India Reaches Its EB-5 Unreserved Visa Cap for FY2026. Reserved Category Remain the Advantage Path

The warning that appeared in the May bulletin and escalated in June has now materialized into something concrete. As of June 5, 2026, the State Department has confirmed that India has reached its per-country limit in the EB-5 unreserved category for fiscal year 2026. All available unreserved EB-5 immigrant visas for Indian nationals have been issued. U.S. embassies and consulates cannot issue additional visas in this category, and USCIS cannot approve adjustment of status applications in the unreserved EB-5 category for India for the remainder of fiscal year 2026.

The annual limits reset on October 1, 2026, when the new fiscal year begins. Until then, the unreserved EB-5 path for Indian nationals is closed.

What Happened and Why

The EB-5 program operates under strict annual numerical limits set by the Immigration and Nationality Act. The total annual EB-5 visa allocation is 7.1% of the worldwide employment-based preference limit, of which 68% is available for unreserved categories. On top of that, unused reserved EB-5 visas from FY2024 were made available in the unreserved categories for FY2026 which temporarily expanded the pool available this year.

Despite that expanded availability, India's per-country demand, capped at 7% of total employment-based and family-sponsored visas, was exhausted by June 5. The combination of high demand from Indian nationals, the expanded unreserved pool driving more filings, and the per-country cap created a situation where the limit was reached nearly 4 months before the fiscal year closes.

This is not the first time India has exhausted an employment-based visa category before fiscal year end; similar dynamics have played out in EB-2 and EB-3 for years. But it is the first time it has happened in EB-5 unreserved, and it happened faster than most observers anticipated even after the June bulletin's explicit warning.

What This Means for Different Groups of Investors

1. Indian nationals currently in the unreserved EB-5 pipeline

If you have a pending I-526E in the unreserved category and have not yet received an immigrant visa or adjustment of status approval, your case will be held. USCIS will continue to accept adjustment of status filings that are current under the June visa bulletin but those cases cannot be approved until visa numbers become available again on October 1.

If you have a scheduled adjustment of status interview, plan to attend. However, be prepared for the possibility that the USCIS officer may reschedule in light of visa number exhaustion. Even if the interview proceeds, the case cannot be approved until a visa number is available.

2. Indian nationals who were planning to file in the unreserved category

The unreserved path for India is effectively closed for the remainder of FY2026. Any new filing in the unreserved category will not result in a visa issuance or adjustment of status approval before October 1 at the earliest; and depending on demand in FY2027, wait times could extend further.

3. Indian nationals considering reserved categories

Reserved categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) are a completely separate visa allocation and remain current for all countries worldwide, including India. The exhaustion of the unreserved quota has no direct impact on reserved category availability. However, it does serve as a sharp reminder that demand from Indian nationals for EB-5 visas is substantial and growing, and that the reserved categories, which are current today, are not immune to future pressure as more investors become visa-ready.

4. Chinese nationals and investors from all other countries

The per-country cap exhaustion applies only to India. China's unreserved EB-5 Final Action Date remains at September 22, 2016, and all other countries remain current for unreserved EB-5. Reserved categories remain current for everyone worldwide.

The Practical Implications for the September 2026 Grandfathering Deadline

This development intersects directly with the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline in a way that deserves careful attention.

Indian nationals who file an I-526E in a reserved category before September 30, 2026 will be grandfathered under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, protected from future program lapses and adjudicated under current rules. The grandfathering protection does not require that a visa be issued before the deadline. It requires that the petition be properly filed before it. For Indian nationals currently evaluating EB-5, the exhaustion of the unreserved category makes the case for reserved categories even more straightforward than it was a month ago.

The reserved categories offer not just faster processing and current visa availability, they now offer the only path for Indian nationals to access EB-5 benefits before the fiscal year resets. That is a meaningful distinction heading into the final 4 months of FY2026.

What the October 1st Reset Actually Means

The annual visa limit reset on October 1st will restore India's per-country allocation in the EB-5 unreserved category for FY2027. At that point, USCIS can resume approving adjustment of status cases and embassies and consulates can resume issuing immigrant visas for Indian nationals in the unreserved category.

However, the reset does not mean the backlog disappears. Cases that accumulated while the category was unavailable will be waiting on October 1, and FY2027 demand will layer on top of that. If the underlying demand from Indian nationals in the unreserved pool remains as strong as it has been in FY2026, the per-country limit could be reached again during FY2027, potentially earlier in the fiscal year than it was reached in FY2026.

For Indian nationals who have been considering the unreserved category as a viable long-term path, the events of the past several weeks including the June bulletin's retrogression in EB-1 and EB-2, the escalated warning about EB-5 unreserved, and now the per-country limit being exhausted collectively point in the same direction. The unreserved path for India is not closed permanently. But it is becoming structurally less reliable as a primary strategy.

The Reserved Category Advantage Has Never Been Clearer

The EB-5 reserved categories were designed precisely to provide a stable, set-aside pathway that operates independently of the per-country cap dynamics that affect unreserved categories. Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure projects draw from a dedicated visa allocation, separate from the unreserved pool, that has remained current for every country, including India and China, throughout FY2026.

The June 5 exhaustion of India's unreserved quota is the clearest possible illustration of why that structural distinction matters. While unreserved investors from India are now waiting for October and then hoping FY2027 demand allows for timely processing, reserved category investors from India who filed under current conditions face no equivalent disruption.

For Indian nationals still evaluating their EB-5 options, the September 30 grandfathering deadline is now four months away. Reserved categories are current. Investment minimums are projected to rise in January 2027. And the unreserved path, which was an option as recently as last month, is now closed until at least October with no guarantee of how long it will remain open after that.

The case for acting now with reserved category current conditions has never been more grounded in actual events.

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