Immigration Update
EB-5 Minimum Investment Is Scheduled to Rise on January 1, 2027
What Korean Investors Should Know
Federal law schedules an automatic, inflation-based increase to the EB-5 minimum investment amounts — the first since the 2022 reform. Here is what is actually in the statute, what is not yet known, and why your filing timeline matters.
By Austin Kim, J.D. · August 12, 2026
Key Facts
The law — the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), signed March 15, 2022. Current minimums — $800,000 for targeted employment area (TEA), rural, and infrastructure projects; $1,050,000 for standard projects. What is scheduled — the statute provides for automatic inflation-based adjustments to these amounts every five years, beginning January 1, 2027, tied to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). What is not yet known — USCIS has not announced the adjusted amounts. Why timing matters — the minimum that applies to your case is the one in effect when your petition is filed.
What exactly is changing?
The RIA schedules an automatic adjustment of the EB-5 minimum investment amounts every five years, beginning January 1, 2027, indexed to inflation (CPI-U). The current $800,000 TEA and $1,050,000 standard minimums, set in March 2022, are expected to rise at the first adjustment. The adjusted figures have not yet been announced.
When Congress overhauled the EB-5 program in March 2022, it did two things that matter here. First, it set the minimum investment amounts in statute: $1,050,000 for a standard project and $800,000 for projects in a targeted employment area (a rural or high-unemployment area) or qualifying infrastructure projects. Second, it built in a mechanism so those amounts keep pace with inflation automatically — no new legislation or rulemaking required — with the first adjustment scheduled for January 1, 2027 and further adjustments every five years after that.
This is different from the last increase investors may remember. The 2019 regulation that briefly raised the minimums to $1.8 million was struck down in court in 2021. The 2027 adjustment is not a regulation — it is written into the statute itself, which is why it is treated as a scheduled event rather than a proposal that might not survive.
How much will the minimums go up?
Nobody can quote the new numbers yet, because they have not been announced. The statute ties the adjustment to cumulative CPI-U inflation, and inflation since March 2022 has been substantial — so a meaningful increase is expected. Treat any specific figure circulating in promotional materials as an estimate, not the law.
The honest answer — and the one worth remembering when you see confident predictions in marketing materials — is that the exact amounts depend on the statutory formula and the official announcement. What can be said with confidence: the direction is up, the mechanism is automatic, and waiting to see the final number means preparing a filing under time pressure.
| Filed before Jan 1, 2027 | Filed on or after Jan 1, 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| TEA / rural / infrastructure | $800,000 | Adjusted for inflation — not yet announced |
| Standard project | $1,050,000 | Adjusted for inflation — not yet announced |
| Job creation | 10 full-time U.S. jobs | 10 full-time U.S. jobs (unchanged) |
| Regional Center program | Authorized through Sept 30, 2027 | Authorized through Sept 30, 2027 |
Can I lock in today’s amount by filing before the adjustment?
Yes — the minimum investment requirement that applies to an EB-5 case is the amount in effect when the I-526 or I-526E petition is filed. A petition properly filed before the adjustment date is evaluated against the current $800,000 / $1,050,000 minimums. Filing after the date means meeting the adjusted amounts.
That makes the real deadline earlier than January 2027, because an EB-5 filing cannot be assembled overnight. The investment must be made or actively in the process of being invested, the project must be selected and documented, and — usually the longest step for Korean investors — the source of funds must be traced and documented to USCIS’s standards.
Why source-of-funds preparation takes Korean investors months
USCIS requires EB-5 investors to document the lawful source and path of every invested dollar. For funds originating in Korea, that typically means assembling Korean-language records — real estate sale contracts and registry extracts, severance and retirement payouts, business income and tax filings, gift and inheritance documentation — plus certified translations and the paper trail of the remittance itself. Three to six months of preparation is common; complex histories take longer.
Investors who wait for the adjusted amounts to be announced before starting will be preparing that file under deadline pressure — or filing at the higher amount. Starting the documentation now preserves both options.
Does this affect the E-2 visa?
No. The E-2 Treaty Investor visa has no fixed statutory minimum — the investment must be “substantial” relative to the business, and many E-2 investors qualify in the low-to-mid six figures. The 2027 adjustment applies only to EB-5. For Korean nationals weighing both routes, the comparison in our E-2 vs EB-5 guide still holds — though a higher EB-5 minimum after the adjustment may make the E-2-first path more attractive for some investors.
What to do now
If EB-5 is on your roadmap and the current minimums matter to your planning: pick the project type (TEA vs. standard, direct vs. regional center), start the source-of-funds file now, and work backward from a filing date safely before the adjustment. If your capital position is closer to E-2 territory, the adjustment is a reason to take a serious look at that route instead — it is unaffected.
H&H Law has processed 2,000+ EB-5 petitions and advises Korean investors in Korean and English, from project selection through I-526E filing and beyond. A consultation now costs you nothing and tells you exactly where your timeline stands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Planning an EB-5 investment before the 2027 adjustment?
Attorney Austin Kim has processed 2,000+ EB-5 petitions and consults in Korean and English. Book a free consultation to map your filing timeline against the scheduled adjustment.
General Information Only — Not Legal Advice. This article is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Statutory amounts and adjustment mechanics are as enacted in the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022; confirm the figures that apply to your case at the time of filing. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with H&H Law.