EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act: Section by Section

Section 101 reauthorized the EB-5 Regional Center Program (INA § 203(b)(5)(E)) from March 15, 2022, through September 30, 2027. This followed a lapse that began on June 30, 2021, when the previous authorization expired. During the lapse period, USCIS could not accept new I-526 petitions through regional centers, and adjudication of pending petitions was paused.

The reauthorization created a new form, I-526E, specifically for regional center investors. The original I-526 form continues to be used only for direct investors. Petitions that were pending during the lapse period were transferred to the I-526E framework, and investors who had filed before the lapse retained their priority dates.

Section 102 established the current investment minimums: $1,050,000 for standard (non-TEA) projects and $800,000 for projects within a Targeted Employment Area. These amounts replaced the previous minimums of $1,000,000 and $500,000 that had been in place since 1990 (with an increase to $900,000/$500,000 effective November 21, 2019, under the EB-5 Modernization Rule, later reverted by litigation).

The RIA also established an automatic adjustment mechanism tied to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Beginning January 1, 2027, and every five years thereafter, the minimum investment amounts adjust based on cumulative CPI changes. The adjustment is calculated from January 1, 2022. If the CPI has not increased since the last adjustment, the amounts remain unchanged.

Grandfathering protection applies to investors who file Form I-526E before the new investment amounts take effect. An investor who files at the current $800,000 TEA minimum before September 30, 2026, will not be required to invest additional capital even if the minimum increases to approximately $900,000 in January 2027.

Section 103 created three reserved visa categories within the annual EB-5 allocation of approximately 10,000 visas (including derivative family members):

Unused set-aside visas within a fiscal year follow a specific cascade: unused rural visas first become available to high-unemployment area investors, then to infrastructure investors, and finally to the unreserved pool. This cascade mechanism ensures that reserved visas are eventually distributed even if demand in the designated category is lower than the allocation.

Section 104 established a dedicated funding mechanism for program oversight. Each regional center must pay an annual fee based on the number of investors for which it has filed petitions: $10,000 for the first 500 investors and $25,000 for regional centers with more than 500 investors, with a minimum annual contribution of $20,000. These fees are deposited into the EB-5 Integrity Fund.

The fund supports USCIS activities including compliance reviews, site visits, auditing of regional center operations, and fraud detection. Before the RIA, EB-5 oversight was funded through general USCIS operating revenue, which meant that program integrity competed with other agency priorities for resources.

The Integrity Fund also enables USCIS to take enforcement actions against regional centers that fail to meet compliance requirements, including fund administration and investor protection measures. Regional centers that fail to pay the required fees face denial of new petitions and potential termination.

Section 105 imposed extensive new compliance requirements on regional centers, representing the most significant increase in regulatory burden since the program’s creation. Key requirements include:

• •Annual certifications. Regional centers must submit annual certifications to USCIS confirming compliance with all program requirements, including financial audits.
• •Fund administration. Regional centers must maintain investor capital in separate accounts, with restrictions on commingling and fund transfers. Third-party fund administrators are required for certain transactions.
• •Source of funds diligence. Regional centers must conduct and document their own source of funds review for each investor, supplementing the USCIS adjudication process.
• •Sanctions and criminal history checks. Principals of regional centers, new commercial enterprises, and job-creating entities are subject to background checks and must not have certain criminal convictions.

Section 106 codified the ability for EB-5 investors to file Form I-485 (Adjustment of Status) concurrently with Form I-526E when a visa number is immediately available. While concurrent filing was available in practice before the RIA, the statutory codification provided a firmer legal basis.

The section also addressed portability, allowing investors with approved I-526E petitions to change projects under certain circumstances without losing their priority date, provided the new project is in the same geographic area or within the same regional center. This was a significant change from the pre-RIA framework, where changing projects typically required filing a new petition and losing the original priority date.

Section 107 established grandfathering protections for investors who file their petitions before certain regulatory changes take effect. There are two distinct grandfathering mechanisms:

• 1.Investment amount grandfathering. Investors who file Form I-526E before the CPI-based investment amount adjustment takes effect (projected January 1, 2027) are grandfathered at the investment amount in effect at the time of filing. The operational deadline to file and qualify for grandfathering is September 30, 2026, because the program authorization must be active for the filing to be accepted.
• 2.Program change grandfathering. Investors with pending or approved petitions at the time of any future program lapse or legislative change retain the benefit of the law in effect at the time of filing. This provision was designed to prevent a repeat of the 2021 lapse scenario, where investors with pending petitions faced uncertainty about the validity of their applications.

Section 108 reformed the Targeted Employment Area designation process. Under the pre-RIA framework, state governors had significant latitude to designate TEAs, including the ability to gerrymander census tract combinations to qualify areas that would not otherwise meet the unemployment threshold. The RIA transferred TEA designation authority to the Department of Homeland Security.

Under the new framework, DHS determines whether a project location qualifies as a TEA based on standardized criteria: the area must have an unemployment rate at least 150% of the national average, calculated using the most recent census data and American Community Survey statistics. Rural areas qualify automatically as TEAs based on their geographic classification, regardless of local unemployment rates.

EB-5 Legislative History | The full legislative timeline from 1990 to present.

Key Court Cases | Precedent decisions that have shaped EB-5 law.

RIA Overview (Learn Hub) | Simplified educational guide to the reform legislation.

Grandfathering Deadline Guide | What investors need to know about the September 30, 2026 deadline.