EB-5 Partial Investments and Placeholder Filings: What Still Holds Up in 2026
As the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline approaches, some Indian investors are asking whether they can secure a priority date now and complete their funding later. Partial investments remain available, but the way they must be structured has changed, and a recent USCIS policy has raised the risk of thin, placeholder filings. During a CanAm panel on the Indian EB-5 market, three immigration attorneys explained what still works.
Partials remain viable, with more documentation upfront
Niral Patel of KLDP told the panel that partial investments are still workable but must be structured more carefully than before. USCIS now expects as much documentation as possible at filing. If the balance of an investment will come from a home equity line or a personal loan, adjudicators want to see the source of funds for that asset in the initial application, along with an approved loan agreement. Patel added an important constraint: the balance should come from an asset the investor owns today, not from future income. He cautioned against relying on stock or restricted stock units for the balance, since their value can fall below the amount needed, and USCIS does not permit an investor to substitute the source of funds later. The documentation standards behind this are covered in Part 1 of this series.
The regional center’s role
Rohit Turkhud of CSG Law emphasized that a partial filing depends on the regional center. The investor and the regional center need an agreement that defines the timeline for investing the balance, and that timeline is unlikely to be long. Without the regional center’s support for a partial, the strategy is not available to the investor at all. Patel added that the balance also requires its own source of funds work and a supplemental report filed with USCIS close to the funding deadline.
Placeholder filings carry new risk
Nicolai Hinrichsen of Miller Mayer drew a distinction between a partial investment that fully complies and a skeletal, placeholder filing made only to secure a priority date. That distinction matters more since August 5, 2026, when USCIS issued Policy Alert PA-2026-05, restoring officers’ discretion to deny a filing that does not establish eligibility without first issuing an RFE or NOID. Hinrichsen noted that recent denials increasingly use language suggesting a petition should have been approvable when filed. A thin filing made to beat the deadline is more exposed under that standard, and the risk is greater for investors who cannot maintain an underlying nonimmigrant status, such as some F-1 students, if both the I-526E and a related adjustment application are denied.
A second clock: January 1, 2027
The panel noted that September 30 is not the only date on the calendar. On January 1, 2027, the EB-5 minimum investment amount is scheduled to rise for the first time under the inflation adjustment built into the Reform and Integrity Act. Independent analysts project the targeted-employment-area minimum could move from $800,000 to roughly $900,000 or more, with the standard minimum rising toward $1.2 million. The final figures will be set by the Department of Homeland Security and published in the Federal Register. The two dates do different work: the September 30 grandfathering deadline protects program eligibility, while the January 1 increase changes the cost. Investors who file before the increase lock in the current amount.
The bottom line
Partial investments still have a place in EB-5, but the current environment rewards filings that are as complete as possible. For investors who cannot put together a strong petition before September 30, the January 1 cost increase becomes the next planning point.
Watch the discussion
The full panel discussion on the Indian EB-5 market is available on demand.
About CanAm Enterprises
CanAm Enterprises has more than 30 years of experience in investment-linked immigration, including over 20 years in the EB-5 program. CanAm has raised more than $4 billion for EB-5 projects and repaid more than $2.5 billion to investors across 75-plus projects and 11 regional centers spanning 30-plus states.
Contact: (212) 668-0690 / info@canamenterprises.com / www.canamenterprises.com
