November 2026 Visa Bulletin: India EB-5 Unreserved Holds at December 1, 2023

The State Department published the November bulletin in early October. It notes that dates were set from demand reported to the Department by October 5. USCIS then confirmed which chart it will accept for adjustment of status filings in November. We have copied the EB-5 figures below directly from the bulletin and the USCIS filing charts page.

This breakdown is written for Indian physicians and dentists, most of them on H-1B status, who have already invested or are deciding whether and how to invest. We focus on the questions that matter to that group: where your priority date stands, whether you can file this month, and what to plan for before the end of the year.

The November 2026 EB-5 Charts

Each month the bulletin publishes two charts for every employment-based category. The Final Action Dates chart controls when a visa number is available, which is the point at which a green card can actually be approved. The Dates for Filing chart controls when an applicant may submit the final-stage application, provided USCIS or the National Visa Center allows that chart to be used.

EB-5 Final Action Dates, November 2026

EB-5 Dates for Filing, November 2026

“C” means current: a visa number is available regardless of priority date. A date means the category is oversubscribed, and only applicants with a priority date earlier than the listed date can move forward. The bulletin also uses “U” for unauthorized, meaning no numbers can be issued that month. No EB-5 category is marked “U” in November.

November Compared With October

For India, the comparison is simple. Nothing moved.

India EB-5: October vs November 2026

The same is true for the other chargeability areas. China’s Unreserved dates remain December 1, 2016 for final action and March 1, 2021 for filing. All other countries, Mexico and the Philippines remain current in every EB-5 category.

It is also worth remembering where India stood two months ago. In the September 2026 bulletin, the India Unreserved Final Action Date was listed as unavailable. October restored a date, and November has kept it. For investors who spent the end of the last fiscal year unable to receive final approval, a second consecutive month at December 1, 2023 is the more important part of this bulletin.

India Unreserved: Where Your Priority Date Puts You

Your priority date is generally the date USCIS received your I-526 or I-526E petition. It appears on your receipt notice. That one date tells you where you stand this month.

• Priority date before December 1, 2023: inside both charts. You may file, and a visa number is available for approval once the rest of the case is in order.
• Priority date from December 1, 2023 up to (not including) May 1, 2024: inside the filing chart only. You may be able to file, but approval waits for the Final Action Date to advance.
• Priority date on or after May 1, 2024: outside both charts for now. Your case continues, but the final step is not yet open to you.

Investors in the middle group are the ones most affected by the filing chart USCIS chooses. If USCIS accepts the Dates for Filing chart, they can file now. If USCIS switches to the Final Action Dates chart in a future month, they would have to wait until their date is reached on that chart instead.

Investors in the first group have both a filing window and an available visa number. For them, the practical limits are now case readiness and processing time, not the bulletin.

USCIS Is Using the Dates for Filing Chart Again in November

The bulletin publishes the charts, but USCIS decides which chart governs adjustment of status inside the United States each month. We did not assume October’s choice would carry forward. We checked.

On its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page, last updated October 5, 2026, USCIS states that for all employment-based preference categories, applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for November 2026. That is the same designation USCIS made for October.

For an Indian physician already in the U.S. on H-1B, the practical effect is that an Unreserved investor with a priority date earlier than May 1, 2024 may be able to file Form I-485 in November. Final approval still depends on the December 1, 2023 Final Action Date.

Why filing early can matter for H-1B doctors

A pending I-485 allows an applicant to request an employment authorization document and advance parole while the case is decided. For a physician whose current work and travel depend on H-1B status, those documents can add flexibility. They also come with their own rules, and how they interact with your H-1B employer, your contract and your travel plans is a question for your immigration attorney.

Investors who are still preparing their I-526E may also ask about concurrent filing. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, an investor in the United States can file the I-485 together with the I-526E when a visa would be immediately available under the chart USCIS is using that month. For Indian set-aside investors, every category is current on both charts in November.

The Set-Asides Remain Current

The Rural (20%), High Unemployment (10%) and Infrastructure (2%) set-aside categories remain current for every country, including India, on both the Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing charts.

India EB-5 at a glance, November 2026

This has been the consistent pattern for Indian investors and it continues to shape project selection. An Indian investor in a qualifying set-aside project does not currently face a visa bulletin cutoff date in either chart.

Current today is not a promise for the future. The set-asides are fixed shares of a fixed annual number. If demand from investors in a set-aside category grows faster than the numbers available to it, that category can receive a cutoff date like any other.

How the EB-5 Numbers Are Divided

The bulletin restates the statutory split each month. The fifth preference receives 7.1% of the worldwide employment-based level. Of that, 32% is reserved: 20% for investors in rural areas, 10% for investors in high unemployment areas and 2% for investors in infrastructure projects. The remaining 68% is Unreserved and is available to all other qualified investors.

India is one of the oversubscribed chargeability areas named in the bulletin, along with mainland China, Mexico and the Philippines. For EB-5, that oversubscription shows up only in the Unreserved line, where Indian demand exceeds the share available under the per-country rules. The set-asides have not reached that point.

Whether you fall into the Unreserved line or a set-aside is decided by the project you invest in, not by you. That is why project selection and visa bulletin strategy cannot be separated.

What This Means for Existing Indian Investors

If you have already filed an I-526 or I-526E, your next steps depend on your priority date, your category and whether you are in the United States.

• Confirm your exact priority date from your receipt notice.
• Confirm your category. Your project determines whether you are Unreserved or set-aside.
• Unreserved: compare your date against December 1, 2023 and May 1, 2024.
• If you are in the U.S. and your Unreserved date is before May 1, 2024, ask your attorney whether to file I-485 in November.
• If you are consular processing, follow National Visa Center instructions on document submission.
• Keep source-of-funds and job-creation records current. Approval reviews the whole case, not only the date.

If your Unreserved priority date is before December 1, 2023 and your petition is approved, November is the second consecutive month in which final approval is possible. If you held off in October to see whether the date would last, it did, at least for now. This is a reasonable time to have the timing conversation with your attorney.

If your date falls between December 1, 2023 and May 1, 2024, you may be able to file without yet being able to be approved. Filing can bring the benefits described above. It also means your case will sit pending until the Final Action Date reaches you, and the bulletin does not predict when that will be.

What This Means for Prospective Investors

If you have not yet filed, the November bulletin does not change the basic decision. It does confirm the shape of the market going into the rest of fiscal year 2027.

• Unreserved projects: a new Indian filing today would receive a late 2026 priority date, well behind both Unreserved cutoffs. Expect a wait that the bulletin cannot yet estimate.
• Set-aside projects: currently show no visa bulletin wait for India. Project qualification, due diligence and capital structure still come first.
• Timing: two dates in the next ten weeks affect what a new filing costs. Both are covered below.

Under the current framework, the minimum investment is $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area, and the investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. A rural area is one outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside any city or town of 20,000 or more people. A high unemployment area is one with unemployment of at least 150% of the national average.

Two Dates Before the Next Bulletin Year Ends

USCIS EB-5 fees change on November 30, 2026

USCIS has finalized a new EB-5 fee schedule effective November 30, 2026. Form I-526E rises from $3,675 to $7,850, Form I-526 from $3,675 to $7,615, and Form I-829 from $3,750 to $5,000. The EB-5 Integrity Fund fee rises from $1,000 to $1,100. Filings made before the effective date pay the current fees. Source: USCIS alert of September 29, 2026 and the final rule published in the Federal Register.

A separate USCIS inflation adjustment that took effect on October 16, 2026 covers fees for categories such as asylum, parole, Temporary Protected Status and related work permits. It does not change EB-5 petition fees.

Investment amounts adjust on January 1, 2027

Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the $1,050,000 standard and $800,000 targeted employment area amounts are scheduled for an inflation adjustment on January 1, 2027, for petitions filed on or after that date. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet published the new amounts. We will report them when they are official and will not rely on estimates.

One more date is often confused with these. September 30, 2026 was the regional center grandfathering date, which protects certain petitions if the regional center program lapses. It was not a price deadline, and the regional center program remains authorized through September 30, 2027.

A Note on Other Green Card Paths

Many Indian physicians come to EB-5 after years in an employment-based queue sponsored by a hospital or practice. The November bulletin shows why. India’s EB-2 Final Action Date is November 1, 2013 and its EB-3 Final Action Date is January 22, 2014. On the Dates for Filing chart, both are January 15, 2015.

Some doctors keep an EB-2 or EB-3 case alive while pursuing EB-5. Whether that makes sense depends on your priority dates, your employer and your long-term plans. It is a question to raise with your attorney, not a reason to delay an EB-5 decision.

What to Watch in the December Bulletin

• Whether India’s Unreserved Final Action Date holds at December 1, 2023, advances or retrogresses.
• Whether the India Unreserved Date for Filing moves from May 1, 2024.
• Whether all three set-asides remain current for India.
• Which chart USCIS designates for employment-based adjustment filings in December.
• Any State Department note on EB-5 demand or number use in fiscal year 2027.

We will publish a full breakdown when the December 2026 bulletin is released.