IN THIS GUIDE · Testing whether an offering really supports the reduced capital amount
Start with the EB-5 eligibility and application overview
Two figures, one qualifying test
As reviewed on 7 September 2026, the standard capital requirement is US$1,050,000 and the reduced requirement is US$800,000 for investments qualifying as targeted employment area or infrastructure investments. The lower figure is not a discount a sponsor can offer; it follows from the investment meeting the qualifying description. Statutory adjustments begin in 2027, so an amount confirmed today should be verified again if filing moves into a later year.
Ask who wrote the qualifying analysis
Find out which adviser prepared the targeted employment area or infrastructure analysis, what data it relies on, and when it was completed. Ask whether the sponsor has filed anything with the government about the project and what that filing says. An analysis prepared for an earlier phase of a development may not carry over to the investment now being offered. Keep the dated original, not a summary slide, in the file.
Do not let the lower figure decide the investment
A qualifying category reduces the capital required; it says nothing about whether the project will perform, whether ten qualifying jobs will be created for this investor, or whether money will ever come back. The capital must be at risk, and a designation held by a regional center is not a guarantee from anyone. Weigh the commercial case and the immigration case separately, with advisers who are not selling the offering.
Plan the stages that follow the subscription
After the investor petition comes an immigrant visa interview abroad or, if eligible, adjustment of status, both subject to visa availability. Approval leads to conditional permanent residence and later a petition to remove conditions, ordinarily filed in the ninety days before the second anniversary of that residence. The reduced capital figure has no effect on that sequence. Ask the sponsor what evidence it will supply at the final stage.
Ask what has to remain true in the years after the filing
The capital figure is an entry question, and entry questions absorb attention out of proportion to their weight. Several conditions have to hold for years afterwards, and they are what the outcome eventually turns on. The capital must remain at risk rather than being returned, guaranteed, or quietly converted into something with a promised repayment. The required jobs must actually be created, counted by the method appropriate to the structure, and evidenced with records that exist at the time rather than being reconstructed. Approval brings conditional permanent residence, and those conditions are removed only on a later petition, ordinarily filed in the ninety days before the second anniversary, supported by proof of both the sustained investment and the job creation. Before subscribing, ask three specific questions and get the answers in writing: who generates the job-count evidence, how often the investor receives it, and what happens to that obligation if the sponsor sells its interest or the project changes hands. Hypothetical example: an investor considering a dry-dock expansion learns that the reporting obligation in the subscription documents ends when construction completes, which is two years before the evidence would actually be needed, and negotiates that point rather than discovering it later.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.