The United States is preparing to more than double its fees for the EB-5 investor visa programme, a change that will directly raise the cost of one of the fastest available routes to a US green card for Indian applicants.

The EB-5 programme grants permanent residency to foreign investors who place qualifying capital into a US commercial enterprise and create jobs for American workers. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the standard minimum investment stands at $1,050,000, while investments in targeted employment areas (TEAs) qualify at a reduced threshold of $800,000. India has long ranked among the top source countries for EB-5 demand, and the forthcoming fee increase will add a new layer of cost on top of the capital requirement itself.

The fee increase matters because every EB-5 applicant already pays filing fees to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at two stages: the initial Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor (Form I-526, now I-526E for regional centre investments) and, later, the application to adjust status or obtain an immigrant visa. A more-than-doubling of these fees increases the total cash outlay before an investor's family secures conditional permanent residence. For Indian families weighing the EB-5 route against alternatives such as the EB-2 and EB-3 employment categories or the H-1B route, the higher fees change the arithmetic of that comparison.

The timing adds pressure for one specific group. Indian nationals face a visa bulletin backlog under the employment-based categories, which is precisely why many have turned to EB-5 despite its high capital门槛. A fee hike pushes the entry price higher for applicants who want to file before any further increases take effect. Applicants who have already prepared source-of-funds documentation may want to confirm current fee schedules before filing, since USCIS publishes exact amounts on its official website and updates them through the federal fee rulemaking process.

Who is affected? Any prospective EB-5 petitioner and their derivative family members — typically spouses and unmarried children under 21 — who file after the new fees take effect. Those who have already filed and paid under the existing schedule are generally not retroactively charged, but applicants should verify the applicable fee at the moment of filing, as USCIS rejects petitions submitted with incorrect fees.

Which steps change? None of the programme's core requirements — the investment thresholds, the job creation requirement of 10 full-time positions per investor, or the two-year conditional residence period followed by Form I-829 to remove conditions. What changes is the administrative cost attached to those steps.

For Indian applicants, the practical takeaway is simple: the EB-5 route remains open, but the government's cut of the total cost is rising sharply. The investment amount itself is unchanged by this increase; the filing fees attached to the petition and green card application stages are what more than double.

USCIS publishes the authoritative, current fee schedule and form instructions at uscis.gov, and the Department of State's monthly Visa Bulletin tracks final action dates for India. Prospective applicants should confirm the exact effective date and revised amounts on those official channels before preparing a filing, and should consult a licensed immigration attorney for advice on their individual circumstances. Passport File will update this story as USCIS publishes the final fee figures and their implementation date.