On July 2, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published in the Federal Register a proposed rule titled “EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022; Ensuring the Integrity of the EB-5 Program; Automatic Revocation of Petitions for Immigrant Classification” (FR Doc. 2026-13392, Docket No. USCIS-2026-0100). More than four years after the RIA took effect, it is DHS’s first attempt to write most of the statute’s requirements into federal regulations (8 CFR). The public comment period closed on August 31, 2026.
What the proposed rule would do
According to the “major provisions” DHS lists in the preamble, the rule would:
- Implement INA 203(b)(5)(N) and (O) to protect the program from fraud and national-security threats;
- Reorganize the regulations into a new subpart D and add new definitions;
- Implement priority date retention;
- Clarify eligibility requirements, including the new capital investment amounts, duration of investment, job creation, and evidentiary requirements;
- Eliminate repaid bridge financing as a basis for demonstrating job creation;
- Set out how targeted employment areas (TEAs) are determined;
- Define infrastructure projects;
- Remove “troubled businesses” as an avenue to eligibility;
- Describe Regional Center Program requirements, including designation, project applications, redeployment, and bona fides of persons involved;
- Implement registration of direct and third-party promoters;
- Establish enforcement provisions — monetary penalties, suspensions, debarments, and terminations;
- Implement audits;
- Improve removal-of-conditions (I-829) processing and create a procedure for amending the I-829 for investors whose regional center was terminated or whose NCE/JCE was debarred;
- Explain the handling of withdrawal requests and clarify automatic revocation of petitions.
DHS estimates the quantifiable annualized impact (at a 3% discount rate) at $39.90–$87.36 million, midpoint $63.59 million, accruing to the public and private sectors.
Industry response
IIUSA submitted more than 150 pages of data-driven comments shortly before the August 31 deadline; its Public Policy subcommittee mobilized almost immediately after publication. IIUSA’s public summary does not detail the positions taken; we will compare them against the final rule when it appears.
What it means for investors and regional centers
- This is a proposal with no legal effect yet. Current regulations and the USCIS Policy Manual continue to govern until a final rule is published and takes effect.
- Provisions such as eliminating bridge-financing job credit, removing the troubled-business route, and automatic revocation would, if finalized as written, affect project structuring and investor rights; regional centers and counsel should assess them early.
- Unlike the fee rule finalized on September 30, this rule covers substantive requirements and is likely to have a far broader impact.
Further reading: How TEAs Are Designated · Redeployment of EB-5 Capital Explained · Priority Date Retention
Sources
- Federal Register, FR Doc. 2026-13392 (July 2, 2026), 91 FR 40677 et seq.
- IIUSA, “IIUSA’s NPRM Comment Submission: A Herculean Group Effort” (September 2, 2026)