The EB-5 investment amount is going up on January 1, 2027. That much is settled. In a recent CanAm webinar, Peter Calabrese, CEO of CanAm Investor Services, sat down with Christine Chen, COO of CanAm Enterprises, and Christian Triantaphyllis, partner at Jackson Walker, to walk through what the increase means and, just as important, why it behaves differently from past changes to the program.
The full conversation is worth watching. Here are the points that matter most for anyone still weighing an EB-5 investment.
This deadline is real in a way the last one wasn’t
Investors who have followed EB-5 for a few years have reason to be skeptical of deadlines. When the investment amount rose in 2019, a court challenge brought the old amount back for a stretch, and people who waited were rewarded. That history makes some investors wait again now.
This time is different. As Christine explained on the webinar, the 2027 increase is written directly into the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. It is not a rule that can be challenged and rolled back. It is legislation, and it takes effect on schedule. Betting on a reversal is not a strategy that fits the facts.
Three dates, not one
January 1 gets the attention, but it is not the only date on the calendar.
- November 30, 2026: USCIS filing fees are set to rise, with the fee for the I-526E petition nearly doubling. For investors counting every dollar, that is a meaningful change on its own.
- January 1, 2027: The investment amount increases.
- Program reauthorization: The regional center program runs on a reauthorization cycle. Christian noted that reauthorization has happened successfully over the years, so while it stays on the radar, it is the investment increase that most investors are focused on today.
How big is the increase?
The exact figure is not official yet, and this is where care matters. The increase is tied to the Consumer Price Index, calculated as an average across the five years between the RIA’s passage in 2022 and January 1, 2027. Because the final inflation numbers for 2026 aren’t in, the amount can only be estimated.
Industry estimates have clustered north of $900,000 for a targeted employment area investment, with some analyses pointing closer to $937,500 depending on how the CPI calculation is read. These are estimates, not confirmed figures. What is not in doubt is the direction: the increase is significant, and Christian put the likely jump at roughly $100,000.
It is not only about the money
One point from the webinar is easy to miss. The higher investment amount is not just a larger check. It is more to document.
Christine noted that USCIS is scrutinizing source-of-funds documentation closely. A larger investment can mean another source of funds to trace and prove, which is more work and, as Christian put it, one more thing for USCIS to question. Documenting the current amount is simply a lighter lift than documenting the increased one.
Why preparation should start now
The recurring theme across the hour was time. Getting ready to file is not something that happens in a week, and the investors who did well ahead of the last deadline were the ones who started early rather than scrambling at the end.
That means the real deadline arrives well before January. The queue matters too: as filing deadlines approach, immigration attorneys reach capacity and begin turning away new cases. Starting the conversation now is what keeps the January window open.
Watch the full conversation
The complete discussion covers the mechanics of the increase, how different markets are responding, and the specific steps investors can take to prepare. Watch now.
Ready to Explore EB-5 Options?
For more than 20 years, CanAm Enterprises has focused on the EB-5 program, raising over $4.3 billion from more than 8,700 investors and returning over $2.5 billion in capital across more than 75 projects. As a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, CanAm brings institutional discipline to every stage of the process.
To start a conversation about investing before the 2027 increase, contact CanAm at (212) 668-0690 or info@canamenterprises.com.
