# EB-5: the Investor Green Card From $800,000

> How EB-5 works after the 2022 reform: $800,000 into a TEA project or $1.05m, 10 jobs, regional centers, the queue-free rural set-aside, concurrent filing and the two real risks — project and tax.

Author: Мария Плотникова — юрист, Family Office (https://wiki.private.law/authors/plotnikova)
Last modified: 2026-07-03T10:55:00.000Z
Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/eb-5-investor-visa
Topics: migration
Jurisdictions: usa
Product tags: residence-permit, investment
Semantic tags: residence-permit, investment

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**Lawyer, Family Office**

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EB-5 is the only passive route to a US green card: no employer and no achievements dossier — just an investment and a clean source of funds. After the 2022 RIA reform the programme became more predictable: fixed thresholds, investor protections and reserved quotas that route around multi-year queues.

## Thresholds and Mechanics

The base investment is $1,050,000; in TEA zones (rural areas and high-unemployment districts) — $800,000. The investment must create 10 jobs. Two formats: direct investment into your own business, or — in the vast majority of cases — via a licensed regional center, where jobs are counted through the project’s economic model. First comes a conditional 2-year green card, then the I-829 petition removes conditions based on the jobs actually created.

## The Reform’s Key Manoeuvre: Set-Asides and Concurrent Filing

The RIA reserved quotas: 20% of visas for rural projects, 10% for high-unemployment zones, 2% for infrastructure. For India- and China-born investors this is a revolution: the set-aside categories currently carry no backlog, while the standard category stretches for years. The second gift is concurrent filing: from lawful status inside the US you can file the I-526E and I-485 together — and wait with a work permit and travel document rather than waiting for petition approval first.

> ⚙️ The main compliance block is the source of funds: USCIS wants every invested dollar traced to a lawful origin — business sale, dividends, inheritance, asset-backed loans. For capital with a post-Soviet history, the source-of-funds pack is half the project.

## The Risks Brokers Skip

The investment is not a fee to the state but a stake in a real project (usually development): capital return depends on the project’s success and typically takes 5–7 years. Choosing the regional center and project is an investment decision, not an immigration formality: look at the capital stack, collateral, the developer’s track record and the job cushion. And remember taxes: a green card brings worldwide US taxation from day one — restructure assets before the status.

> 🧭 Weigh EB-5 against the alternatives — the [EB-1A achievements green card](https://wiki.private.law/en/eb-1a-green-card), Grenada’s E-2 combination and Europe’s golden visas — in the [talent & investor visa picker](https://wiki.private.law/en/visas) and the [citizenship-by-investment picker](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi).

> 🍓 EB-5 is the passive road to a green card: $800k into a TEA project plus 10 jobs. Post-2022 the key tools are the queue-free rural set-aside and concurrent filing from inside the US. The two real risks — project (capital return) and tax (worldwide taxation from day one) — are both managed before filing, not after.

*This material is an expert overview, not individual legal advice.*

**Related links: **[Talent & investor visa picker](https://wiki.private.law/en/visas) · [EB-1A](https://wiki.private.law/en/eb-1a-green-card) · [O-1A visa](https://wiki.private.law/en/o-1-visa) · [Grenada: CBI and the E-2 visa](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-grenada) · [US estate tax for non-residents](https://wiki.private.law/en/us-estate-tax) · [Source of funds](https://wiki.private.law/en/source-of-funds)

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## Factual claims

- Lawyer, Family Office
- EB-5 is the only passive route to a US green card: no employer and no achievements dossier — just an investment and a clean source of funds.
- The base investment is $1,050,000; in TEA zones (rural areas and high-unemployment districts) — $800,000.
- The RIA reserved quotas: 20% of visas for rural projects, 10% for high-unemployment zones, 2% for infrastructure.
- The investment is not a fee to the state but a stake in a real project (usually development): capital return depends on the project’s success and typically takes 5–7 years.
- Related links: Talent & investor visa picker · EB-1A · O-1A visa · Grenada: CBI and the E-2 visa · US estate tax for non-residents · Source of funds