EB-5 Investment Visa Cost & ROI Calculator

How this EB-5 investment cost and ROI calculator works

This EB-5 Investment Visa Cost & ROI Calculator helps you estimate the total cash you may need to commit to an EB-5 project and the range of possible financial outcomes under different assumptions. It is designed for informational planning only and does not predict visa approval, guarantee returns, or replace professional advice.

You can explore how changes in project type, fees, holding period, and return assumptions affect:

• Your required EB-5 investment amount (rural/TEA vs. standard projects)
• One-time costs such as attorney and government filing fees
• Ongoing regional center or administrative fees over time
• Estimated investment earnings, taxes, and net proceeds at exit

Key inputs you will enter

To run a scenario, you will typically provide the following values in the calculator form:

• Project type: Rural/TEA (often lower minimum investment) or standard EB-5 project.
• Investment amount: The capital you expect to subscribe to the EB-5 project, based on the current statutory minimums and offering terms.
• Attorney fees: Professional fees for your immigration attorney.
• Government and visa processing fees: USCIS filing fees and related application costs.
• Medical and other one-time costs: Medical exams and background checks for you and any qualifying family members.
• Regional center / admin fee rate: An annual percentage applied to your investment amount to approximate ongoing administrative charges, if applicable.
• Investment holding period (years): The number of years you expect your capital to remain invested before exit.
• Expected annual return: Your assumed annual investment return rate, expressed as a percentage (for example, 1%–4%).
• Capital gains tax rate: An approximate effective tax rate on investment earnings, if taxable in your situation.
• Return of capital percentage: The share of your original investment you expect to receive back at exit (often less than 100% in some offerings).

Reasonable ranges for illustration might include annual returns between 0% and 5%, holding periods between 5 and 10 years, and capital return assumptions between 70% and 100%. These are not recommendations; they are simply examples to help you think about scenarios.

Core formulas used in the calculator

The calculator combines your inputs into a few straightforward financial relationships. In simplified algebraic form:

• Total direct costs = attorney fees + government processing fees + medical and related costs + cumulative regional center/admin fees.
• Total cash outlay = EB-5 investment amount + total direct costs.
• Estimated investment earnings (before tax) = investment amount × expected annual return × number of years.
• After-tax earnings = estimated investment earnings × (1 − capital gains tax rate).
• Returned capital at exit = investment amount × percentage of capital expected to be returned.
• Net proceeds = returned capital + after-tax earnings − total direct costs.

Using symbols, let:

• I = investment amount
• F = sum of one-time fees (attorney, filing, medical)
• r = expected annual return rate (decimal)
• t = investment period in years
• a = annual regional center/administrative fee rate (decimal)
• τ = capital gains tax rate (decimal)
• c = fraction of capital expected to be returned (decimal)

Then the main outputs are:

The online calculator performs these calculations automatically and presents the results in a more readable summary and cost breakdown table.

Interpreting your EB-5 cost and ROI results

After you enter your assumptions and run the calculation, the results area will typically show:

• Total EB-5 investment amount: Based on your selected project type and investment level.
• Itemized direct costs: Attorney fees, government and processing fees, medical exams, and estimated regional center or admin fees over the holding period.
• Total cash outlay: The sum of your required EB-5 capital plus all direct costs. This is a simple estimate of the total cash you might need to fund the investment and related expenses.
• Estimated gross and after-tax returns: An illustration of potential earnings using your return and tax assumptions.
• Estimated capital returned at exit: Based on the percentage of capital you assume will be repaid when the project concludes or you are redeemed.
• Net proceeds: A summary of how far ahead or behind you might be financially relative to your total outlay, under the assumptions you entered.

A positive net proceeds figure suggests that, in this simplified model, your combination of returned capital and after-tax earnings exceeds the fees and costs you entered. A negative figure indicates that, even if your capital is returned as assumed, the overall cash result could be lower than your total outlay.

Because all values are based on your own inputs, small changes in assumed returns, fees, or holding period can materially affect the result. It can be helpful to test several scenarios (for example, higher fees, longer holding periods, or lower return of capital) to understand a range of outcomes.

Worked example scenario

The following illustrative example shows how the calculator might be used. This is not a forecast or recommendation.

• Project type: Rural/TEA
• Investment amount (I): $900,000
• Attorney fees + government + medical (F): $40,000 total
• Annual regional center/admin fee rate (a): 1.0% (0.01)
• Investment period (t): 6 years
• Expected annual return (r): 2.0% (0.02)
• Capital gains tax rate (τ): 20% (0.20)
• Return of capital percentage (c): 90% (0.90)

Using the formulas above:

• Annual regional center/admin fees ≈ $900,000 × 0.01 = $9,000 per year.
• Total admin fees over 6 years ≈ $9,000 × 6 = $54,000.
• Total direct costs ≈ $40,000 + $54,000 = $94,000.
• Total cash outlay ≈ $900,000 + $94,000 = $994,000.
• Estimated gross earnings ≈ $900,000 × 0.02 × 6 = $108,000.
• After-tax earnings ≈ $108,000 × (1 − 0.20) = $86,400.
• Returned capital at exit ≈ $900,000 × 0.90 = $810,000.
• Net proceeds ≈ $810,000 + $86,400 − $94,000 = $802,400.

In this simplified example, the net proceeds are less than the total cash outlay, meaning the investor would be behind on a purely financial basis. However, some investors may still pursue EB-5 investments primarily for immigration objectives, viewing potential financial underperformance as part of the trade-off.

Comparing EB-5 cost scenarios

You can use the calculator to compare different project types or fee structures side by side by running multiple scenarios. For instance, you might compare a rural/TEA project with a lower minimum investment to a standard project with a higher minimum but potentially different fees.

These example ranges are generic and not tied to any specific offering. Actual structures, fee levels, and risk profiles depend entirely on the project and issuer.

Assumptions, limitations, and important cautions

The EB-5 Investment Visa Cost & ROI Calculator is a simplified financial tool. It makes several important assumptions and has limitations you should understand before relying on any results:

• Illustrative only: All outputs are hypothetical estimates based on the numbers you enter. They do not reflect any particular EB-5 project, sponsor, or offering.
• No guarantee of returns or capital: EB-5 investments are typically illiquid and involve significant risk, including the risk of partial or total loss of capital. Actual returns and repayment outcomes may differ materially from any scenario you model.
• Simplified fee and tax treatment: The calculator treats fees and taxes in an approximate way for educational purposes. Real-world fee structures, tax rules, and timing of cash flows can be far more complex.
• Immigration outcomes not modeled: The tool does not estimate visa approval probabilities, processing times, or compliance with job-creation or source-of-funds requirements.
• Data may be incomplete: If you do not know your exact fee schedule, tax position, or holding period, the results can only serve as a rough directional guide.
• No legal, tax, or investment advice: Nothing on this page should be interpreted as personalized legal, immigration, tax, or investment advice, or as a recommendation to pursue any EB-5 investment.

You should review any specific EB-5 opportunity in detail and confirm all assumptions with qualified professionals before making decisions.

Next steps and professional guidance

Use the calculator to explore different combinations of project type, fees, and exit assumptions so you can ask more targeted questions, such as:

• How do higher annual admin fees affect my long-term net proceeds?
• What happens if the holding period extends by several years?
• How sensitive is my outcome to a lower return of capital at exit?

Because EB-5 decisions affect both your finances and immigration plans, you should discuss your scenarios and questions with:

• An experienced EB-5 immigration attorney
• A qualified financial or investment advisor familiar with private offerings and cross-border considerations
• A tax professional who can advise on how EB-5 earnings may be taxed in all relevant jurisdictions

The calculator is most useful as a starting point for conversations with these experts, not as a decision-making tool on its own.