The Grandfathering Deadline Has Passed. Your EB-5 Opportunity Has Not.

For EB-5 investors who did not file Form I-526E, Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor by September 30, 2026, the expiration of the EB-5 grandfathering provision deadline may feel like a missed opportunity. The good news is that the Regional Center Program remains authorized through September 30, 2027, and investors still have three months before the minimum investment threshold increase takes effect on January 1, 2027.

Historical Lapses in Program Authorization

One important distinction for prospective investors is the difference between the September 30, 2026, grandfathering deadline and the authorization of the Regional Center Program itself. Congress has authorized the program through September 30, 2027. Separately, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) established protections for regional center investors who filed their I-526E petitions on or before September 30, 2026.

Under INA § 203(b)(5)(S), if legislation authorizing the Regional Center Program later expires, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must continue processing qualifying petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026. Those protections were not in place during earlier periods when program authorization lapsed.

In 1992, the Regional Center Program was created and operated for nearly thirty years through a series of congressional authorizations and extensions. At times, those authorizations expired before Congress acted to extend or reauthorize the program.

While future reauthorization remains in the hands of Congress, it’s important to note that within the past two months, DHS and USCIS proposed 358 pages of EB-5 regulations via a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), a positive signal for the future of the program.

Minimum Investment Threshold Increase: January 1, 2027

RIA requires minimum investment threshold amounts to be adjusted for inflation beginning January 1, 2027, and every five years thereafter.  The current minimum investment is $800,000 for a project in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or infrastructure project and $1.05 million for non-TEA EB-5 projects. The adjusted standard amount will be based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and rounded down to the nearest $50,000. The TEA and infrastructure investment amount will then be set at 75% of the adjusted standard amount.

Based on currently available CPI-U data, estimates range from $1.15 million to $1.25 million for standard, non-TEA projects and $850,000 to $900,000 for TEA and infrastructure projects. These figures are estimates only. The exact amounts will not be known until DHS publishes the official adjustment in the Federal Register.

Conclusion

Investors who missed the September 30 grandfathering deadline still have time to consider EB-5 at the current investment amounts. With the January 1 increase approaching, this is an important time to review available investment opportunities, complete due diligence, and decide whether to move forward.

More EB-5 Resources

• Redefining Due Diligence in Today’s EB-5 Landscape
• Navigating Project Selection: Evaluating EB-5 Projects with Pending vs. Approved I-956F Petitions
• Draft EB-5 Regulations Unveiled: Key Changes and What They Could Mean for Investors

About CMB Regional Centers

CMB has assisted over 7,200 investor families, from over 100 countries, in their pursuit of immigrating to the United States through America’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. CMB EB-5 partnerships are projected to have created more than 215,000 American jobs.

To date, CMB has repaid over $1.6 billion USD to investors, a figure that has been validated by an independent third-party accounting firm.