EB-5 deadline September 30, 2026: what grandfathering protects and what it does not

In 11 days the window closes for regional center I-526E petitions to be shielded by law from a program lapse. What it gives investors, what the entry ticket costs, where the backlogs are, and why Russian investors should start with the source of funds, not the date.

September 19, 2026. In 11 days, on September 30, 2026, the grandfathering window of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) closes. Regional center I-526E petitions filed by then must be processed to the end even if Congress lets the program, currently authorized through September 30, 2027, lapse. Here is what the clause protects, what it does not, what entry costs, and why for Russian investors the real question is the source of funds, not the date.

What happens on September 30, 2026

The RIA, signed on March 15, 2022, reauthorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027. According to DHS, more than 90% of EB-5 petitions go through regional centers.

The law also added protection against the program expiring, written into the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) itself. For petitions tied to a regional center and filed on or before September 30, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), even after an expiration:

• must keep processing I-526E petitions and later I-829 petitions to remove conditions;
• may not deny them because the program expired;
• may not suspend visa allocation to beneficiaries of approved petitions.

Protection attaches to a properly filed petition, meaning one received and accepted by USCIS by that date, not merely handed to a courier on the 30th. Direct EB-5 without a regional center (Form I-526) is not tied to the program sunset, so the deadline is not critical there.

Why this is not a formality: the 2021 lapse

A shutdown has happened before. On June 30, 2021, the program's authorization expired without timely renewal. USCIS stopped accepting new regional center petitions and held pending ones until the RIA restored the program on March 15, 2022, almost nine months later.

After September 30, 2026, I-526E petitions can still be filed, just without grandfathering. If Congress fails to reauthorize by fall 2027, or does so after a gap, unapproved petitions filed after the deadline could repeat 2021. We will not guess what Congress does.

What grandfathering does not guarantee

• Approval. USCIS still reviews the lawful source of funds, the project and the creation of 10 jobs. The clause only bars denials based on expiration.
• Speed. Processing times and per-country backlogs stay as they are.
• A visa in a given year. In a backlogged country your priority date still waits in the Visa Bulletin.
• Safety of your money. EB-5 capital must be at risk by law: capital with a guaranteed return or a contractual right to mandatory redemption does not count. A weak project with a protected date is still weak.
• Protection from other changes. It covers expiration, not new rules, fees or consular policy.

What it costs and what changes on January 1, 2027

The amount follows the filing date, so anyone who misses September 30 has a second line: petitions filed before the end of 2026 use today's $800,000 and $1,050,000. DHS will publish the new figures in the Federal Register; until then any 2027 number is an estimate. Regional centers also charge administrative fees, worth comparing across projects.

Country backlogs: China, India and everyone else

Grandfathering does nothing to queues; those are set by the State Department's Visa Bulletin. In the September 2026 bulletin, unreserved EB-5 stood at:

• China - final action date December 1, 2016, so only earlier priority dates get visas;
• India - unavailable through the end of the fiscal year on September 30;
• all other countries, including Russia - Current, no backlog.

All three set-asides (rural, high unemployment, infrastructure) were current for every country, China and India included, which is why investors from backlogged countries pick such projects. But set-asides are limited, and queues can form there too. The State Department warned that unreserved EB-5 could retrogress before the end of September; the new fiscal year starts October 1, 2026.

The DHS proposed rule: what it proposes

On July 2, 2026, DHS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to write the RIA into regulations; comments closed on August 31, 2026. It is still a proposal. Key points:

• a separate $1,400,000 threshold for high employment areas (metro areas with unemployment well below the national average);
• proof of lawful source for administrative fees as well as the investment, with a documented path of funds to the project;
• disclosure of every third party used to move the money, with evidence their funds were lawful;
• no crypto-specific rules; digital assets would be handled in sub-regulatory guidance.

The proposal cannot move the September 30, 2026 date: it is in the statute, and only Congress can change it.

Russian investors: source of funds and sanctions

For Russian investors the deadline is secondary. What matters is proving where the money came from and lawfully getting it to a US project.

What the statute requires. Both the capital and the money for fees must come from a lawful source through lawful means. The petition includes, as applicable, tax returns filed in any country over the past 7 years, monetary judgments, and the identity of anyone who moved funds to the US for the investor. Gifts and loans count only if made in good faith, with the same records from the donor or a non-bank lender. More in our piece on source of funds.

Sanctions screening. The law bars approval of a regional center petition until DHS has checked the investor and any associated employer against the OFAC SDN list. Russian citizenship alone does not block a filing, but links to listed persons, including through companies they own 50% or more of, are a problem no deadline fixes.

Banking. Since 2022 a number of Russian banks have been sanctioned and cut off from SWIFT, so funds often move through third-country accounts. That is legal, but USCIS will want the account's full history, and a large wire with Russian details usually goes to manual review at US banks. Murblz specialists also check currency control rules as of the transfer date.

The consular stage. Grandfathering covers USCIS, but a Russian living abroad gets the visa at the US Embassy in Warsaw. From January 21, 2026, the State Department paused immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries, Russia included; on August 21 a federal court in New York vacated that pause. In late August the State Department halted immigrant visa interviews worldwide to train officers on new public charge rules (whether an applicant is likely to depend on public benefits); by September 8 processing had resumed for Poland and Hungary while the pause continued elsewhere. Other fall changes are in a separate overview.

The honest takeaway: without a clean source-of-funds file, racing to September 30 makes no sense. The investment must be made or in progress at filing, and a rushed petition invites a request for evidence (RFE) or a denial. Filing later with solid documents is the better trade.

If EB-5 does not fit: other routes to the US

• Direct EB-5 into your own business with 10 jobs does not depend on the program sunset. See our US green card by investment page.
• Talent routes. EB-1 and EB-2 NIW lead to a green card without an employer or investment; the O-1 visa is a stepping stone. Compare them in talent green cards and talent visas.
• E-2 through a second citizenship. Russia has no E-2 treaty with the US, so people look at Grenada citizenship. It is not fast: US law requires at least three years of domicile between the passport and the E-2 filing, see our breakdown.
• If the US itself is not the point, compare Europe's golden visas.

Our EB-5 and US relocation services

We match a US route to your profile and capital and see it through.

We also run a legal review of the source-of-funds file before filing, plus translations and legalization. Choosing a city? Start with New York and Miami; all programs are on the USA: citizenship, residence, taxes page, and the road to a passport is under naturalization.

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