EB-5 Investment Pitfalls in 2026: How to Avoid Costly Mistakes

Navigating EB-5 investment pitfalls in 2026 requires more care than ever. While upcoming deadlines may add time pressure to the EB-5 due diligence process, the panelists at JTC’s EB-5 webinar cautioned against rushing into a project just to meet a cutoff date.

At JTC’s February 2026 webinar, Building on Success – Using 2026 to Carve a Bright Future for EB-5, a group of experienced industry professionals discussed the important dates coming to EB-5 over the next 18 months, including September 30th, 2026, the grandfathering cutoff date for the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), after which petitions aren’t guaranteed to be adjudicated under the current rules, and September 30th, 2027, when the Regional Center Program loses its authorization.

While there was much optimism that the grandfathering deadline will be extended and the Regional Center Program reauthorized beyond 2027, the panelists also acknowledged the concerns of investors, who may worry that if they don’t get their petitions filed before the cutoff date, they may miss their chance to participate in EB-5. What exactly should investors do when they can’t be certain the program will be available to them in the future?

Key EB-5 Deadlines Investors Must Know

• September 30, 2026: RIA Grandfathering Cutoff – Petitions filed after this date are not guaranteed adjudication under current rules.
• 2027: Five-Year Price Adjustment – Minimum investment amounts are set to increase under the RIA’s five-year review mechanism.
• September 30, 2027: Regional Center Program Reauthorization – Current authorization expires. Industry expects reauthorization, but nothing is confirmed.

Will EB-5 investment pitfalls in 2026 increase as the grandfathering and reauthorization deadlines approach?

While the Regional Center Program is technically authorized through September 30th, 2027, the way the law is written creates a bit of a disconnect, as it only guarantees adjudication under the RIA for petitions filed by September 30th, 2026.

“You have a situation where there isn’t a certainty that a petition filed after September would be adjudicated under the current rules.” said JTC’s Jill Jones.

Petitions filed after that may be adjudicated under the current rules or under the next set of program rules, if reauthorization happens. But what if the program isn’t reauthorized? Unfortunately, at this point, we don’t know what would happen with petitions filed during the year between the grandfathering deadline and the authorization expiration date.

The only way to guarantee adjudication is to get petitions filed before the deadline, which is approaching fast. This is especially important for those whose petitions are dependent upon RIA rules like the reserved visa categories that opened up space for investors from retrogressed countries.

“Right now, for any of the set-aside categories, those are current in terms of visa availability,” said Jones. “And so there’s a super incentive for countries like China and India that are backlogged for outside of the set-aside categories to push to the front of the line. And so that is becoming an incentive to hurry up and get as much of the investment in as they can and get the I-526E filed.”

The panelists spoke of how the upcoming grandfathering deadline may create a rush of investment as investors scramble to get their applications in. But those attempting to do so may find a lack of viable projects to choose from because the timeline is just too short.

“If we haven’t started a conversation with you and you’re a new developer, there’s next to no ability for us to underwrite you as a borrower, in addition to the project, just because the due diligence time frame takes so long to get a loan in place,” said Noreen Hogan of CMB Regional Centers. “Our window of opportunity to identify these next projects is coming to a close.”

The 2027 investment amount increase

The grandfathering and authorization deadlines aren’t the only important dates coming up for EB-5 investors. Noreen Hogan of CMB Regional Centers pointed out that another date may drastically impact who can participate in the program.

“2027, marks five years since the RIA,” she said. “Every five years, the price is going to be adjusted. And so, unfortunately, the price will be going up starting in 2027.”

Since we don’t know exactly how minimum investment amounts will change, investors may want to get their petitions in ASAP if they’re scared they could soon be priced out of the program.

“Not only are we going to see some momentum based on investors wanting to move forward to ensure the grandfathering protection, but if they miss that, then we believe that there’s going to be another rush to be able to move forward prior to the price increasing,” said Hogan.

The dangers of rushing EB-5 due diligence

“The program is in great shape. You can find great projects out there,” said Sebastian Stubbe of Pine State Regional Center. “We are confident that we’re going to resolve the reauthorization issue, and hopefully grandfathering prior to that. But these rushes also come with a little bit of danger.”

Stubbe said investors should be wary of promises of excess returns or projects putting a ticking clock on the EB-5 due diligence process to try and strong-arm investors into acting rashly.

“I’ve heard this now a number of times in the last couple of weeks, where an investor will say to us, ‘I need to make a decision today because this other Regional Center is only giving me, like, one day to make a decision because they only have one slot open,’” he said. “I think everyone should give investors plenty of time, and make time to sit on the phone with them and answer all their questions, because uninformed investors are also not good for the industry.”

Trevor Anderson of HomeFed Corporation stressed the importance of disclosures to potential investors to make sure the risk profile is clear and understood before investment.

“We want to disclose every possible nuance, everything that could go wrong with the deal, everything related to the immigration, and so we’re full disclosure all the time,” he said. “We want the investors to know what they’re getting, we want them to be successful, and we want them to fully internalize and understand those risks.”

With so much demand, it’s inevitable that some high-risk, poorly-run projects could find their way into the EB-5 marketplace. That means investors and their advisors need to be extra vigilant.

“There’s going to be some that slip through the cracks. And there’s going to be some some Regional Centers that are going to be able to take projects that potentially shouldn’t be in the marketplace,” said Hogan. “And the problem is, with shortened and condensed time frames for investors to be able to do their due diligence, sometimes they’re not looking into the project. The good times can get a little dangerous if you’re not careful,” said Stubbe.

Should you rush your EB-5 petition before September 2026?

The question for investors considering EB-5 right now is a fairly simple one: should they move quickly to get their petitions filed before the September 30th deadline, or should they wait, slow down, and perform careful due diligence, even if it means missing the cutoff, with the hope that the deadline will be extended?

The panelists made their choice clear: it’s better to be in a good project with a little uncertainty about the future than in a bad project before the deadline, because with a bad project, you might not get your green card anyway, and could lose your hard-earned capital in the process.

“Even though you’re under a time pressure, I would say if I’m an investor and I found out about the program, you know, September 1st, I’d rather take my time and really do my due diligence on the project and risk grandfathering than risk my money and my green card,” said Hogan.

“It’s important to to understand that we don’t know what the future looks like,” said Anderson. “But can the project absorb some bruises? Can the developer, can the Regional Center, manage those situations accordingly? There’s no certain path forward, but we can put ourselves in a position to be successful.”

“We have kind of a situation here where you’ve got investors who are maybe being tempted,” said Jones, “to make a quick decision and maybe not do full due diligence. There’s another pressure that we’re seeing, and it has to do with a race against time before prices go up, before sunset dates happen, where people are wanting to make a partial investment and get their I-526 filed.”

A note on partial EB-5 investments

While partial investment is allowed in EB-5, these cases aren’t always treated the same as those where the entire investment is made prior to filing.

“There is actually statutory authority to support partial investments,” said Carolyn Lee of Carolyn Lee PLLC. “But the adjudication trend is to be very, very strict on partial cases.”

Lee stressed that meeting deadlines is not worth it if it means rushing into a project or working with legal advisors unfamiliar with how partial investments must be handled. Partial investment involves additional filings, and can face denials if immigration attorneys fail to properly attend to those filings.

“This is the time to be conservative in all we do, including partial investments,” she said. “Top up. Do the full thing if at all possible.”

Key advice to avoid EB-5 investment pitfalls in 2026

According to the panelists, while upcoming deadlines are likely to drive a lot of investment in EB-5, they shouldn’t change how investors approach the EB-5 due diligence process. Priorities need to be understood, even if there are some projects offering outsized returns.

“You’re not making market rate returns on any investment in EB-5, so don’t chase the extra one or two percent. It’s not worth it,” said Anderson. “Look for the deal that gives you comfort, that allows you to sleep at night.”

Investors have a lot to consider when making an EB-5 investment. That’s why JTC and CanAm Enterprises created EB-5 Investor Due Diligence: Finding the Right Project for Immigration Success, a white paper that walks investors through the major considerations of EB-5 project selection and the questions to ask prospective Regional Centers. If you or someone you know is considering EB-5, make sure they read this guide first.

Download the white paper