirement as satisfied if the investment is expected to remain invested for at least two years and the jobs are created.⁵

Can You Use Borrowed Money?

Yes. Loan proceeds contributed as cash to the new commercial enterprise count as a valid investment. The loan does not have to be secured by your personal assets. Federal courts have upheld unsecured loans and loans guaranteed by third parties, provided the transaction is commercially reasonable and made in good faith. Bank loans require documentation of your receipt of the funds; loans from a family member or private lender also require proof of the lender’s lawful source of funds.

The 10-Job Requirement

Every EB-5 investment must create at least 10 full-time positions for qualifying U.S. workers, which includes citizens, permanent residents, and other work-authorized immigrants. Your spouse and children don’t count.¹ A direct investment means you hire those 10 employees yourself. A regional center investment lets you count indirect and induced jobs generated by the project’s economic activity, which is why most EB-5 investors go the regional center route.

Visa Numbers and the Set-Aside Categories

Roughly 10,000 EB-5 visas are issued each year, 7.1 percent of all employment-based visas. That total covers you plus your spouse and unmarried children under 21, so a family of four uses four numbers.⁶ A 7-percent per-country cap applies, which has historically produced long backlogs for investors from China and India.

The RIA reserved slices of the annual allocation for specific project types:

Rural projects: 20 percent of annual EB-5 visas
High-unemployment projects: 10 percent
Infrastructure projects: 2 percent

Unused reserved visas roll to the next fiscal year within the same set-aside category, and if unused again roll into the general pool. Unreserved visas that go unused in a given year are lost. For investors from backlogged countries, picking a rural or high-unemployment project with available reserved numbers can mean waiting months instead of years.

Documenting Your Money and Filing the Petition

Source-of-funds documentation is where most EB-5 cases stumble. USCIS wants a clean paper trail proving the lawful origin of every dollar, from salary, business profits, property sales, inheritance, or gifts. If the money was gifted to you, the donor also has to document their own lawful acquisition of it. Plan on submitting several years of tax returns, bank statements, and transaction records tracing the money from its source into the project.

You file Form I-526 for a direct investment or Form I-526E for a regional center investment.⁷ The petition needs a detailed, credible business plan under the Matter of Ho standard, which requires market analysis, required permits, a description of the business, and a hiring schedule with job descriptions for the 10 full-time positions.⁸ A thin plan invites a Request for Evidence. You also need proof the money has actually moved: wire confirmations, escrow agreements, or bank receipts showing the capital is committed to the enterprise.

After a November 2025 federal court order in Moody v. Noem rolled back fee hikes imposed in April 2024, the filing fee for Form I-526 or I-526E is $3,675, down from the briefly imposed $11,160.⁹ Regional center investors owe an additional $1,000 integrity fund fee.¹⁰ Your filing date becomes your priority date, which sets your place in line for a visa number. Processing times as of mid-2026 run roughly 29 to 32 months, with I-526E petitions on the shorter end. Approval confirms your investment qualifies; it does not itself grant residency.

Getting the Two-Year Conditional Green Card

Once the petition is approved and a visa number is available, the residency application follows one of two paths.

Adjustment of Status Inside the U.S.

If you are already in the country on a valid visa, you file Form I-485 with USCIS.¹¹ The filing fee is $1,440 for most adults. You attend biometrics for fingerprints and photos and complete a medical exam with a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. Exam fees vary by provider.

Concurrent Filing

If a visa number is immediately available when you file the I-526E, you can submit the I-485 at the same time rather than waiting for petition approval. Two practical benefits come with it: you can apply for an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-765) to work in the U.S., and Advance Parole (Form I-131) to travel internationally without abandoning the pending application. USCIS currently issues a combination card covering both. While a properly filed I-485 is pending, you do not accrue unlawful presence.

Consular Processing from Abroad

If you live outside the U.S., you file Form DS-260 with the National Visa Center, which handles document collection and schedules an interview at your local embassy or consulate. The immigrant visa processing fee is $345 per person.¹² A successful interview produces the immigrant visa you use to enter and activate residency.

Whichever path you take, the green card issued at this stage is valid for exactly two years.¹¹ The conditional period is when USCIS confirms you followed through on the investment and jobs. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 receive the same conditional status. Extended time abroad can jeopardize it; absences of a year or more require a re-entry permit applied for before departure, generally valid for two years from issuance.¹³

Removing the Conditions With Form I-829

During the 90 days before your conditional green card expires, you file Form I-829 to remove the conditions and convert to a standard 10-year card.¹⁴ Under the same Moody v. Noem order, the I-829 fee is $3,750.⁹ Miss that 90-day window and USCIS can automatically terminate your permanent resident status and refer you for removal.¹⁵

The evidence has to prove two things: the capital stayed invested, and the 10 jobs were created. Payroll records, W-2s, and quarterly tax filings showing employee counts and hours are the standard proof for job creation. Audited financials or bank records show the capital remained at risk. If the 10 jobs are not yet in place, you must show they will be within a reasonable timeframe. Your status stays valid while the I-829 is pending, even after the two-year card expires; USCIS issues a receipt notice that extends residency for work and travel. Once approved, you get a permanent green card valid for 10 years and renewable indefinitely.

If the Project Fails

The RIA created protections for “good faith investors” whose regional center is terminated or whose project entity is debarred. If you invested in good faith and didn’t knowingly take part in the conduct that caused the termination, you can keep your EB-5 eligibility by notifying USCIS that you still meet all other requirements, or by amending your petition to show compliance.¹⁶ Investors who knew of fraud or failed to report a fraudulent agent are not covered. These provisions apply to both pre-RIA and post-RIA investors.

Tax Consequences of Becoming a Resident

Once you’re a U.S. permanent resident, the IRS treats you as a U.S. tax resident, which means reporting worldwide income. This catches investors off guard when their main business still operates in their home country. Your U.S. tax residency generally begins when you receive lawful permanent resident status and are physically present in the country.

Even before the green card is approved you may owe U.S. taxes under the substantial presence test, which counts days in the country over a three-year period. Income from an EB-5 partnership received while you’re a non-resident alien is taxed at standard rates. Estate tax exposure can also begin once you show intent to remain in the U.S. permanently, judged by travel patterns and statements in your petition. Getting a cross-border tax professional involved before you invest is the single most important financial step outside the investment itself.

Path From Investor Green Card to Citizenship

The five-year clock for naturalization starts the day you receive your conditional green card, whether by adjustment of status or by admission with an immigrant visa. You can apply 90 days before the five-year anniversary. You need at least 30 months of physical presence during those five years and continuous residence throughout.

One catch is specific to EB-5: USCIS won’t approve naturalization until your I-829 has been approved. Because I-829 processing often takes well over a year, many investors file the naturalization application while the I-829 is still pending, understanding that final approval waits on both. The conditions on your residence don’t block you from filing; they only delay the decision.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. About the EB-5 Visa Classification
4
Legal Information Institute. 8 U.S.C. 1153 – Immigrants Not Subject to Numerical Limitations
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Provides Additional Guidance for EB-5 Required Investment Timeframe and Investors Associated
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Congress.gov. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6 – Part G – Chapter 3 – Immigrant Petition Adjudication
8
Department of Justice. Interim Decision 3362 – In re HO
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Court Order on Partial Stay of DHS 2024 USCIS Fee Rule
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. EB-5 Integrity Fund
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Process
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U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
13
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Can a U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident Leave the United States Multiple Times and Return
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. When to File Your Petition to Remove Conditions
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. EB-5 Questions and Answers