Status by investment · United States · Residency by investment · Identity board #4
US EB-5 (Rural TEA Set-Aside Category)
Identity-board score: 5.9
Threshold: US$800,000 (TEA / reserved categories); capital must go into a qualifying project creating 10 jobs (under research)
Time limits & uncertainty： Timing and queues: reserved categories are Current for all countries (Oct 2026 Visa Bulletin), while unreserved China sits at 2016; petitions filed before 30 Sep 2026 are grandfathered, and statutory amounts adjust for inflation from 1 Jan 2027 (new figure unannounced). A green card means US worldwide taxation.
Identity-board entry. This page covers the programme and category mechanics only and points to no specific regional-center project. EB-5 is the US investor-immigration channel: invest US$800,000 (rural TEA category) in an enterprise creating 10 full-time jobs, obtain a conditional green card on I-526E approval, convert to a permanent green card once the conditions are removed, and become eligible to apply for naturalisation after 5 years of holding the green card. This page is confined to the rural set-aside category for one reason only: visa numbers. The RIA reserves 20% of the numbers each year for the rural category, with statutory priority processing, and in the November 2026 Visa Bulletin the category is current for all countries; over the same period the unreserved category's final action date for China-born applicants is still at December 2016 — choose the wrong category and the difference is of the order of a decade. Three things must be stated plainly: first, the capital must by law be at risk, repayment depends on the project's outcome, and no stage promises repayment; second, a green card means worldwide US taxation — this category's longest cost tail; third, the 30 September 2026 grandfathering deadline has passed and regional-center authorisation expires in September 2027, so new applicants no longer have the old rules' protection. This page is general information only and is not immigration, tax or investment advice.
Six factor grades & their basis
| Factor | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Countries you can enter | 9.0 | The output is a US green card — the complete right to settle, work and study, with spouse and children in the same batch, and thereafter a US passport reaching 180 destinations; depth of settlement is first among the five, with points deducted for the tax tail rather than for mobility itself. |
| Value for money | 3.5 | US$800,000 plus fees and project administrative fees — the most expensive ticket of the five; the capital is invested rather than donated, but on "status rights bought per dollar" its efficiency is the lowest. |
| Speed | 5.0 | Rural I-526E at about 6–12 months is the fastest within EB-5, but reaching the permanent green card requires the 2-year conditional period plus the I-829 (measured in years), so end to end the status takes years to be established. |
| Getting your money back | 5.0 | Repayment is the expected outcome under the system's design and in practice mostly occurs in years 3–7, but the capital must by law be at risk with no repayment commitment of any kind; recovery depends entirely on the individual project's outcome. |
| Do you have to live there | 5.5 | The green card requires genuinely relocating to the US and maintaining the fact of residence (long absences affect status and the naturalisation clock), and from approval onward carries US worldwide-taxation and filing obligations — the heaviest burden of the five. |
| How stable the rules are | 6.0 | The programme has a statutory basis and has run for over thirty years, but regional-center authorisation expires in September 2027, the grandfathering deadline has passed, the amount rises in 2027, and rural backlog formation risk is widely flagged — medium-term variables are dense. |
Key numbers
Minimum investment (rural TEA category)
800,000 USD
Rural category annual visa set-aside share
20%
I-526E adjudication time (rural category, priority processing)
6–12 个月
USCIS fees (I-526E + Integrity Fund fee, from 30 Nov 2026)
8950 USD
Statutory minimum capital sustainment period (from deployment into the job-creating entity)
2 年
US passport visa-free / visa-on-arrival destinations (after naturalisation; US residence at the green-card stage)
180 个
Why it is on the board
Quota structure decides everything: of EB-5's roughly ten thousand visas a year, 20% are reserved for rural, 10% for high-unemployment and 2% for infrastructure. The set-aside categories are current for all countries in the November 2026 bulletin; the unreserved category's final action date is 1 December 2016 for China-born and 1 December 2023 for India-born applicants. For this site's two largest demand nationalities (China and India), the rural category is currently the only US channel that does not mean waiting a decade.
Speed is data-backed: USCIS quarterly data as compiled (via EB5Visa.io) shows rural I-526E petitions averaging about 6–12 months to adjudication with an approval rate of about 93.5% — markedly faster than the unreserved category's 24–36+ months; and the statutory priority-processing obligation is written into the RIA itself, not project marketing.
The status carries the most weight: a green card is a complete settlement right — to live, work and study — with spouse and unmarried children under 21 approved in the same batch; applicants in the US can adjust status concurrently and obtain a work permit first. The naturalisation path is clear (5 years of holding the card). This is also why it ranks first on the identity board for "mobility / depth of settlement".
The hardest demand evidence: about 51% of post-RIA I-526E filings came from China (USCIS data as disclosed by the industry), with China and India together about 70% — mapping directly onto this site's audience structure (Chinese-speaking Plan-B families, South Asian offshore wealth).
How it works
- Fix the category: this page covers only the rural TEA set-aside category — its legal basis is the 20% annual visa set-aside for rural areas under the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), plus USCIS's priority-processing obligation for rural petitions. Urban high-unemployment (10%) and infrastructure (2%) are outside this page's scope.
- Check quota status: consult the US Department of State Visa Bulletin monthly. The set-aside categories (rural, high-unemployment, infrastructure) are Current for all countries in the November 2026 bulletin (no backlog); in the unreserved category, the final action date for China-born applicants is 1 December 2016 and for India-born applicants 1 December 2023. Choose the wrong category and the time difference is of the order of a decade.
- Prepare the source of funds: USCIS requires proof of the lawful source and complete path of every invested sum, in practice often 5–7 years of financial records; this is the most time-consuming and most RFE-prone stage of the whole process and should be prepared before choosing the investment channel.
- Invest and file: funds are placed, along the documented path, into a regional-center project whose USCIS project application (I-956F) has been approved; file the I-526E and pay the fees. Those already in the US while the category is Current can concurrently file I-485 adjustment of status and apply for a work permit and advance parole.
- Approval and landing: rural I-526E adjudication in practice runs about 6–12 months (USCIS data basis; see the metrics); after approval, obtain the 2-year conditional green card through consular processing or adjustment of status.
- Condition removal and exit: file the I-829 within the 90 days before the conditional green card expires, proving the capital was sustained and 10 full-time jobs were created, in exchange for the permanent green card; naturalisation can be applied for after 5 years of holding a green card. Repayment of capital is governed by the project documents' loan/equity terms; the statutory minimum sustainment period is 2 years from the capital's placement into the job-creating entity, while practical repayment mostly occurs in years 3–7 after investment and depends on the project's outcome.
Costs & where the money goes
Capital: High (US$800,000 investment, plus government fees and project-level administrative fees; the capital must by law be at risk)
Effort: Medium (investment held through a regional center, no self-operation required; but source-of-funds review, tax filing and the condition-removal process require long-term cooperation)
- Investment: the statutory minimum for the rural TEA category is US$800,000 (standard category US$1,050,000). From 1 January 2027 this amount adjusts automatically by the cumulative CPI increase since 2022, and every 5 years thereafter; the new amount is published by the Department of Homeland Security in the Federal Register and, as of this site's check (early November 2026), has not yet been published — industry estimates are for reference only and are not in the main text (see the not-yet-verified list). The industry consensus is that applications filed before the adjustment takes effect are assessed at the amount on the filing date; USCIS has not yet issued formal guidance.
- Government fees (USCIS): the I-526E filing fee is US$7,850 from 30 November 2026 (previously US$3,675), plus the EB-5 Integrity Fund fee of US$1,100 (previously US$1,000) — the two together rising from US$4,675 to US$8,950; the later I-829 filing fee rises over the same period from US$3,750 to US$5,000 (the US$9,525 set by the 2024 fee rule was frozen by a federal court and never actually charged). Fees for I-485 and similar filings for those adjusting status in the US are extra.
- Project-level fees: those investing through a regional center are usually charged a separate administrative/subscription fee by the project, set by the project party with no official standard; it does not count toward the US$800,000 statutory investment and is not among USCIS fees — confirm it in writing project by project before signing, and count it into total cost. This site lists no fee figures for specific projects.
- Opportunity and holding costs: the capital must be placed into a job-creating enterprise and kept at business risk, with the sustainment period measured in years; during that time there is no promise of interest or distributions, and repayment depends on the project's operation and refinancing outcomes. Legal fees, source-of-funds document preparation and remittance-compliance costs must also be counted.
- Tax cost (major): from green-card approval, the holder becomes a US tax resident and declares worldwide income under US tax law; the saving clause in the treaties makes most tax-treaty benefits inapplicable to green-card holders; there is also estate-tax exposure (the exemption rules for the non-resident phase differ from those for residents). This is this category's long-term cost, distinguishing it from the other four entries, and it must be assessed separately against the family's asset structure before filing.
Risks & counter-evidence
Set-aside backlog formation risk: the rural category is currently current, but application volume is concentrated — China- and India-born applicants account for about 73% of post-RIA filings (industry-compiled basis), and rural is the most contested of the three set-asides. Multiple law firms have publicly warned that the rural category may form a backlog before the other set-asides; once it does, the wait for China-born applicants grows by years. What would flip this verdict: If any monthly Visa Bulletin shows a final action date for the rural category for China- or India-born applicants (i.e. a backlog has formed), this entry's core premise of "currently no backlog" fails; re-estimate by the backlog's length and possibly downgrade the verdict; check the State Department bulletin monthly.
Authorisation expiry and grandfathering already past: regional-center authorisation runs by statute to 30 September 2027; and the 30 September 2026 grandfathering deadline has already passed — I-526Es filed after it no longer enjoy the protection of being adjudicated under the rules in force for the project's duration. If Congress does not reauthorise in time, the rules risk exposure for new applicants is real. What would flip this verdict: If Congress does not reauthorise the regional-center programme before 30 September 2027, applications filed after 30 September 2026 lose grandfathering protection and this entry's verdict flips to "don't"; if it reauthorises early with terms unchanged, the risk is lifted.
Amount increase imminent: from 1 January 2027 the statutory amount adjusts for inflation; the official figure is unpublished and industry estimates put the TEA category at about US$900,000–937,500 (estimate basis, unverified). Cases filed at the boundary also face the uncertainty that there is as yet no formal USCIS guidance on "assessed at the amount on the filing date". What would flip this verdict: If the new amount published by the Department of Homeland Security is significantly above the estimate range, the threshold for those filing after 2027 is re-estimated at the new amount; those filing before 1 January 2027 are executed at the current US$800,000 (subject to formal USCIS guidance).
The tax tail: a green card is a US worldwide-taxation status, and for most applicants a lifetime-scale arrangement (giving up the green card carries its own exit-tax rules). Compared with the other four entries, where "residency does not automatically trigger tax residency", EB-5's true total cost must count US tax compliance and burden in; looking only at the US$800,000 systematically underestimates it. What would flip this verdict: This item is a structural fact and does not flip on any single event; the applicant's response is to complete a cross-border tax assessment before filing and count the long-term tax cost into the total before deciding — which is also why this site marks this entry as having "the longest tax tail".
What we have not verified
The following key figures have not yet been verified; the reason is noted for each item.
- The new investment amount from 1 January 2027: the Department of Homeland Security has not yet published the official figure; US$900,000–937,500 is the industry's CPI-based estimate range, which this site does not cite as fact — before filing, rely on the Federal Register and USCIS publications.
- Regional-center administrative/subscription fees: set by each project (industry accounts of common ranges differ), with no official standard; this site has not verified a single figure, and the main text only notes their existence and how they are charged, without amounts.
- Divergence between sources on rural I-526E processing times: USCIS data compiled gives 6–12 months, while other institutions give 4–9 months and 12–18 months (end-to-end to the conditional green card) on other bases; this metric uses the USCIS quarterly-data compilation basis, and individual cases vary widely.
- "China- and India-born applicants account for about 73% of post-RIA filings" is an EB-5 industry-media compilation of USCIS data; this site has not re-checked the underlying USCIS dataset item by item.
- The claim that from March 2026 USCIS applies a FIFO processing framework to I-526Es with rural priority comes from regional-center disclosures; this site has not obtained the original of a formal USCIS announcement and has not written it into the main text's conclusions.
FAQ
- Are rural projects better than urban projects?
- This page covers programme and category mechanics only and points to no specific project. What can be confirmed at category level: the rural category has a 20% set-aside quota and statutory priority processing, is current for all countries in the November 2026 Visa Bulletin, and rural I-526E adjudication in practice runs about 6–12 months. Job-creation modelling, capital structure and exit arrangements at the level of a specific project must be diligenced project by project; this site gives no project-level endorsement or recommendation.
- Can buying US property or self-storage get me a green card?
- They are not the same thing. Asset purchases such as ordinary property or self-storage fund units create no immigration status at all (this site's US self-storage entry on the cash-flow board has no connection with EB-5); only capital placed into an enterprise meeting EB-5 requirements that creates 10 full-time jobs, approved via I-526E, enters the green-card process.
- How long from filing to permanent green card, and then to citizenship?
- On current practice the sequence is: I-526E adjudication about 6–12 months (rural category), then consular processing or adjustment of status over some months to obtain the conditional green card; after holding it a full 2 years, file the I-829 to remove conditions (that stage currently takes years to process), with the permanent green card established once the I-829 is approved; naturalisation can be applied for after 5 years of holding a green card. To be clear: all periods are current practice only, USCIS processing speeds change year by year, and once a set-aside category forms a backlog the whole timetable moves back.
- Can the US$800,000 be recovered in the end?
- Possibly, but no stage promises repayment. The law requires the capital to be at risk during the sustainment period; repayment depends on the invested project's operation, sale or refinancing outcomes and contract terms, and if the project fails the principal can be partly or wholly lost. This site judges no project's repayment prospects; treating EB-5 as a "deposit repaid at maturity" is this category's most common misreading.
- Why must China-born applicants use a set-aside category?
- It depends on place of birth (backlogs are calculated by birthplace, not nationality). In the unreserved category, the final action date for China-born applicants is 1 December 2016 (November 2026 bulletin), meaning filing under the old category implies a wait of the order of a decade; the rural and other set-aside categories are currently current for all countries, which is exactly why this page covers only the rural category. But "no backlog" for the set-asides is a current state, not a promise: China- and India-born applicants account for about 70% of post-RIA filings, and the rural category is widely expected in the industry to be the first set-aside to form a backlog.