Washington D.C., June 2, 2025: A news report published in the Washington Examiner newspaper today created massive ripples in the EB-5 program investor community. The news report states that the Department of Homeland Security increased the minimum investment threshold for the EB-5 program to US$2,000,000 — effective immediately.
Not surprisingly, applicants pursuing the EB-5 program’s permanent residency option at the $800,000 threshold for Targeted Employment Areas (“TEAs”), whose visa petitions have not yet been filed, did a double-check, called Donoso & Partners, and asked, politely, “wtf?”
What We Know Today
No new rules or executive orders have been published to support today’s Washington Examiner report. Nevertheless, I expect the news report to be, most likely, accurate — but of a significantly limited scope.
What the Reform and Integrity Act States
The Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”), now integrated into the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) at Sections 203(b)(5)(A) and following, clearly grants the Secretary of the Department Homeland Security (“DHS”) authority to increase the minimum investment threshold for HIGH EMPLOYMENT areas by regulation — BUT NOT FOR TEAs. We summarize the RIA rules below:
First, the minimum investment amount is US$1,050,000 for all investments, unless an exemption applies (See Section 203(b)(5)(C)(i)). This is the minimum investment amount for high employment areas.
Second, for petitions based on investments in geographic areas that qualify as TEAs (i.e., high unemployment areas or rural areas), or for infrastructure projects, the minimum investment threshold is US$800,000. (See Section 203(b)(5)(C)(ii)).
Third, for investments in geographic areas that are part of a Metropolitan Statistical Area that, at the time of investment, are NOT in a TEA and ARE in “an area with an unemployment rate that is significantly below the national average unemployment rate,” then the Secretary of DHS has discretion to specify a minimum investment threshold greater than US$1,050,000 (but not greater than 3 times that amount). (See INA Section 203(b)(5)(C)(iv)).
Finally, pursuant to INA Section 203(b)(5)(C)(iii), all of these minimum investment thresholds are subject to periodic automatic adjustments based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index. The first periodic adjustment is set by law to occur on January 1, 2027.
Conclusion
So, DHS appears to have discretion to increase the minimum investment amount for HIGH EMPLOYMENT AREAS.
The minimum investment threshold for TEAs, however, is fixed by the RIA at $800,000 until January 1, 2027. It cannot be changed by the DHS Secretary.
We shall have to await news from the White House and Secretary of Homeland Security — with perhaps some Gold Card twist attached to this news item — just to keep people on their toes.