RIA Section S Grandfathering
RIA Section S provides that the Department of Homeland Security shall continue processing I-526E and downstream I-829 petitions filed before September 30, 2026 even if the regional-center program expires September 30, 2027, but the protection covers continuity of adjudication only and leaves significant gaps that practitioners and investors must navigate before the deadline.
Where this requirement comes from
RIA Section S is an uncodified provision of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, signed March 15, 2022 as part of H.R. 2471 (117th Cong.). Practitioners commonly refer to it as "Section S" or "Subparagraph S." The provision is statutory rather than regulatory; USCIS has not promulgated implementing regulations addressing the mechanics of grandfathering, though the agency has signaled in informal communications that it will honor the cutoff and continue processing protected petitions.
The text of Section S directs DHS to continue processing I-526E petitions filed before the deadline, plus the downstream I-829 petitions that follow from those timely-filed I-526Es. AILA practitioners (Jennifer Hermansky, Ron Klasko, Carolyn Lee) confirm that the protection extends to pending immigrant-visa applications at the State Department and to concurrent adjustment-of-status (I-485) applications that flow from a timely-filed I-526E. Direct EB-5 (the standalone program) is unaffected by Section S because the standalone program is permanent and not subject to the September 30, 2027 statutory expiration.
There is a one-year disconnect between the grandfathering date (September 30, 2026) and the regional-center program's statutory expiration (September 30, 2027). The reason for the one-year gap is not stated in legislative materials and is, by Carolyn Lee's characterization, unknown. IIUSA is lobbying to synchronize the two dates by extending grandfathering to coincide with program expiration, but as of March 2026, no legislation has advanced.
The inflation adjustment provision, mandated by INA § 203(b)(5)(C), takes effect for the first time on January 1, 2027. The post-RIA investment minimums of $800,000 (TEA) and $1,050,000 (non-TEA) will adjust automatically every five years beginning on that date. Petitions filed before January 1, 2027 are at the current minimums; petitions filed on or after that date will be at the adjusted minimums. The interaction between the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline and the January 1, 2027 inflation adjustment creates a three-month window (October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026) where filings are not grandfathered but are still at current minimums; filings on or after January 1, 2027 are not grandfathered and are at adjusted minimums.
What we tell clients
EB-5 approval rates have fallen materially over the past several adjudication cycles, and the rate at which USCIS issues Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny, and direct denials has risen sharply. The June 2025 reinstitution of the CISNA/EDLO directive (instructing officers to deny rather than RFE in close cases) and the routine pairing of I-829 denials with Notices to Appear in removal proceedings are reshaping how EB-5 practice is done. Profiles that we and other firms saw approved without challenge two or three years ago are now drawing aggressive scrutiny, particularly on petitions filed close to the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline where documentation completeness and project-side compliance must be filing-grade at submission, and some are being denied outright on records that, on their face, look as strong as records that previously cleared. Officers also vary considerably in how they apply discretionary judgments under the post-RIA framework. This climate is not unique to investors filing under the grandfathering deadline, but it is real, and it informs how we counsel clients before, during, and after filing.
This page describes patterns we have seen across many investor cases. It is general information about how Section S grandfathering is typically analyzed, not a prediction about any specific case and not a representation that meeting any particular evidence pattern will result in approval. EB-5 outcomes turn on the entire record, the strength of the legal and factual arguments, the current adjudication climate, and the discretion of the adjudicating officer.
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Immigration counsel to Fortune 500 employers at a national firm · Adjudicated 12,000+ visas at the U.S. Consulate, Mexico · Working in U.S. immigration since 2008
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