The Trump administration plans to drastically increase fees for immigrants seeking to enter the United States to invest and eventually claim a green card. In a Federal Register filing Tuesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it would more than double the cost of applying for an EB-5 visa, while investors on that green card pathway whose projects collapse could face a new $10,000-plus fee.
The changes continue a pattern under the second Trump administration to alter the legal immigration system, in part, USCIS says, to cover increased costs of reviewing applications and ensure work-related visas go to those who can contribute to the U.S. economy. Announcing the new fees, USCIS said in a press release that the agency is largely funded by the fees it charges, rather than taxes. "This means the cost of reviewing applications, conducting background checks, verifying eligibility, detecting fraud, and maintaining program operations must be paid by those who use the immigration system," the release said.
The USCIS plan outlines how the agency will implement changes stemming from the 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, which authorized DHS to examine the fees linked to the visa and whether they cover the full cost of administering the program. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) originally proposed higher updated fees than the ones published Tuesday, including a $9,625 application fee for the main EB-5 form, up from $3,675. Instead, the new fee will be $7,615.
USCIS said this reflected further analysis of workload assumptions and feedback on an earlier proposal. Overall, fees will rise by an average of 70 percent, DHS said, affecting roughly 16,600 applicants each year. USCIS is introducing a new form, I-527, for older investors who need to preserve their visa eligibility if a regional center is terminated or a project collapses.
The form comes with a $10,330 fee, and it only applies to those who had an EB-5 before the 2022 legislation was introduced. When that bill was introduced, one concern was that investors could lose their immigration pathway through no fault of their own, such as mismanagement by a project sponsor. The bill sought to create a way for investors on the visa to shift to another project rather than lose their place in line for permanent residency.
While an EB-5 applicant who files the new form will keep their place in line, the new fee could significantly affect someone who has already lost money because their project collapsed. USCIS said in its final plan that it expects relatively few filings and it needs to cover the costs of adjudicating petitions. It ultimately implemented a fee around $2,000 higher than originally planned, despite commenters calling the new fee punitive.
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