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November 2026 Visa Bulletin: EB-5 Holds Steady as Other Categories Inch Forward
The November 2026 Visa Bulletin brings modest forward movement across much of the employment-based system, but for EB-5 specifically the story is one of stability. The unreserved category holds exactly where it landed last month for both China and India, and the reserved set-aside categories remain current for every country, as they have throughout. Most of the month’s advancement is concentrated in the professional categories and in the final action dates for the rest of the world, while the headline EB-5 numbers stand still. USCIS has confirmed it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications using the Dates for Filing chart (Chart B) for November.
Final Action Dates: November 2026
Unreserved EB-5:
All other countries: Current
China: December 1, 2016 (no change from October)
India: December 1, 2023 (no change from October)
Reserved Categories (Rural, High Unemployment, Infrastructure):
All Current for every country
Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases (India):
EB-1 Final Action Date Movement:
Month/Month: No changes (February 2023)
Trailing 12 Months: Advanced 12 months (February 2022 to February 2023)
EB-2 Final Action Date Movement:
Month/Month: No changes (November 2013)
Trailing 12 Months: Advanced 7 months (April 2013 to November 2013)
EB-3 Final Action Date Movement:
Month/Month: No changes (January 2014)
Trailing 12 Months: Advanced 5 Months (August 2013 to January 2014)
Dates for Filing: November 2026
Unreserved EB-5
All Other Countries: Current
China: Remain unchanged in March 2021
India: Remain unchanged in May 2024
Reserved EB-5 Set-Aside Categories
All Current for every country
Movement for Pending EB-2 and EB-3 (India):
EB-2 Dates for Filling
Month/Month: Unchanged (January 2015)
Trailing 12 Months: Advanced 13 months (December 2013 to January 2015)
EB-3 Dates for Filling
Month/Month: Unchanged (January 2015)
Trailing 12 Months: Advanced 5 months (August 2014 to January 2015)
A Quiet Month for EB-5
After the dramatic reset that opened the fiscal year in October, when India’s unreserved category reopened from unavailable and China jumped several years, November is a pause by comparison. Both China and India hold at their October final action dates in the unreserved category, December 1, 2016 and December 1, 2023 respectively, with no movement in either direction. For investors from the rest of the world, the unreserved category remains current, as it has been all along.
A quiet month is not a bad one. After the volatility of the late summer, when India’s categories went unavailable as the fiscal year’s numbers ran out, stability is a welcome change, and holding steady in November suggests the new fiscal year’s allocation is being managed at a measured pace rather than rushed out and exhausted. The dates will move again as demand develops over the coming months, but for now the picture for EB-5 investors is calm.
The Reserved Categories, Current as Always
The through-line that has defined EB-5 all year holds again in November: the reserved set-aside categories, Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure, remain current for every country, including India and China. An Indian or Chinese investor in the unreserved category is subject to a cutoff date and the waiting it implies, while the same investor in a reserved category faces none. That difference is not a quirk of a particular month’s numbers; it reflects the structural separation the Reform and Integrity Act built into the set-aside allocations, which sit apart from the per-country limits that govern the unreserved category. Month after month this year, through retrogression, unavailability, and reset alike, the reserved categories have stayed open, and November is no exception.
Movement Elsewhere in the System
While EB-5 held, several other categories advanced. EB-2 for the rest of the world moved forward three months to April 1, 2025, a partial recovery after the retrogression it saw at the start of the fiscal year, and EB-3 worldwide advanced a month as well. China and India saw smaller gains in the professional categories, with EB-1 China up a month and modest two-to-three-week advances in EB-3 for both countries. These are incremental steps rather than dramatic ones, but after a turbulent close to the last fiscal year, steady forward movement is encouraging for employer-sponsored applicants.
One Point to Confirm Before Filing
A practical note for anyone planning to file an adjustment of status application in November. USCIS decides separately each month which chart adjustment applicants may use, and that designation is what governs eligibility, not the bulletin alone. For November, USCIS is honoring the Dates for Filing chart (Chart B) for employment-based categories, which is favorable, since the filing dates are generally more advanced than the final action dates. That said, anyone preparing a filing should confirm the current chart designation on the USCIS website before relying on it, as the agency occasionally updates the page after the bulletin is released.
Conclusion
The November 2026 bulletin is a steady one for EB-5, with the unreserved category holding for China and India and the reserved categories current across the board, set against modest advancement elsewhere in the employment-based system. For investors, the reserved set-asides continue to offer the most open and predictable route regardless of country of birth, just as they have all year. The dates will keep moving with demand, so investors with cases in progress should confirm the operative chart and their own eligibility with qualified immigration counsel before filing.
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