By Nicholas Mastroianni III
Nobody’s talking about it, but a federal court ruling just saved EB-5 investors eyeing a US green card more than $13,000 in government filing fees.
On November 12, 2025, Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado issued a ruling in Moody et al. v. Mayorkas et al. that stopped USCIS from enforcing the steep EB-5 filing fee increases introduced on April 1, 2024.
Filing fees dropped back to their pre-April 2024 levels immediately. For investors already planning to pursue a U.S. green card through the EB-5 program, this is real, immediate, and measurable relief.But it will not last forever.
Congress reformed the EB-5 program through the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, and it built a specific requirement into that legislation: USCIS had to complete a dedicated fee study before raising program fees.
USCIS did not do this. Fees rose in April 2024, and only in February 2025 did the agency complete the study it should have finished first, nearly a year after those increases had already taken effect.
Judge Sweeney rejected the agency’s argument that it had discretion to act while the study was still underway. Her ruling was direct: “USCIS acted contrary to the Act and therefore acted contrary to law.” Using Section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act, she stayed the EB-5 fee increases pending a compliant new rule.
Read: Are Indian families turning to EB-5 for long-term security?
What the rollback actually means in dollars
Before April 2024, filing Form I-526E, the initial petition an EB-5 investor submits to begin the green card process, cost $3,675. USCIS raised it to $11,160, a 204% increase. Form I-829, which removes conditions on permanent residency after an investor meets the job-creation requirement, went from $3,750 to $9,525. Both fees now stand restored to their pre-April 2024 levels.
Across those two core filings, investors save $13,260 compared to what USCIS was charging just months ago. On top of a minimum capital commitment of $800,000 in a targeted employment area, or $1,050,000 elsewhere, those administrative savings are not trivial.
Attorney Matthew Galati, who represented the American Immigrant Investor Alliance and lead plaintiff Samantha Moody, described the fee raises as “brazenly illegal and at odds with the RIA.” His broader argument carries weight: immigration agencies, regardless of which party runs them, must follow the statutory requirements Congress writes for them.
Why investors cannot afford to wait
Here is the part that tends to get buried: the court’s ruling is a stay, not a permanent fix. DHS published a new proposed fee rule in the Federal Register on October 23, 2025, based on the now-completed fee study.
Under that proposal, the I-526E fee would sit at $9,530 plus a new $95 technology fee, totalling $9,625. Form I-829 would rise to $7,860. Public comments closed December 22, 2025.
After reviewing those submissions, DHS publishes a final rule, and the new fees kick in 60 days after that publication. Based on agency rulemaking timelines, investors are looking at mid-2026.
Run the numbers plainly. Filing I-526E today costs $3,675. After the new rule takes effect, that same filing costs $9,625. Filing I-829 today costs $3,750 versus a proposed $7,860 under the incoming schedule.
Investors who wait face roughly $10,000 in additional government fees for those two forms alone. Proposed fees are lower than the stayed 2024 highs, but substantially above today’s court-restored levels.
Michael Harris of Harris Law, commenting publicly on the ruling, was direct: “Practically, if this stay is not paused or narrowed on appeal, I would expect a renewed surge of EB-5 project and investor filings while the lower, pre-April 2024 fee schedule is back in effect.”
Read: Gold Card vs. EB-5: Everything you need to know about investment immigration
One open question: refunds
Investors who filed between April 1, 2024, and November 12, 2025, paid every dollar of that higher schedule. Judge Sweeney’s ruling found the increases unlawful but stopped short of ordering USCIS to repay anyone.
What happens next for those investors, whether class action litigation, a government claims process, or direct agency action eventually creates a path to recovery, remains entirely unsettled. AIIA has publicly stated it is exploring a class action for excess fees paid since April 2024, but no formal mechanism exists today.
Anyone already in the EB-5 process during that period should raise this question specifically with their immigration counsel.
What this moment actually means
Moody v. Mayorkas is larger than one fee rollback. For over a year, investors proceeded under a fee structure a federal court has now ruled was unlawfully imposed. DHS is running the rulemaking process it should have completed before April 2024. When that process concludes, fees rise again.
Investors who file before that final rule lands lock in today’s court-restored schedule. Those who wait pay for the delay, and based on the numbers, not by a small amount.
This is for informational purposes only. Readers should consult qualified immigration counsel before making any filing decisions.
(Nicholas Mastroianni III, is President & CMO, U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF), a Palm Beach, Florida-based
leading operator of EB-5 Regional Centers that helps foreign investors obtain U.S. permanent residency.)