United StatesEB-5 Visa.
A US green card for you, your spouse and your children, through a qualifying investment that creates American jobs.
Minimum investment, Targeted Employment Area
Full-time American jobs each investment must create
On a conditional green card before it becomes permanent
From green card to citizenship eligibility
The programme in eight lines.
Figures last reviewed October 2026. Programme rules change; we confirm the current position before you commit.
- Minimum investment
- US$ 800,000
- What you get
- Permanent residency (Green Card)
- Processing time
- 2–4 years
- Physical presence
- 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
EB-5 is the only US route that converts capital directly into permanent residency. For an Indian applicant, the visa category you choose matters more than the project you pick.
Capital in. Green card out.
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.
- Live, work and study anywhere in the United States
- Spouse and unmarried children under 21 on one investment
- No age, education, language or business-experience test
- Citizenship eligibility five years after the green card
Two thresholds, one requirement.
Whichever route you take, the capital must be genuinely at risk and must create ten full-time American jobs. Both thresholds are scheduled to rise with inflation from January 2027; applicants filing before then lock in the current amounts.
Targeted Employment Area
A rural area or one with high unemployment, plus qualifying infrastructure projects. This is the route most Indian investors take.
- Usually through a USCIS-designated Regional Center
- Opens the three reserved visa categories created by the 2022 reform
- Reserved visas have their own annual allocation
- Rural has remained available to Indian applicants without a waiting line
Rural projects · reserved
The category that has kept Indian applicants out of the queue. Often the deciding choice.
High unemployment · reserved
Projects in areas with unemployment well above the national average.
Infrastructure · reserved
Qualifying public infrastructure projects, at the lower threshold.
Any other project · unreserved
Anywhere in the United States, including a business you start or buy yourself. Falls in the unreserved category.
From investment to passport.
Two petitions, two green cards, and a citizenship clock that starts with the first one.
Invest and file I-526E
Funds remitted, petition filed with full source-of-funds evidence. Typically 12–24 months to adjudicate.
Conditional green card
Consular processing in India or adjustment of status in the US. Valid for two years.
Remove conditions
File I-829 once the jobs are shown to exist. The permanent green card follows.
Citizenship
Eligible to naturalise five years after the conditional green card was issued.
Time on the conditional green card counts towards the five years. A green card is a residence status, not a travel document: long absences from the United States can be treated as giving it up.
Requirements, and the Indian side of it.
USCIS sets almost no personal tests. What it scrutinises is the money: where it came from and how it reached the United States.
- No minimum age, education, language or business-experience requirement.
- Lawfully obtained capital, with the full trail documented in evidence. The most common cause of delay.
- 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.
- Remittance under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which has annual per-person limits, so the timing of transfers needs planning.
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.
The wrong category can mean a decade
India regularly exhausts its unreserved EB-5 allocation, and did so again in the 2026 financial year. An unreserved project can leave you waiting for years after approval.
A green card expects you to live there
It is not a backup passport. Extended time outside the United States can put the status at risk, which matters for anyone still running a business from India.
- Population
- 342 million
- Capital
- Washington DC
- Language
- English
- Currency
- US Dollar
- Time zones
- Six
Is EB-5 right for your family?
Thirty minutes, no cost, no obligation. You will get an honest view either way.