United StatesEB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
A US green card for you, your spouse and your children, through a qualifying investment that creates American jobs.
- Minimum investment
- US$ 800,000
- What you get
- Permanent residency (Green Card)
- Processing time
- 2–4 years
- Physical presence required
- Yes, to maintain status
- Family included
- Spouse, children under 21
- Route to citizenship
- After 5 years
- Capital at risk
- Yes, required by law
- Capital returned
- Typically 5–8 years, not guaranteed
Figures last reviewed October 2026. Programme rules change; we confirm the current position before you commit.
EB-5 is the only US route that converts capital directly into permanent residency. You invest in a business that creates at least ten American jobs, and in exchange you, your spouse and your children under 21 receive green cards.
Most investors do not start a business themselves. They invest through a Regional Center, a USCIS-designated entity that pools investor capital into a larger project, usually real estate or infrastructure. The Regional Center handles the job-creation accounting, which is the part most likely to go wrong.
The 2022 reform created three reserved categories: rural projects, projects in areas of high unemployment, and infrastructure. These reserved visas have their own annual allocation, which matters enormously for Indian applicants.
Why the category you choose matters more than the project
India regularly exhausts its annual allocation in the unreserved EB-5 category, and did so again during the 2026 financial year. The reserved categories, particularly rural, have remained available to Indian applicants without a waiting line. Choosing a rural project rather than an unreserved one can be the difference between a green card in a few years and a wait measured in a decade.
This is the single most consequential decision in an EB-5 application, and it is made before you choose a project at all.
Two thresholds, one requirement.
Whichever route you take, the capital must be genuinely at risk and must create ten full-time American jobs.
Targeted Employment Area: a rural area or one with high unemployment. Also covers qualifying infrastructure projects. This is the route most Indian investors take.
Any other project, anywhere in the United States, including a business you start or buy yourself.
Both thresholds are scheduled to rise with inflation from January 2027. Applicants filing before that date lock in the current amounts.
Beyond the investment
Budget separately for Regional Center administration fees, legal fees, USCIS filing fees and the cost of documenting your source of funds. These are not small, and an agent who quotes you only the headline figure is not giving you the full picture.
Requirements.
- No minimum age, education, language or business-experience requirement.
- The investment capital must be lawfully obtained, and you must document the full trail with evidence.
- Spouse and unmarried children under 21 are included on the same application.
- Children approaching 21 need careful planning; some protection exists, but it is not automatic.
- Funds must be remitted from India in compliance with the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which has annual per-person limits.
From first call to green card.
Category and project
Choose the visa category first, then the project. Due diligence on both.
Source of funds
Document how the capital was earned. The most common cause of delay.
Invest and file I-526E
Remit funds and file the petition. Typically 12–24 months to adjudicate.
Conditional residency
Consular processing or adjustment of status. A two-year conditional green card.
Remove conditions
File I-829 once the jobs are created. Permanent green card follows.
What nobody selling this will tell you.
Every programme has drawbacks. These are EB-5’s.
Your capital is genuinely at risk
The law requires it. A guaranteed return would disqualify the application. Projects do fail, and investors have lost money.
The money is locked up for years
Typically five to eight years before capital is returned, and the return is not contractually assured.
A green card brings US tax residency
The United States taxes residents on worldwide income. For a founder with Indian business interests, this can outweigh the benefit. Plan it before you file, not after.
Project quality varies enormously
Regional Centers are not equal. Job-creation models, construction risk and repayment history differ widely. The commission paid to agents is not correlated with project quality.
Is EB-5 right for you?
Thirty minutes, no cost, no obligation. We will tell you honestly either way.
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