The U.S. Department of State has announced that all available EB-5 unreserved immigrant visa numbers for applicants chargeable to India have been exhausted for fiscal year 2026. As a result, no additional EB-5 unreserved immigrant visas may be issued to India-born applicants through September 30, 2026.
The annual limits will reset on October 1, 2026, when FY 2027 begins. At that point, consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in this category to qualified applicants.
Why Did This Happen?
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) caps the number of employment-based immigrant visas that can be issued each fiscal year. Under INA 203(b)(5), the annual EB-5 limit is 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment-based total, and 68 percent of that allocation goes to the unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, R5, RU, and NU). On top of that, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 allowed unused reserved visas from FY 2024 to flow into the unreserved categories for FY 2026.
Separately, INA 202(a)(2) limits natives of any single country to no more than seven percent of the combined total of employment-based and family-sponsored visas each year. Demand from Indian investors has been strong enough that India reached its share of the EB-5 unreserved allocation well before the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2026.
What This Means for Indian EB-5 Investors
If you are consular processing in India: Your immigrant visa cannot be issued until the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2026. Interviews may be rescheduled or held in abeyance until visa numbers become available again.
If you are in the United States with a pending I-485: USCIS cannot approve an adjustment of status application until a visa number is available. Applicants should watch the monthly Visa Bulletin closely, as final action dates for India in the EB-5 unreserved category will control when cases can move forward.
If you have not yet filed: This announcement affects the unreserved category only. The reserved set-aside categories created by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act — 20 percent for rural projects, 10 percent for high-unemployment areas, and 2 percent for infrastructure projects — remain a separate allocation. For many Indian investors, investing in a qualifying rural or high-unemployment area project may offer a faster path, since those set-aside categories have remained current for India in recent Visa Bulletins. Each project and each case is different, so this is a decision that should be made with careful legal and financial guidance.
Cross-chargeability may help some families. If the principal investor’s spouse was born in a country other than India, the family may be able to charge the case to the spouse’s country of birth, which can avoid the India per-country backlog entirely.
Planning Ahead
Hitting the per-country limit mid-year is a reminder that EB-5 demand from India remains high, and timing matters. Investors weighing an EB-5 petition should evaluate whether a reserved set-aside category fits their situation, confirm priority date strategy, and prepare filings so they are positioned when visa numbers open up again in October.
How NPZ Law Group Can Help
The immigration and nationality lawyers at the Nachman, Phulwani, Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. counsel investors and their families on EB-5 strategy, category selection, concurrent filing options, and consular processing. If you would like to discuss how this announcement affects your case, please feel free to contact us to schedule a consultation. The initial consultation fee is $200 USD. To schedule, please call Ms. Sophia Oster at 201-670-0006 (x104) or email us at info@visaserve.com. You can also visit us at www.visaserve.com. We look forward to assisting you.