Federal Court Rolls Back Trump's EB-5 Investor Visa Fees
'Moody v. Mayorkas' rebukes USCIS, delivers steep cost cuts, and reignites debate over job-creation versus government-led Gold Card investor visas.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge has struck down steep fee increases for the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, slashing filing costs by more than 200% in a ruling that offers immediate relief to foreign investors while throwing a spotlight on the Trump administration’s competing vision for investment-based immigration.
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U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney ruled on November 12, that USCIS acted unlawfully when it raised EB-5 fees in April 2024 without completing a mandatory fee study required under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. The decision in Moody et al v. Mayorkas et al restores the previous fee schedule, reducing the cost to file Form I-526E—the initial EB-5 application—from $11,160 back to $3,675, and dropping Form I-829 fees from $9,525 to $3,750.
“These fee raises were brazenly illegal and at odds with the RIA,” said Matthew Galati, one of the attorneys who represented the American Immigrant Investor Alliance and other plaintiffs in the case. The ruling “underscores that US immigration agencies are not above the law,” Galati added.
The Legal Battle
The lawsuit was filed in March 2024 by the American Immigrant Investor Alliance, Canadian EB-5 investor Samantha Moody, and IT Service Alliance before the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Judge Sweeney found that USCIS violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act by implementing the fee increases without conducting the required fee study, which Congress mandated be completed by March 2023.
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, which reauthorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027, explicitly required USCIS to conduct and publish a comprehensive fee study before adjusting fees. Judge Sweeney emphasized that “USCIS acted contrary to the Act and therefore acted contrary to law”.
USCIS did not complete its fee study until February, nearly two years after the statutory deadline and ten months after it had already imposed the higher fees. In October , the Department of Homeland Security proposed a new fee rule based on the completed study, with fees lower than the April 2024 levels but still above the pre-2024 amounts. That proposal is currently open for public comment until December 22, with a final rule expected in mid-2026.
Temporary Relief, Uncertain Future
While the court’s decision provides immediate relief, immigration attorneys warn that the fee structure remains in flux. The October proposed rule would set Form I-526E fees at $9,625 and Form I-829 fees at $7,860—representing a 14% and 17% reduction from the April 2024 levels, respectively, but still significantly higher than the pre-April 2024 fees now in effect.
“Future applicants should be very happy with this news. But those who filed from April 2024 through today, and those still awaiting adjudications beyond the RIA’s deadlines despite a surplus of resources, will likely be quite angry,” Galati said. The American Immigrant Investor Alliance has indicated it is exploring a class action lawsuit to recover excess fees paid by investors since April 2024.
Gold Card Competition
The fee ruling comes as the Trump administration pursues a parallel—and potentially competing—pathway for wealthy immigrants. In September, President Trump signed an executive order launching the “Trump Gold Card” visa program, which grants permanent U.S. residency and a path to citizenship in exchange for a $1 million contribution directly to the U.S. government.
The Gold Card represents an 80% reduction from the originally proposed $5 million investment after lukewarm initial feedback from the global investment community. Unlike the EB-5 program, which requires investments in commercial enterprises that create or preserve at least 10 U.S. jobs, the Gold Card removes any direct job-creation requirement.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has spearheaded the Gold Card initiative, has been critical of the EB-5 program, calling previous EB-5 projects “poorly overseen” and “poorly executed” during a White House press conference in February. Initially, Lutnick suggested the Gold Card would replace the EB-5 program entirely, but the administration later clarified that the two programs would coexist.
According to Lutnick, approximately 80,000 Trump Gold Cards will be made available. The Executive Order specifically references the EB-5 program and directs officials to “[c]onsider expanding the Gold Card program to visa applicants under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5),” the statutory basis for EB-5.
Competing Visions for Investment Immigration
The emergence of the Gold Card has created uncertainty in the EB-5 community, particularly as the Regional Center Program faces reauthorization in September 2027.
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act included a provision protecting investors who file petitions before September 30, 2026, ensuring their applications will be processed even if Congress fails to reauthorize the program. However, investors filing after that date would have no such protection if the program expires.
The American Immigrant Investor Alliance has expressed concern that the Trump administration may not support reauthorization, given the Gold Card’s positioning as a revenue generator for the U.S. Treasury. “Unlike EB-5 investments which flow into private projects and may be recoverable, the Gold Card represents a direct ‘gift’ to the Commerce Department that generates immediate revenue for the Treasury,” the organization noted.
Commerce Secretary Lutnick has claimed the Gold Card program could raise over $100 billion for the Treasury, which would be used for “cutting taxes and paying off debt”.
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EB-5 Program Fundamentals
The EB-5 program, administered by USCIS, allows foreign investors and their families to obtain U.S. permanent residency by investing in commercial enterprises that create jobs for American workers. Current investment thresholds are $800,000 for Targeted Employment Areas—rural areas, high-unemployment zones, or infrastructure projects—and $1,050,000 for investments elsewhere.
Each investor must create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. The investment must remain “at risk” throughout the conditional residence period, meaning no guaranteed returns or buyback agreements.
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, signed into law by President Biden on March 15, 2022, reauthorized the Regional Center Program after an eight-month lapse and introduced enhanced anti-fraud measures, including mandatory audits of regional centers and stricter source-of-funds documentation requirements.
Regional centers—USCIS-approved entities that pool investor capital—allow investors to count indirect job creation through economic multipliers, unlike direct EB-5 investments that require 10 direct hires. The program reserves 20% of visas for rural investments, 10% for high-unemployment areas, and 2% for infrastructure projects.
What’s Next
USCIS has updated its website to reflect the court-ordered fee reductions and is currently accepting filings at either the lower or higher fee levels until it fully updates its systems and publications. The proposed rule released in October remains under public comment through December 22, with a final rule expected to take effect 60 days after publication, likely in spring 2026.
Immigration attorneys are advising investors to act quickly to take advantage of the restored lower fees before the new rule takes effect. Meanwhile, the looming 2027 reauthorization deadline has created urgency among prospective investors, with many seeking to file before the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline to protect their applications.
The court’s decision and the competing Gold Card program underscore the broader tensions in U.S. immigration policy between job-creation-focused investment programs and wealth-based immigration pathways that generate direct government revenue.
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Trump is like a monstrous octopus w his dangerous tentacles sneaking in everywhere to hurt the American people and immigrants. Will this work? I'm glad someone is on to it. We are all so tired of racist cruelty and making it impossible for our brown and black brothers and sisters but moving Apartheid whites from SA into America w all the advantages. Keep cutting the snake bit by bit until he and his Stasi mates are gone.