EB-5 Visa Cost Breakdown: How Much EB-5 Really Costs and Why It Varies

Most EB-5 cost conversations start and end with the investment amount. In reality, EB-5 budgeting looks more like a multi-year compliance project: immigration filings, legal strategy, document production, cross-border transfers, and ongoing planning across several stages.

This guide gives you a practical, numbers-based framework so you can model EB-5 realistically before you commit capital.

Key takeaways

• EB-5 “cost” is a bundle: investment capital plus legal, admin, government, and documentation expenses.

• The biggest drivers of variance are source-of-funds complexity, family size, and timeline pressure, not just the project.

• You should always ask for an itemized budget with assumptions (who pays what, when, and what changes the number).

• Plan for second-order costs: translations, cross-border transfers, tax planning, and logistics.

• A responsible budget includes a contingency buffer and a Plan B if timelines or documentation expand.

What do we mean by “total EB-5 cost”?

When people ask, “How much does EB-5 cost?”, they usually mean one of three things:

1. The capital you must commit (the EB-5 investment amount)

2. Out-of-pocket case costs (legal fees, filing fees, documentation)

3. Total cash impact over time (including planning, logistics, and friction costs)

For real planning, you need all three. A practical definition:

Total EB-5 cost = required investment capital + all fees and expenses needed to prepare, file, maintain, and complete the immigration process (plus a reasonable contingency).

This article focuses on cost categories and planning trade-offs. It is not financial or investment advice and does not promote any specific project, fund, or regional center.

The EB-5 Cost Stack

Think of EB-5 costs as a stack with different owners, timing, and risk of change.

1) Required investment capital (the “headline” number)

• $800,000 for TEA (rural or high-unemployment) or qualifying infrastructure projects

• $1,050,000 for non-TEA projects

Planning nuances: This is not a fee. It is capital you must commit. Your capital may be tied up for years depending on structure and process steps. Cost is not the same as capital. You might recover some capital depending on outcomes and structure, but you should not budget assuming any specific result.

2) Regional center or project administrative fees

Common market range:

• $50,000 to $70,000 (sometimes more, depending on structure and services)

What to clarify in writing: What services this covers, when it is due, whether any portion is refundable (often not), and what happens if timelines extend. If it’s not written, don’t assume it’s included.

3) Immigration attorney fees (primary legal workstream)

Typical range for many EB-5 cases:

• $15,000 to $25,000Complex cases (multi-source funds, multiple jurisdictions, tight timelines) can go higher.

What drives this number: Source-of-funds complexity, number of family members, speed requirements, prior immigration history, and RFE risk.

What to ask for: A scope-based fee quote, a payment milestone schedule, and clear treatment of RFE responses (included vs billed separately).

4) Government filing fees (USCIS and related)

These change over time, but typical planning numbers look like this:

• I-526E (regional center petition): $3,675 filing fee + $1,000 Integrity Fund fee = $4,675

If adjusting status in the U.S.:

• I-485 (adult): about $1,440

• I-485 (child under 14 with parent): about $950

• I-765 (work permit): about $260

• I-131 (travel or advance parole): about $630

Later stage:

• I-829 (remove conditions): plan a range of roughly $3,750 to $9,500+ depending on the fee schedule in effect at the time

After approval:

• USCIS immigrant fee: about $235

Budgeting rule: always confirm current fees before filing and add a buffer in case of increases.

5) Source-of-funds documentation and paperwork costs

This is where “paperwork” becomes real spend.

Typical ranges:

• $2,000 to $10,000 for simpler cases

• $10,000 to $25,000+ for multi-source, multi-country, or business-heavy cases

Common items include certified translations, notarizations and apostilles, government record retrieval, accounting support for tracing funds, and local legal support for gifts, loans, or asset sales.

Reality: these costs scale with complexity, not with how wealthy you are.

6) Tax and cross-border planning

Common planning range:

• $3,000 to $15,000+ depending on complexity

Often needed for pre-residency planning, multi-jurisdiction assets, entity structures, and keeping immigration filings consistent with tax records. This is not about optimizing. It is about avoiding conflicts between your immigration narrative and your financial reality.

7) Banking, transfers, and FX friction

Typical range:

• $500 to $5,000

This can include wire and bank fees, FX spread costs, compliance delays, and extra documentation. A practical step is to build a transfer plan early so this does not become a last-minute problem.

8) Travel, medical exams, and logistics

Typical planning range:

• $1,000 to $10,000+ depending on family size and where you process

This may include medical exams, travel and lodging, courier fees, and time costs for appointments and document gathering.

What most investors should budget (excluding the investment capital)

A realistic non-capital EB-5 budget often lands around:

• $80,000 to $150,000+

This depends mainly on the admin fee level, legal complexity, family size, and source-of-funds documentation load.

Total cash planning (capital plus costs)

TEA route: $800,000 + about $80k–$150k = roughly $880k to $950k+ total planning range

Non-TEA route: $1,050,000 + about $80k–$150k = roughly $1.13M to $1.20M+ total planning range

These are planning numbers, not promises. Timing, fee rules, and case complexity can move them.

What actually drives EB-5 cost variance?

1) Source-of-funds complexity (the number one driver)

Signals of higher complexity include cash-heavy business histories, multiple countries and banking systems, large gifts requiring donor documentation, loans with unclear collateral, and asset sales without clean contracts or tax records. More complexity means more professional time, more coordination, higher RFE risk, and higher cost.

2) Family size and dependency planning

More dependents usually means more documents, more filing fees, and more translations, notarizations, and logistics. If children are near aging-out thresholds, urgency and planning costs often increase.

3) Timeline pressure

Tight school or relocation windows can drive expedited document retrieval, more legal coordination, higher translation and courier throughput, and more administrative overhead.

4) Record consistency (case “cleanliness”)

If tax filings, company records, and bank statements align, costs stay closer to plan. If they do not, expect more time and more spend fixing gaps.

Common cost surprises (and how to avoid them)

• Surprise 1: “We didn’t budget for document production.”Avoid it by adding a $2k–$10k+ line item for translations, notarization, apostilles, and retrieval.

• Surprise 2: “The donor’s documents are as complex as ours.”Avoid it by treating gifts like two cases, not one.

• Surprise 3: “The bank blocked the transfer.”Avoid it by budgeting $500–$5k for transfer friction and confirming bank rules early.

• Surprise 4: “We thought the first filing was the end.”Avoid it by mapping the full multi-stage process and including later legal and filing costs.

• Surprise 5: “We anchored on someone else’s quote.”Avoid it by always asking what assumptions were behind that number.

Conclusion

EB-5 budgeting is not just an investment amount. It is a full-stack financial and compliance plan across legal work, government fees, documentation, and cross-border logistics.

When families feel surprised by EB-5 costs, it is usually because of unclear scope or untested assumptions. If you map the cost stack early and tie it to your real source-of-funds profile and family timeline, you can make the decision with eyes open.

Get a clear overview of the EB-5 process and request an eligibility and timeline review that includes an itemized cost map and a source-of-funds readiness assessment.

For financial and legal decisions, consult licensed professionals. This content is for residency planning and understanding only.