EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), enacted as Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 117-103), is the most significant legislative change to the EB-5 program since 1990. It took effect March 15, 2022, following a nearly nine-month lapse in the regional center program.
The RIA reauthorized the regional center program through September 30, 2027, restructured the visa allocation system, introduced integrity measures for regional centers and fund administrators, and created a grandfathering provision protecting investment amounts for timely filers.
Major Changes Under the RIA
Set-Aside Visa Categories
The RIA created three reserved visa categories with dedicated allocations: Rural (20%), High-Unemployment Area (10%), and Infrastructure (2%). The remaining 68% flows to the unreserved pool. This is the most structurally significant change — it created new pathways with no backlogs for any nationality.
New Form I-526E
Regional center investors now file Form I-526E (rather than I-526). The new form requires additional information about the regional center’s designation, the project’s I-956F approval, and the investor’s relationship to the project.
See the I-526E Filing Guide for complete requirements.
Integrity Measures
The RIA introduced new compliance requirements for regional centers:
- Annual audits and certifications (Form I-956H)
- Fund administration requirements (third-party fund administrators with fiduciary duties)
- Investor protections (enhanced disclosure requirements in offering documents)
- USCIS authority to terminate regional centers for compliance failures
Investment Amount Adjustment
The RIA codified a five-year CPI-U adjustment mechanism for investment thresholds. The first adjustment is projected to take effect on or after January 1, 2027. Base amounts ($800,000 TEA, $1,050,000 non-TEA) took effect March 15, 2022.
Grandfathering Provision
Investors who file I-526E before the investment amount increases are “grandfathered” at the current investment level — even if the amount increases before the petition is adjudicated. This creates urgency to file before the adjustment takes effect.
See the Grandfathering Deadline guide for detailed analysis.
Concurrent Filing Preservation
The RIA preserved the ability to file I-485 concurrently with I-526E when a visa is immediately available. Combined with set-aside categories (which have immediate availability), this allows investors to file I-526E, I-485, I-765, and I-131 simultaneously.
See Concurrent Filing for the complete strategy.
Program Sunset: September 30, 2027
The regional center program is authorized through September 30, 2027. If Congress does not reauthorize before that date, the regional center program will lapse again — as it did from June 2021 to March 2022.
During the previous lapse, USCIS stopped adjudicating regional center I-526 petitions and no new regional center petitions could be filed. Investors with pending petitions were in limbo. The RIA eventually reauthorized the program retroactively and allowed pending cases to continue.
The direct EB-5 program (I-526 for non-regional-center investments) is permanent and does not expire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Track your EB-5 timeline
Monitor processing times, visa bulletin movement, and the September 2027 program sunset.