After EB-2, India’s per-country limit in the EB-5 unreserved category for 2026 has been reached. The annual limit will be reset with the start of the new financial year (FY 2027) on October 1, 2026. This means that the EB-5 unreserved immigrant visa category for India will be unavailable until September 30. The category limit for this year was reached in the first week of June. Last month, the EB-2 cap for India expired.“The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) limits the number of employment-based preference immigrant visas that can be issued within a fiscal year. Specifically, INA 203(b)(5) provides that the annual limit of EB-5 visas is 7.1 percent of the worldwide employment limit, of which 68 percent is in the unreserved visa categories (C5, T5, I5, R5, RU, NU). Available for. Additionally, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 specifies that unused EB-5 reserved visas through FY 2024 can be made available in EB-5 unreserved categories for FY 2026. “Finally, INA 202(a)(2) establishes that natives of any one foreign state may not receive more than seven percent of the total employment-based and family-sponsored visas, prorated among the different visa categories under INA 202(e),” USCIS said.
EB-5 green card
The EB-5 Green Card program is for investors to obtain green cards by creating jobs in the US. Under current USCIS rules, EB-5 investors must invest at least $800,000 in a targeted employment sector or infrastructure project and create at least 10 permanent full-time jobs for U.S. workers.There are two categories in the EB-5: reserved and unreserved. Rural projects and infrastructure projects qualify for the reserved category and the rest fall in the unreserved category.For example, a hotel business may fall into the unreserved category.
Who is affected by the pause in the EB-5 (reserved) category?
People who were to get green cards in this category in July, August and September are affected by this ban. Now they will have to wait for the next financial year starting in October for their turn.The expiry of visa numbers a few months before the end of the financial year indicates that a greater number of Indians are getting green cards through this investment route. This visa category has a waiting time of approximately three to five years.The EB-2 is the green card that many H-1B visa holders apply for, and the demand for it from India is apparently very high, with very long wait times. But the latest green card update shows that the EB-5 is also in high demand.