HELP CENTER

No. Form G-28 has no filing fee.

USCIS accepts it at no cost.

Your immigration attorney may charge their own professional fees for representing you, but the form itself is free to submit alongside your visa application, petition, or appeal.

Form G-28 is used for immigration matters before USCIS within the United States.

Form G-28I is a separate form used for matters outside the U.S., and it allows a broader range of representatives to file, including attorneys who are not licensed in the U.S. and certain family members.

If your case is handled domestically by USCIS, your attorney will use the standard G-28.

Yes. USCIS requires a new Form G-28 for each separate application, petition, or appeal.

Even if the same attorney is handling multiple filings for you, they must submit a new G-28 with each one.

The form applies only to the specific case it is filed with and does not carry over to other matters.

Yes. You are always allowed to represent yourself before USCIS.

Form G-28 is only necessary when you want a licensed attorney or accredited representative to act on your behalf.

If you choose to handle your own visa process, USCIS will communicate directly with you.

However, for complex petitions or cases involving RFEs, many foreign nationals find that working with an immigration attorney leads to better outcomes.

U.S. immigration groups employment-based green cards into five preference categories, EB-1 through EB-5, though most professional hiring runs through EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3. On the temporary side, the main employment-based visa types include the H-1B, L-1A, O-1, TN, and E-2.

So the practical answer is a handful of temporary categories plus three or four green card categories that cover the vast majority of cases.

Dual intent means you can hold a temporary visa and pursue a green card at the same time without raising questions about your intent to leave. The H-1B and L-1A clearly allow dual intent, which is why they're popular starting points for a longer plan.

The O-1 is treated flexibly in practice, while the TN and E-2 are tied more closely to temporary stay, so a green card plan on those needs careful documentation.

Among green cards, the EB-1A (extraordinary ability) and EB-2 NIW (national interest waiver) allow self-petition, so the individual files without an employer or a PERM labor certification. The E-2 doesn't use a traditional employer either, since it's based on the applicant's own investment.

Every other major work visa, including the H-1B, L-1A, O-1, TN, and the standard EB-2 and EB-3 green cards, requires an employer or a job offer.

The immigrant categories, EB-1A, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, and EB-2 or EB-3 through PERM, lead directly to a green card. The temporary work visas don't grant permanent residence on their own, but several act as bridges.

An H-1B holder can move through PERM to EB-2 or EB-3, an L-1A manager to the EB-1C, and an O-1A performer to the EB-1A.

For eligible candidates, the visas without a lottery or labor certification tend to move fastest. The O-1 and L-1A have no annual cap, so a qualified case can be filed at any time, and the TN can sometimes be obtained at the border for Canadian citizens within days.

Speed also depends on whether premium processing is used, which guarantees USCIS action within 15 business days for an added fee, so the right answer depends on the candidate's profile and how urgently you need them.

Yes, moving from E-2 to EB-5 is a common bridge strategy for treaty-country investors. You enter on the E-2 to start your business, then file the EB-5 I-526E petition later once you can commit the $800,000 or $1,050,000 and meet the 10-job requirement.

Because the E-2 has no dual intent, plan the transition carefully so pursuing the green card doesn't complicate an E-2 renewal.

The E-2 is far cheaper to enter. It has no statutory minimum and is judged by proportionality to the business, so many E-2 investors start with capital well below six figures, while EB-5 requires at least $800,000 in a targeted employment area or $1,050,000 elsewhere.

The lower E-2 cost reflects a different outcome, a renewable visa rather than a green card.

No, the E-2 does not give a green card on its own. It is a nonimmigrant treaty investor visa that renews indefinitely as long as the business stays viable, but it never converts to permanent residency by itself.

Investors who want a green card move to EB-5 or another immigrant category later, which is why some treaty-country nationals use the E-2 as a first step.

If your country has no qualifying E-2 treaty with the U.S., you cannot use the E-2 at all, and EB-5 becomes the realistic route since it is open to any nationality. This is why nationals of non-treaty countries such as India and China often go straight to EB-5.

Confirm your country's status on the State Department treaty list before building any E-2 plan.

The current minimum is $800,000 if you invest in a targeted employment area (a rural area or a high-unemployment area) or a qualifying infrastructure project, and $1,050,000 for a standard investment elsewhere.

These amounts have applied to petitions filed since March 15, 2022 and are scheduled to adjust for inflation starting January 1, 2027.

You invest the required capital in a new U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs, file an immigrant petition (Form I-526 for a direct investment or Form I-526E through a regional center), receive a two-year conditional green card, and then file Form I-829 to remove the conditions and obtain a permanent green card.

In a direct investment you run your own enterprise and must create 10 direct jobs. Through a USCIS-designated regional center you invest in a pooled project and can count indirect and induced jobs, without running the business yourself.

Most investors use the regional center route.

Petition processing alone currently runs to roughly 32 to 33 months for the initial petition and around 20 months for the removal of conditions, and these times change frequently.

Investors born in backlogged countries such as India and China may wait additional years for a visa number, though reserved rural and high-unemployment categories can be faster.

Yes. The EB-5 is an immigrant category that leads directly to a conditional green card, then a permanent green card once conditions are removed, and eventually eligibility to apply for U.S. citizenship through naturalization.

Yes. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included in the same EB-5 case and receive green cards as your dependents.

Yes. Three employment-based green card categories let you self-petition with no employer and no PERM: EB-1A for extraordinary ability, EB-2 NIW under a National Interest Waiver, and EB-5 for investors. In each, you file your own Form I-140 (or the investor petition for EB-5) and make the case for yourself.

The rest of the employment-based categories, EB-2 and EB-3 through PERM, do require a sponsoring employer.

EB-1A asks you to prove top-of-field recognition, either a single major internationally recognized award or at least 3 of 10 regulatory criteria. EB-2 NIW instead waives the job-offer and PERM requirement for someone who qualifies for EB-2, judged under the three prongs of Matter of Dhanasar. EB-1A generally wants a stronger record of acclaim, while NIW turns on the national importance of your work.

Our EB-2 NIW vs EB-1A comparison lays out both side by side.

No. PERM labor certification is a step in the employer-sponsored EB-2 and EB-3 process, where the Department of Labor tests whether a U.S. worker is available for the role. Self-petition categories, EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, and EB-5, skip PERM entirely, which is a large part of why they are faster to file and independent of any company.

It depends on your profile rather than being harder across the board. Self-petition removes the need to find a sponsoring employer and clears the PERM step, which simplifies the process. In exchange, the full burden of proof sits on you, so your evidence has to carry the petition without a company vouching for the role.

For a strong candidate the trade is often worth it; for a borderline record, a sponsored EB-2 or EB-3 can be the more reliable route.

Partly. In the August 2026 Visa Bulletin the unreserved category is unavailable for India, because the fiscal year 2026 per-country limit was reached on June 5, 2026 and limits reset on October 1, 2026.

The three reserved set-asides are all current in that same bulletin, so the EB-5 India backlog sits entirely in the unreserved category today.

The reserved set-asides, as of August 2026. Rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure are all current for India, so a visa number is available and the I-485 can go in alongside the I-526E.

Rural holds the largest reserved allocation at 20%. Check the current bulletin before filing, since these positions are set monthly.

Yes. An I-526E doesn't affect a pending or approved I-140, and both can run at once.

Some applicants do this deliberately so the employment-based case stays available if the EB-5 project runs into trouble. Stay consistent about which case supports your nonimmigrant status while both are open.

No. An EB-5 visa India case takes the date the I-526E or I-526 reached USCIS, and retention doesn't carry an EB-2 or EB-3 date into EB-5.

The one exception sits inside EB-5, where an amended petition filed after a regional center or enterprise is terminated keeps the original date. The per-country cap applies to the set-asides too, so they're current for India because demand hasn't passed the reserved supply, not because they're exempt.

As of August 2026, I-526E processing time runs roughly 11.5 to 36.5 months for rural reserved petitions, 17 to 52 months for high-unemployment reserved, and 30.5 to 61 months unreserved.

Those ranges cover petition adjudication only, not the green card or removal of conditions. Check the USCIS processing times tool and the official I-526E page for current figures.

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 requires USCIS to prioritize rural petitions, so they move ahead of the queue instead of waiting by receipt date.

Rural projects also hold the largest visa set-aside at 20%, and that category has generally stayed current, so investors are less likely to wait for a visa number after approval.

Premium processing isn't available on any EB-5 petition, so no fee shortens adjudication.

What you control is category choice, decided before you invest, and the quality of your source-of-funds record, since an RFE there commonly adds six to twelve months to your EB-5 processing time. USCIS expedite requests exist but are granted narrowly, on grounds such as severe financial loss.

You file Form I-829 during the 90 days immediately before the second anniversary of the date you became a conditional permanent resident. Put that date in your calendar the moment the conditional card arrives, because filing outside the window creates real problems.

Your receipt notice then extends your status for 48 months while it's pending.

Foreign business registration records, corporate tax returns, personal tax returns for the past seven years, employment and income records, property sale documents, gift instruments, and certified copies of judgments or pending actions against you.

You also need complete bank statements and wire records for every account the money passed through, plus certified translations.

Yes. Gifted funds are permitted when the gift is made in good faith and isn't used to get around the rules on permissible sources. The condition is that your parents' own lawful source of funds is documented to the same standard as yours, with tax returns, business records, and bank statements.

Plus a gift letter confirming the amount, the date, and that no repayment is due.

There's no single cut-off. It goes back to the point where the money's origin is fully explained. The statute names personal tax returns for the past seven years, the usual anchor for income-based cases.

For a property sale the trail reaches further, since officers ask how you funded the purchase.

Your petition pauses while you respond, and adjudication restarts once USCIS receives your evidence, which commonly adds months to a timeline already measured in years. Rebuild the chain chronologically with numbered exhibits, close each gap the notice identifies, and include signed explanations where a record doesn't exist.

An RFE isn't a denial, and well-documented cases are regularly approved after one.

No. $800,000 is the floor for a targeted employment area or a qualifying infrastructure project, with no smaller tier and no waiver.

Investors below that threshold often look at the E-2 treaty investor visa, which has no fixed minimum but is a temporary status.

Ask the sponsor for the underlying evidence rather than the claim. For a rural project that means proof the site sits outside any metropolitan statistical area and outside the boundary of a city or town of 20,000 or more. For a high-unemployment project it means the census tract analysis showing unemployment at 150% or more of the national average.

Check the designation date too, since a TEA designation runs two years.

No. The $800,000 is capital that has to reach the business creating the jobs. USCIS filing fees, regional center administration and management fees, and attorney fees are separate and paid on top.

Because fees that erode the amount made available to the job-creating business don't count toward the minimum.

The amount in effect on your petition filing date applies, so a petition properly filed before January 1, 2027 uses the current $800,000 and $1,050,000 EB-5 minimum investment figures.

Petitions filed on or after that date use the inflation-adjusted amounts USCIS publishes.

It isn't a refundable deposit, and it isn't a fee either. The $800,000 is capital invested in a business that has to stay genuinely at risk, and the project repays it under the terms of the offering documents, usually after the sustainment period and the removal of conditions.

USCIS won't accept the investment if it carries a guaranteed rate of return, so full repayment depends on how the project performs.

The lowest EB-5 visa cost on paper comes from investing $800,000 in a targeted employment area project rather than $1,050,000 in a standard one, and the government fees barely move between routes. A direct investment skips the regional center administration fee, which can save tens of thousands, and it's the right call when you plan to run the business yourself and can create 10 direct jobs.

A regional center project is the right call when you want a passive investment and need indirect jobs to count, and the administration fee pays for the structure that makes that possible.

Yes. The administration fee sits on top of the $800,000 or $1,050,000, and it's separate from the $1,000 EB-5 Integrity Fund fee you pay to USCIS with an initial Form I-526E.

Ask the project for the exact amount in writing, along with what it covers and whether any portion is returned if your petition is denied.

There's no single market rate, because EB-5 legal work is quoted per stage and the source-of-funds documentation drives most of the effort. Expect separate quotes for the investor petition, the green card stage, and the Form I-829 removal of conditions, and ask whether an RFE response is included or billed as additional work.

Tukki's pricing tool returns one end price that already covers the USCIS filing fees and any RFE response, so you can compare it against a per-service quote directly.

Yes, and it's one of the more straightforward ways to fund an EB-5 investment: you're the named borrower, the collateral is an asset you own, and the lender is usually a bank.

You'll still need to document how you acquired the property and show the proceeds moving into the enterprise.

It depends on who's borrowing. If your company takes out the loan and you sign as a guarantor, you aren't personally and primarily liable, so the funds generally won't qualify.

A loan made to you personally by a company, including one you own, can work, but the lender then documents the lawful source of its own funds.

No, provided the capital is genuinely invested. The at-risk test looks at your relationship with the enterprise, not with your lender: what matters is that there's no guaranteed return and no contractual right to repayment from the project.

Your Form I-526E or Form I-526 petition has to show the money is exposed to loss and gain like any other EB-5 capital.