US EB-5 Investor Visa from Dubai and the UAE (2026–2027)

EB-5 is an investment with real risk. Read this first.

What "capital at risk" means for you

Your USD 800,000 or USD 1,050,000 is not a fee and not a deposit. It buys an interest in a US business, and the green card depends on that business doing what it promised. If the project stalls, you can lose part or all of the money and still not qualify for permanent residence.

The money also has to stay in. USCIS guidance on regional center terminations describes post-2022 investors as generally still eligible where their capital "remained invested for at least 2 years after being placed at risk" and the jobs were created. Plan on your money being tied up for years, not months.

The project risks that decide most outcomes

• The business is late, over budget or never finished.
• It creates fewer than 10 qualifying jobs per investor, which puts the Form I-829 at risk.
• USCIS terminates the regional center. Its own Q&A says that where the project has also failed or will create too few jobs, investors "generally will not remain eligible".
• A high-unemployment designation expires before you have invested, and you may then need to invest the standard amount instead.
• The exit takes longer than the offering suggests, so your capital comes back late, in part, or not at all.

How to check a project before you commit

1. Ask whether the project's Form I-956F has been filed and whether USCIS has decided it. USCIS decides the I-956F before any linked I-526E.
2. Check that the regional center appears on the USCIS list of approved regional centers and not on the terminated list.
3. Compare the jobs the economic report projects with the jobs needed for every investor in the offering. A bigger margin gives you more room if things slip.
4. Read how your money is held before approval, what happens to it if the petition is refused, and the exit plan.
5. Ask for audited financial statements and the full offering documents, and have them reviewed by advisers who are not paid by the project.

How much do you need to invest? (current USCIS amounts)

For petitions filed now, USCIS lists two minimums: USD 1,050,000 for a standard project, and USD 800,000 for a project in a Targeted Employment Area, including infrastructure projects. These amounts apply to petitions filed on or after 15 March 2022, until the inflation adjustment takes effect for petitions filed on or after 1 January 2027.

Targeted Employment Area or standard project

A Targeted Employment Area is either a rural area or a high-unemployment area. USCIS defines a rural area as anywhere outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside any city or town with a population of 20,000 or more. A high-unemployment area needs unemployment of at least 150% of the national average. Some visas are also set aside each year for these projects:

In the June 2026 Visa Bulletin all three set-aside categories were shown as "C" (current) in every country column. Availability can change, especially when a new US fiscal year starts in October, so check the current month's bulletin before you rely on it.

Where the money comes from matters as much as the amount

USCIS says investors "must establish that they are the legal owner of the capital invested", and the funds must be lawfully obtained. For UAE residents that usually means tracing savings from salary, a business or property sale, or a family gift back through bank statements, contracts and payroll or tax records. This is where many files slow down, so it is where we start.

What changes on 1 January 2027

The law ties the standard amount to inflation (the CPI-U consumer price index), rounds the adjusted figure down to the nearest USD 50,000, and sets the Targeted Employment Area amount at 75% of the standard amount. USCIS says the first adjustment applies to petitions filed on or after 1 January 2027. On 26 September 2026 the USCIS page still showed USD 800,000 and USD 1,050,000, and no adjusted figures had been published.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security has placed a proposed rule on public inspection at the Federal Register (document 2026-13392). It would write these adjustment rules into the regulations and set a new minimum of USD 1,400,000 for investments in a high-employment area. This is a proposal, not a final rule, and no effective date has been set.

What the 30 September 2026 cutoff means if you file from 1 October 2026

US law gave regional center investors a safety net against the program lapsing. If the legislation authorising the Regional Center Program expires, USCIS must keep processing regional center petitions that were filed on or before 30 September 2026, may not deny them because the authorisation expired, and may not stop issuing visas to people whose petitions were approved (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(S)). The protection applies only to regional center petitions filed up to and including 30 September 2026.

For a petition filed on or after 1 October 2026:

• The Regional Center Program is still running. USCIS states that immigrant visas are authorised under it through 30 September 2027.
• The statutory protection above does not cover your petition. If Congress does not renew the program by 30 September 2027, there is no written promise that a regional center petition filed from 1 October 2026 will keep being processed. Nobody can tell you today whether Congress will extend it.
• A petition filed between 1 October and 31 December 2026 uses today's amounts. One filed on or after 1 January 2027 uses the adjusted amounts.
• The 2027 authorisation date and the 2026 protection are both written for the Regional Center Program. If you are considering a standalone (direct) investment on Form I-526, ask your US-regulated practitioner how a lapse would affect you.

Filing in late 2026 or in 2027 is still possible, but you carry more legislative risk than someone who filed before the cutoff. We map that against your own timing in the assessment. Book a free assessment.

Regional Center vs Direct EB-5

Most applicants living in the Gulf choose the Regional Center route because they cannot manage a US business day to day from Dubai. It is not automatically safer, though. Your result still depends on one project.

Step by step from Dubai: petition to green card

1. Assessment and source-of-funds file. We check whether your money can be traced to lawful sources and which route fits. For Regional Center cases you also shortlist and check projects (see the checklist above).
2. Invest and file the petition. Your US-regulated practitioner files Form I-526E (Regional Center) or Form I-526 (standalone) with USCIS.
3. Immigrant visa or adjustment of status. Once the petition is approved and a visa is available under the Visa Bulletin, applicants living in the UAE usually complete an immigrant visa interview at a US embassy or consulate. If you are already in the US in a lawful status, your practitioner can advise whether you can file Form I-485 inside the US instead.
4. Conditional green card. On entering the US with the immigrant visa, or on approval of the I-485, you and your family receive conditional permanent residence for 2 years.
5. Remove the conditions. Your practitioner files Form I-829 to show the investment was sustained and the jobs were created. Approval gives you a permanent green card.

How long does EB-5 take?

There is no fixed timeline. USCIS publishes current processing times for its EB-5 forms on its processing times page, and says to use them "as a reference point, not an absolute measure". Once a petition is approved, the monthly Visa Bulletin shows whether a visa number is available for your category and country of birth.

The part you control is preparation. A complete source-of-funds file and a project you have already checked remove most of the avoidable delays.

Who files your petition: the US-regulated practitioner and Cosmos's role

EB-5 is a US immigration program, and Cosmos Immigration holds no US licence. Your I-526 or I-526E, and later your I-829, are prepared and filed by a US-regulated immigration practitioner who is a member of a US state bar. Cosmos coordinates the work around that: eligibility review, the source-of-funds file, document collection in the UAE and case tracking.

Our Canadian and Australian cases run through the RCIC Cosmos works with, Kamaljit Singh Mundi (CICC, R531489), and MARA-registered agent Andrew John Kerr (MARN 1069227). Neither registration covers US immigration, which is why US filings go to a US-regulated practitioner.

Before you sign with anyone for EB-5, ask for the practitioner's full name and the state where they are admitted, then look them up in that state bar's public directory. You can also verify our credentials.

For Indian nationals living in the UAE

If any of your EB-5 funds come from India, look at the Reserve Bank of India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme first. The RBI states that resident individuals "are allowed to freely remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April – March)". The EB-5 minimum is well above that, so money leaving India is usually planned across family members or years, or through other permitted routes. Savings you earned and hold in the UAE are a separate question to take up with your bank.

A US green card is residence, not citizenship. Getting one does not by itself change your Indian citizenship. That question only comes up if you later apply to become a US citizen.

Living in the US after approval

A green card is permanent residence, so plan on actually moving. Before you enter on the immigrant visa, ask your US-regulated practitioner and a US tax adviser what keeping your residence and filing US taxes will mean if part of your family or business stays in the UAE.

For many Gulf families the reason for EB-5 is the children. Unmarried children under 21 are included with you, so they can study in the US as permanent residents rather than on student visas. If a child is close to 21, raise it at the start, because age matters for who can be included.

Not sure EB-5 is the right route? Compare all residence-by-investment pathways, or look at the US National Interest Waiver and the L-1A visa if you are not planning to invest. For a European alternative, see the Portugal and Greece golden visas.

EB-5 questions from UAE families

Can I apply for the EB-5 visa from Dubai or Abu Dhabi?

Yes. You do not need to live in the US to file. Your US-regulated practitioner files the petition with USCIS, and after approval applicants living in the UAE usually attend an immigrant visa interview at a US embassy or consulate before moving.

How much is the EB-5 investment for UAE residents in 2026?

The same as for everyone else. USCIS lists USD 800,000 for a Targeted Employment Area or infrastructure project and USD 1,050,000 for a standard project, and the investment must create full-time jobs for at least 10 qualifying employees. Project, government and professional costs are extra; Cosmos fees are confirmed after an assessment.

Will I definitely get my EB-5 investment back?

No. EB-5 capital is invested in a business and is at risk. Repayment and returns are not assured, and approval of the petition is not assured either. Check the project carefully before you invest.

What does the 30 September 2026 date mean if I file now?

US law protects regional center petitions filed on or before 30 September 2026 if the Regional Center Program's authorisation later lapses. Petitions filed from 1 October 2026 do not have that protection. The program itself is authorised through 30 September 2027, so you can still file, but you take on the risk that Congress does not renew it.

What happens to EB-5 amounts on 1 January 2027?

USCIS says the first inflation adjustment applies to petitions filed on or after 1 January 2027. The new figures had not been published on 26 September 2026. By law the adjusted amounts are rounded down to the nearest USD 50,000. A separate DHS rule, still only proposed, would add a USD 1,400,000 minimum for high-employment areas.

Who files my EB-5 petition, and how do I check their US licence?

A US-regulated immigration practitioner who is a member of a US state bar. Ask for their full name and the state where they are admitted, then search that state bar's public directory. Cosmos coordinates your eligibility review, documents and case tracking alongside them.

Can my spouse and children be included?

Yes. USCIS says investors and their spouses and unmarried children under 21 are eligible for permanent residence through the EB-5 program. They receive conditional residence with you and are covered by your I-829.

Cosmos Immigration is a private consultancy, not a government body and not a law firm. Program criteria and figures are set by USCIS and US law and can change. Checked against the official sources below on 26 September 2026.

Official sources (accessed 26 September 2026)

• USCIS: About the EB-5 Visa Classification
• USCIS: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
• USCIS: EB-5 Questions and Answers
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part G, Chapter 1
• 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(S), protection from expired legislation
• Federal Register public inspection 2026-13392 (proposed rule)
• US Department of State: Visa Bulletin for June 2026
• USCIS processing times
• Reserve Bank of India: Liberalised Remittance Scheme FAQs

Start with a free assessment or message us on WhatsApp. We will tell you whether EB-5 fits your family and your timing, and say so plainly if it does not.