150% Increase to EB-5 Visa Program Filing Fees Beginning December 23, 2016

Posted by USFC Team on Nov 10, 2016 8:50:14 AM

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased fees by an average of 21 percent for certain U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) applications, including the U.S. Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5).

The EB-5 program provides a green card to foreign investors who invest $500,000 in targeted employment areas, job-creating companies, and real estate projects. The new fee schedule takes effect on December 23, 2016.

DHS directed USCIS to conduct a comprehensive fee review, which concluded in 2015 with a determination that USCIS's filing fees do not fund its operational expenses entirely. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) tasks DHS with securing all of the costs USCIS incurs to provide its services through application fees. Based on this authority and USCIS's comprehensive fee review, DHS final fee schedule increases USCIS's fees on a weighted average of 21 percent.

DHS's final rules institute the following new fee and increased fees, effective as of December 23, 2016:

  1. 1.  a filing fee of $3,035 to file a regional center's Annual Certification of Regional Center on Form I-924A, which previously could be filed at no cost

    2.  an increased filing fee from $6,230 to $17,795 to file an Application for Regional Center Designation Under the Immigrant Investor Program on Form I-924;

    3.  an increased filing fee from $1,500 to $3,675 to file an Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur on Form I-526; and

    4.  an increased filing fee from $635 to $750 to file an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status on Form I-485 and an increased filing fee from $985 to $1,140 to file a Form I-485 for certain applicants under the age of 14 years.

These EB-5 Program fee increases range from 145 percent for the Form I-526 to 186 percent for the Form I-924. In contrast, across the USCIS's many programs as a whole, DHS's new fees increase current fees significantly less, with increases ranging between 8 and 60 percent.

Applicantions filed prior to December 23, 2016 have no retroactive fees due from these increases.


Content for this blog from Ballard Spahr LLP attorneys Joanna (Ying) JiangDebbie Klis, and Steve Park on November 9, 2016. A link to their original content can be found here.

Topics: EB-5, Fees

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