October 2026 Visa Bulletin: EB-5 India Reopens as the New Fiscal Year Resets the Numbers

The October 2026 Visa Bulletin opens fiscal year 2027, and with the annual reset of visa numbers comes the most consequential movement EB-5 investors have seen in months. The two categories that spent the close of last fiscal year marked "unavailable," EB-5 unreserved for India and EB-2 India, are both available again, a direct result of the fresh allocation that arrives each October 1. For EB-5 specifically, the headline is that unreserved India has reopened with a cutoff date, while the reserved set-aside categories remain current for every country, exactly as they have throughout the program's recent history. USCIS has confirmed it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications using the Dates for Filing chart (Chart B) for October, a shift from the Final Action Dates chart it had used for the preceding several months.

Final Action Dates: October 2026

Source: U.S. Department of State, October 2026 Bulletin

Unreserved EB-5:

• All other countries: Current

• China: December 1, 2016 (no change from September)

• India: Advanced to December 1, 2023 (Available again)

Reserved Categories (Rural, High Unemployment, Infrastructure):

• All Current for every country

Forward Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases (India):

EB-1 Final Action Date Movement:

• Month/Month: Advanced 4 months (October 2022 to February 2023)

• Trailing 12 Months: Advanced 12 months (February 2022 to February 2023)

EB-2 Final Action Date Movement:

• Available again at 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: October 2026

Source: U.S. Department of State, October 2026 Bulletin

Unreserved EB-5

• All Other Countries: Current

• China: Advanced 4 years (March 2017 to 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)

What "Available Again" Means

For investors who followed the final months of fiscal year 2026, the reopening of EB-5 India is worth putting in context. "Unavailable," the designation India's unreserved category carried at the end of last year, meant the annual allocation had been fully used and no cases could be approved until the numbers reset. That reset is precisely what October 1 delivers. With fiscal year 2027's visa numbers now available, India's unreserved EB-5 category moves from unavailable to a cutoff date of December 1, 2023, a jump of more than a year and a half from where it last stood. EB-2 India follows the same pattern, returning from unavailable to a final action date of November 1, 2013.

This is the rhythm the end of every fiscal year tends to produce: heavily demanded categories exhaust their numbers, go unavailable in the closing weeks, and then reopen when the new year restores the allocation. The reopening is good news for Indian investors who were effectively frozen out in September, though the cutoff dates that follow will continue to move with demand over the course of the year.

A Strong Month for China

China is the clearest beneficiary of the October reset across the board. In the Dates for Filing chart that governs adjustment of status this month, China's unreserved EB-5 date advances 4 full years to March 1, 2021, one of the largest single-month movements in the category in recent memory. China also sees substantial advancement in the professional categories, with EB-1 and the EB-3 filing dates both moving forward significantly. For Chinese investors in the traditional unreserved category, who have long faced waits measured in years, a four-year advance is a meaningful step, even as the category remains backlogged overall.

The Contrast That Holds Steady

Set against all of this movement, the EB-5 reserved categories tell their usual, quieter story. Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure remain current for every country, including India and China, just as they have been throughout. The difference between the two halves of the program is especially visible this month: an Indian or Chinese investor in the unreserved category is subject to a cutoff date and, at year's end, the risk of unavailability, while the same investor in a reserved category faces neither. That stability is not incidental. It reflects the structural separation of the Reform and Integrity Act built into the set-aside allocations, which sit apart from the per-country limits that drive the unreserved category's cycle of backlog, exhaustion, and reset.

A Note for Professionals in Other Categories

While China and India saw gains, the picture is harder for professionals born elsewhere. EB-2 for the rest of the world retrogressed from current all the way to January 1, 2025, and EB-3 worldwide moved backward as well. The State Department has explained that these retrogressions are necessary to keep visa issuance within the new fiscal year's quarterly and annual limits. For employer-sponsored professionals in these categories, it is a reminder of how quickly availability can tighten, and of why many in exactly this position look to a path like EB-5 that does not depend on employer sponsorship or the professional-category queues at all.

Conclusion

The October 2026 bulletin resets the board for fiscal year 2027, and for EB-5 the most important development is the return of availability for Indian investors in the unreserved category, alongside strong forward movement for China. The reserved set-aside categories, meanwhile, remain current for every country, continuing to offer the most open and predictable route for eligible investors regardless of country of birth. As always, the dates will keep moving as the year's demand materializes, 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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