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India reaches FY26 limit in EB-5 Visa category
Indian applicants in the category must wait until the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 16, Jun 2026
- 17:01 EDT
- 42
US VISA / IANS
The United States has exhausted all available Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) unreserved immigrant visas for applicants chargeable to India for fiscal year 2026, the State Department said.
As a result, U.S. embassies and consulates will not issue additional visas in the affected categories for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. The State Department said all available EB-5 unreserved visas for Indian applicants had been issued as of June 5.
Also Read: India updates rules for foreign nationals' newborns
The EB-5 program grants permanent residency to foreign investors who make qualifying investments in U.S. businesses that create or preserve jobs. The affected unreserved visa classifications include C5, T5, I5, R5, RU and NU.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, EB-5 visas account for 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment-based immigrant visa limit, with 68 percent allocated to unreserved categories.
The law also imposes a per-country cap, limiting nationals of any single country to no more than seven percent of the total employment-based and family-sponsored immigrant visas issued annually.
The State Department noted that unused EB-5 reserved visas from fiscal year 2024 were made available to unreserved categories in fiscal year 2026 under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. Despite the additional visa numbers, demand from Indian applicants exhausted the country's allocation before the end of the fiscal year.
"Since all available EB-5 unreserved visas for applicants chargeable to India in FY 2026 have been used, embassies and consulates may not issue visas in these categories for the remainder of the fiscal year," the State Department said in its announcement.
The annual visa limits will reset with the start of fiscal year 2027 on Oct. 1. At that point, U.S. embassies and consulates may resume issuing EB-5 unreserved immigrant visas to qualified Indian applicants, subject to visa availability.
In its May and June 2026 Visa Bulletins, the State Department had warned that rising demand could lead to retrogression or the exhaustion of available visa numbers for Indian applicants before the end of the fiscal year.
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