Immigrant Investors to Face Lower Visa Fees in DHS Draft Rule

Proposed changes would cut EB-5 application costs by about 14 percent while tightening oversight of the investor visa program.

The Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Aug. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Immigrant investors seeking U.S. residency through the EB-5 visa program would pay significantly lower application fees under a new proposal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which comes as the Trump administration advances a separate “Gold Card” initiative aimed at ultra-wealthy foreigners.

The proposed rule, published on Oct. 23 by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would roll back filing costs for people using the EB-5 program, which allows foreign nationals to obtain green cards by investing in U.S. businesses that create jobs. The agency said the fee cuts reflect updated cost studies and are intended to make the program more efficient and financially self-sustaining.

“DHS intends for the rule to provide USCIS with the resources necessary to accomplish the goals of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 and enhance and maintain the integrity of the EB-5 program,” the agency states in the draft rule summary.

The 2022 law cited by the agency revived the EB-5 investor visa program after its 2021 lapse and modernized its rules. It raised minimum investment amounts to qualify for a visa and added new anti-fraud safeguards, requiring regular audits, background checks for regional-center operators, and stricter reporting. The updated law also directed DHS to conduct a fee study and set clear processing-time goals to speed adjudications, with the draft rule coming about as a consequence.

Under the new proposal, the main EB-5 petition fee—the form used by foreign investors to apply for U.S. permanent residency—would drop by about 14 percent, from roughly $11,000 to $9,600. Similar reductions are planned for petitions to remove residency conditions and for filings by regional centers, the entities that pool capital from multiple investors for large development projects.

USCIS said the lower fees reflect a refined cost analysis and that overall revenue would still be sufficient to maintain program integrity.

“Consistent with the EB-5 Reform Act, this proposed rule would ensure that USCIS recovers full EB-5 program operating costs by setting EB-5 fees at a level sufficient to fund overall requirements,” the agency stated in the proposal.

The rule would also strengthen and codify the administration of the EB-5 Integrity Fund, which finances fraud prevention, site inspections, and compliance audits. Regional centers would contribute $10,000 or $20,000 annually, depending on their size, plus a $1,000 surcharge for each investor petition. The draft rule also spells out penalty rates, payment deadlines, and how the fund fits into USCIS’s broader cost-recovery framework.

The proposed rule arrives as the Trump administration expands its focus on investment-based immigration, unveiling a parallel “Gold Card” program for ultra-rich foreigners. Under an executive order signed in September, wealthy individuals or corporations can obtain expedited U.S. residency by making a “financial gift” to the Commerce Department of “$1 million for an individual donating on his or her own behalf and $2 million for a corporation or similar entity donating on behalf of an individual.” The initiative, overseen by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, was initially described as a possible replacement for EB-5 but now appears poised to operate alongside it.

From 2016 to 2019, the EB-5 program generated $184 billion in economic activity and supported 7 million U.S. jobs, according to an impact study commissioned by Invest in the USA, a trade association representing EB-5 stakeholders. That same study reported $14.5 billion in combined federal, state, and local tax revenue and found that the average wage of EB-5-supported jobs—$74,000—was 48 percent higher than the national private sector average.

The DHS draft proposal on EB-5 fees signals the administration’s intent to preserve the existing investor pathway, lowering administrative costs while tightening oversight. The agency estimates that the new fee schedule would save investors about $244 million over 10 years without reducing safeguards.