572 EB-5 Regional Centers Approved: What Changes in 2027?
Bottom line for employers whose executives, investors, or employees' families are considering EB-5: USCIS's public list now shows 572 approved regional centers, a sign the program has rebuilt scale under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA).1 But a larger menu of centers does not change the two developments that actually drive timing decisions: a pending DHS rulemaking that would tighten job-creation and investment rules, and the RIA's statutory inflation adjustment scheduled to apply to petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027. Here are the questions readers are asking.
Q1: Does an approved regional center mean a safe investment?
No. USCIS designation is not an endorsement of any project.
Approval reflects that a center completed the Form I-956 designation process the RIA created, alongside project-level Form I-956F filings, annual Form I-956G reporting, and Integrity Fund contributions. Those measures improve oversight, but investors must still independently evaluate the project's capital structure, job-creation model, and exit terms — the areas the pending DHS rule would scrutinize most heavily.
Q2: Do new filings still receive the September 30, 2026 statutory protection?
Generally, no — that window turned on the filing date.
Under INA § 203(b)(5)(S), a qualifying Form I-526E filed on or before September 30, 2026 may receive statutory protection allowing the petition to continue to be processed even if the Regional Center Program later expires. That statutory protection is not available to qualifying petitions filed after that date. The RIA authorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027, so investors filing now should factor reauthorization risk into their planning rather than assume grandfathering.
Q3: What would the DHS proposed rule change compared with today's framework?
It would tighten job counting, investment tiers, and oversight — but it is not yet final.
DHS published a 358-page EB-5 proposed rule on July 2, 2026 (Docket No. USCIS-2026-0100); the 60-day comment period closed August 31, 2026.2 The RIA, signed March 15, 2022, established the current floors and the integrity regime; the proposed rule would implement and extend them:
| Area | Current (RIA 2022) | Proposed Rule |
| Investment amounts | $800,000 TEA/infrastructure; $1,050,000 standard | Adds a roughly $1,400,000 third tier for high-employment areas; inflation indexing every five years beginning January 1, 2027 |
| TEA determinations | RIA framework | Centralized TEA determination authority at USCIS |
| Job creation | Indirect jobs via economic models; troubled-business job-preservation path (used in under 1% of cases) | Repaid bridge financing would not generate qualifying jobs; visitor-spending models disallowed; proportional caps on indirect jobs; all petitioners must create new positions |
| Sustainment period | Two-year RIA standard, interpretive questions | Clarified: the two-year clock runs from the date capital reaches the new commercial enterprise |
| Source of funds | Lawful source and path documentation | Heightened scrutiny, including cryptocurrency-derived funds |
Q4: Which rules apply to a petition filed today versus in 2027?
Ordinarily, the rules in effect on the filing date.
A proposal changes nothing until a final rule takes effect, and petitions properly filed before a final rule's effective date should generally remain under the current framework — subject to any applicability or transition provisions in the final rule. Separately, the RIA's statutory inflation adjustment is scheduled to apply to petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027, which may raise minimum investment amounts for later filings regardless of when the rulemaking concludes. Investors should track Docket No. USCIS-2026-0100 for the final rule and its effective date.2
Employer Action Items
- Verify any regional center under consideration appears on the current USCIS approved list and review its I-956F project filings before committing funds.3
- For executives or family members weighing EB-5, compare a 2026 filing under current amounts against a post–January 1, 2027 filing subject to inflation-adjusted thresholds.
- Begin source-of-funds documentation early, especially where funds involve cryptocurrency, gifts, or cross-border transfers subject to currency controls.
- Scrutinize project job-creation models for bridge financing and visitor-spending assumptions the proposed rule would disallow.
- Track Docket No. USCIS-2026-0100 for a final rule, its effective date, and any transition provisions specifying which petitions would be covered.
Whether EB-5 makes sense now depends on variables only a case-specific review can resolve: how the funds were earned and moved, the investor's country of birth and likely priority-date wait, whether a rural or high-unemployment set-aside applies, and whether a filing can be completed before the January 1, 2027 indexing takes hold. Preparing a complete, well-documented I-526E typically takes weeks to months, so investors considering a 2026 filing may benefit from having experienced counsel review the plan now rather than after the rules shift.
The Law Firm of Attorney Peng, PLLC
Information current as of November 3, 2026. Filing requirements should be confirmed against the rules in effect at the time of filing.
1 USCIS Lists 572 Approved EB-5 Regional Centres as Investor Programme Grows — Wocult
2 EB-5 Proposed Rule, Docket No. USCIS-2026-0100 — Regulations.gov
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