Grandfathering
Closed
September 30, 2026 was the last day a regional center petition picked up the statutory shield against a later lapse. New filings do not get that shield.
Counting from your date…
Public record
The EB-5 program, without a paywall.
Filings, visa dates, processing ranges, and the deadlines that moved this fall. Every figure is tagged Official, Derived, or Reported. This is a reading of the public record, not legal or investment advice.
Hump day · woke up late
Day — of 100
Counting the days · EB-5 Public Tracker
The frog is the countdown. The numbers under him are the public record.
The program
Still open
Regional center authorization runs through September 30, 2027. USCIS can still take I-526E petitions. What changed is the protection, not the door.
Counting from your date…
Pending petitions
Official10,787
I-526E 8,965 and legacy I-526 1,822, at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2025.
USCIS quarterly statistics, via EB5Status
I-526E approval rate
Derived94%
1,047 approved of 1,113 completed cases in the third quarter of fiscal 2025. Calculated, not a USCIS headline.
EB5Status, from USCIS completed-case counts
Petitions filed, FY2025
Official5,079
Through the third quarter. I-526E accounts for 4,826. Legacy I-526 accounts for 253.
USCIS quarterly statistics, FY2025 Q1–Q3
Approved regional centers
Reported~576
Public estimates in this record sit near 567–576. The directory below is a starter sample, not that list.
Research pack, October 14, 2026
Start here
In plain English
Enough of the program to read the tables below. The rules are the statute and USCIS. This page is the short version.
What the program is
EB-5 is a path to a U.S. green card tied to an investment and to job creation. It is not a visa you buy. USCIS still has to approve the petition, and the money has to stay at risk under the program’s rules.
Two ways to file
Form I-526 is the standalone petition, tied to the investor’s own enterprise. Form I-526E is the regional center petition, pooled into a project sponsored by an approved center. Nearly all recent volume is I-526E.
Center is not a project
USCIS publishes approved regional centers. It does not publish one official list of every live project. A center can sponsor more than one project. Project lists live with industry sites, and those sites are not the government.
What October changed
September 30, 2026 was the grandfathering cutoff, not the end of the program. Someone who files now is filing into a program authorized through September 30, 2027. They do not get the statutory promise that a later lapse will be ignored.
- Targeted employment area or infrastructure
- $800,000
- Current minimum. Rural and high-unemployment areas qualify as targeted.
- Standard investment
- $1,050,000
- Outside a targeted area and not an infrastructure project.
- Jobs
- 10
- Full-time jobs for U.S. workers. Regional center jobs may be counted under the program’s economic model.
- Conditional status
- 2 years
- Approval leads to a conditional green card. Form I-829 asks USCIS to remove the conditions.
October 2026
Visa dates
In effect October 1–31, 2026. Final action is when a visa can actually be issued. Dates for filing is the earlier chart some people already in the United States use to submit the adjustment paperwork.
Public readings of this month’s bulletin say USCIS is taking employment-based adjustment filings on the Dates for Filing chart. Confirm that on the USCIS chart page before anyone relies on it. USCIS chart page
| Category | China final | India final | All others final | China filing | India filing | All others filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UnreservedRemainder, about 68% | Dec 1, 2016 | Dec 1, 2023 | Current | Mar 1, 2021 | May 1, 2024 | Current |
| Rural20% set-aside | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
| High unemployment10% set-aside | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
| Infrastructure2% set-aside | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current | Current |
Unreserved
Remainder, about 68%
Final action
China Dec 1, 2016
India Dec 1, 2023
Others Current
Dates for filing
China Mar 1, 2021
India May 1, 2024
Others Current
Rural
20% set-aside
Final action
China Current
India Current
Others Current
Dates for filing
China Current
India Current
Others Current
High unemployment
10% set-aside
Final action
China Current
India Current
Others Current
Dates for filing
China Current
India Current
Others Current
Infrastructure
2% set-aside
Final action
China Current
India Current
Others Current
Dates for filing
China Current
India Current
Others Current
India’s final action date had been unavailable in July, August, and September 2026. It reopened at December 1, 2023. China’s final action date stayed at December 1, 2016. China’s filing date moved to March 1, 2021.
October dates cross-checked against public summaries of the State Department bulletin. The bulletin itself is the record. travel.state.gov
How long the forms take
Processing ranges
USCIS publishes a range, not a promise. The bars show that range. The low end is the start of the bar, not a stacked total.
Loading chart…
| Category | Months | Trust | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural I-526E | 11–17 | Official | USCIS processing times tool |
| High unemployment I-526E | 24–36 | Official | USCIS processing times tool |
| Unreserved I-526E | 36–52 | Official | USCIS processing times tool |
| I-829 | 36–52 | Reported | Research pack, October 14, 2026 |
Fiscal 2022 through FY2025 Q3
Filings and the backlog
Pending counts are USCIS figures. Approval rates are calculated from completed cases, so they stay in the table instead of being drawn as a second scale.
Bars · pending petitions
Loading chart…
Bars are pending petitions. Approval rates are in the table.
| Year | Pending | Approval rate |
|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | 5,072 | 82% |
| FY2023 | 6,722 | 85% |
| FY2024 | 9,312 | 91% |
| FY2025 Q3 | 10,787 | 94% |
The backlog grew while approvals got cleaner
DerivedPending cases rose from 5,072 at the fiscal 2022 reading to 10,787 at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2025. Over the same span, the derived approval rate on completed cases moved from 82% to 94%.
Rural is the fast lane on the processing tool
OfficialUSCIS posts 11 to 17 months for rural I-526E cases, against 24 to 36 for high unemployment and 36 to 52 for unreserved. A current visa chart does not shrink those months.
Who is getting visas has shifted
OfficialState Department issuance stats, as restated by EB5Status, show South Korea leading EB-5 visa issuance since April 2025. China accounted for 940 issuances in October 2024. This record does not include a full country table.
Two pack figures are not re-verified here
ReportedThe October 14 research pack puts the rural share of filings near 58% and cumulative I-526E receipts since the Reform and Integrity Act near 13,520. Neither figure is a headline on the EB5Status page checked for this build. Treat both as approximate.
Four dates, four different jobs
Deadlines
Grandfathering, fees, the investment floor, and program authorization are not the same event. Mixing them up is how this month gets misread.
- 1
Grandfathering cutoff
OfficialRegional center petitions filed on or before this date keep a statutory shield if the program later lapses. That window is closed. The program itself did not close.
Sep 30, 2026—
- 2
New filing fees
ReportedA DHS final rule published September 30, 2026 sets higher EB-5 fees for packages postmarked on or after this date. USCIS rejects a filing with the wrong fee.
Nov 30, 2026—
- 3
Investment amount adjusts
ReportedPublic readings say the inflation adjustment lifts the targeted-employment-area minimum to at least $900,000 for petitions filed after December 31, 2026. This record does not treat $900,000 as a final published figure.
Jan 1, 2027—
- 4
Regional center authorization
OfficialThe Reform and Integrity Act runs the regional center program through this date. What happens after that is a congressional question, not a date already decided.
Sep 30, 2027—
Fee schedule taking effect November 30, 2026
Figures below are industry readings of the DHS final rule published September 30, 2026. The I-526E amount includes a technology fee. Confirm the postmark against the rule before filing.
| Form | What it covers | Now | Nov 30 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I-526 | Standalone investor petition | $3,675 | $7,615 | +$3,940 |
| I-526E | Regional center investor, initial | $3,675 | $7,850 | +$4,175 |
| Integrity Fund | Per investor, alongside I-526E | $1,000 | $1,100 | +$100 |
| I-829 | Remove conditions | — | $5,000 | New figure |
| Regional center | Annual fee, 20 or fewer investors | $10,000 | $11,000 | +$1,000 |
| Regional center | Annual fee, more than 20 investors | $20,000 | $22,000 | +$2,000 |
Starter directory
Regional centers
Select a center to frame it on the Map tab. The page stays on this list. Four centers from the research pack. A placeholder row was dropped. This is not the USCIS list.
4 of 4 in this sample
USCIS approved regional centers · USCIS does not publish project sites. An industry list that used to live at EB5Projects is not responding, so it is not linked here.
United States
Where the record can place them
USCIS publishes states, not addresses. Imagery and topo are USGS. Streets are OpenStreetMap. No key and no logo. Turn States and Offices on or off in the layer list. A filled pin is an office inside the authorized states. A hollow pin is a company office outside them.
Four offices are already on the map. Pick one here or in the centers list. The list does not jump you to this tab.
Loading the map8%
How to check the work
Sources
Official means a government page. Derived means a calculation from those pages. Reported means a secondary reading — useful, and not a substitute for the original.
- Open source
USCIS immigration and citizenship data
OfficialI-526 and I-526E receipts, approvals, and pending counts
Update cadence: Quarterly
- Open source
USCIS processing times
OfficialPosted time ranges by form and EB-5 category
Update cadence: Ongoing
- Open source
USCIS EB-5 program page
OfficialProgram rules and the approved regional center list
Update cadence: As updated
- Open source
State Department Visa Bulletin
OfficialFinal action dates and dates for filing
Update cadence: Monthly
- Open source
USCIS — which chart to use
OfficialWhether adjustment filings use Chart A or Chart B
Update cadence: Monthly
- Open source
EB5Status statistics
DerivedUSCIS quarterly counts restated, plus approval rates calculated from completed cases
Update cadence: With USCIS releases
- Open source
AIIA FOIA series
ReportedCountry and TEA breakdowns released through public records
Update cadence: Periodic
- Open source
Florida EB-5 Investments site
ReportedFort Lauderdale office used to place that center
Update cadence: As the firm updates it
- Open source
Golden Gate Global offices
ReportedNew York and Miami offices used to place the two 3G centers
Update cadence: As the firm updates it
- Open source
CanAm Enterprises contact page
ReportedThe only street address CanAm publishes, outside the Mountain States territory
Update cadence: As the firm updates it