The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to reduce fees across the EB‑5 Immigrant Investor Program. It plans to publish a draft rule that would lower costs for both investors and regional centers.
Regional center and project filings fees could drop by as much as 61%, while core investor filings could fall by 14% to 17%. The draft also introduces a new Form I-527 for certain legacy investors and adds a fix that allows the dependents of a deceased principal to file a single Form I-829 to remove conditions, which could resolve an administrative gap for families.
Under the proposal, Form I-527 would offer a remedial pathway for investors who filed Form I-526 before March 15, 2022, and need to retain eligibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act due to a termination or debarment.
The fee changes will be as follows:
Investor filing fees:
- I-526 and I-526E initial filings: US$11,160 to US$9,625, down 14%
- I-526E amendment: US$11,160 to US$9,530, down 15%
- I-829 removal of conditions: US$9,525 to US$7,860, down 17%
- I-527, new amendment to legacy I-526 for section 203(b)(5)(M) relief: US$8,000 fee
Regional center and project filing fees:
- I-956 initial regional center designation: US$47,695 to US$28,895, down 39%
- I-956 amendment to designation: US$47,695 to US$18,480, down 61%
- I-956F project approval: US$47,695 to US$29,935, down 37%
- I-956G annual statement: US$4,470 to US$2,740, down 39%
- I-956H bona fides: US$55
- I-956K promoter registration: US$2,740
On the annual EB-5 Regional Center Integrity Fee, DHS reiterates that RIA-era obligations apply to previously approved and newly designated regional centers, and proposes only an inflationary adjustment to the integrity fee while clarifying how investors are counted.
“Pleasant But Overdue Correction“
Matthew Galati, Principal of The Galati Law Firm, calls the proposal a “pleasant surprise” and credits DHS for finally completing a fee study under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), albeit framing it as a belated correction.
“We certainly will not complain about lower fees, and we congratulate the Agency for completing its work, however late it may be,” he says.
In his view, the Department of Homeland Security’s conclusion that RIA-based fees should be lower effectively concedes that EB‑5 applicants were overcharged for roughly 18 months under the 2024 pricing.
He points to the Department’s own language to argue that the 2022 and 2023 fees were not set using RIA parameters, while this 2025 proposal finally meets them.
That view mirrors arguments in his pending case, Moody v. Mayorkas, which alleges the 2024 fee rule departed from statutory requirements. Galati says that the proposal strengthens a separate argument from EB‑5 mandamus cases that the agency has the resources to adjudicate filings on time.
Future applicants should be “very happy” with the fee reduction, he adds, but those who filed from April 2024 through today, and those still waiting beyond RIA time goals, will likely be “quite angry with what they’ve had to pay and endure.”
Next steps in the proposal include a comment period that starts on October 23, a final fee study, and a 60-day runway before new fees apply.
