Yesterday, on May 20, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) published the much-anticipated Annual Numerical Limits for Fiscal Year 2026 for both family-based and employment-based immigrant visas, including EB-5.
Table 1: Employment-based Immigrant Visa Limits for FY2026 (From the DOS)
Here are three key takeaways regarding EB-5 visa availability in the current fiscal year:
1: A total of 13,206 newly available immigrant visas are allocated to the EB-5 category in FY2026, 3,266 more than in a regular fiscal year.
Typically, only 140,000 visas are available annually across all five employment-based categories. In FY2026, however, a total of 186,000 employment-based visas are available, an increase of 46,000 visas (33%) over the standard annual allocation.
Because the EB-5 category is entitled to 7.1% of the annual employment-based visa allocation, a total of 13,206 new EB-5 visas are available in FY2026, including:
- 4,266 visas newly allocated to the Reserved EB-5 categories (Rural Areas, High Unemployment Areas, and Infrastructure Projects); and
- 8,980 visas newly allocated to the Unreserved EB-5 category, primarily to reduce the pre-RIA visa backlog.
It is important to highlight that the numbers above reflect only the newly available visas allocated to the EB-5 category in FY2026, and do not include any unused visas carried over from FY2025. More on this in the following sections.
2: An estimated 7,634 visas are available to the Reserved EB-5 categories in FY2026.
Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), unused Reserved visa numbers from FY2025 are carried over into the same Reserved categories in FY2026. According to the State Department, only 922 Reserved visas were issued through consular processing in FY2025. Although final adjustment of status (AOS) data for FY2025 has not yet been published, it is reasonable to assume that all of the 3,408 new Reserved visa numbers in FY2025 remained unused and will therefore be added back to the same set-aside categories in FY2026.
Combining the carryover visa numbers with the newly available FY2026 allocations, we estimate that approximately 7,634 immigrant visas are available across the Reserved categories in FY2026, including:
- 4,771 visas for Rural Areas;
- 2,386 visas for High Unemployment Areas; and
- 477 visas for Infrastructure Projects
See Table 2 below for a summary of EB-5 visa availability in FY2026.
Table 2: EB-5 Visa Availability by Subcategory (FY2022 – FY2026)
3: As many as 10,000 visas could be available to the Unreserved EB-5 category in FY2026 to reduce the pre-RIA backlog.
In FY2025, a total of 3,658 Reserved visas were carried over from FY2024 into the same set-aside categories. Of those, 922 visas were issued through consular processing in FY2025. Based on reductions in the number of pending EB-5-related Form I-485 applications at USCIS, IIUSA estimates that at least 1,700 Reserved visa numbers may also have been used through adjustment of status in FY2025.
As a result, approximately 1,000 unused carryover Reserved visas from FY2024 could become available to the Unreserved category in FY2026. Combined with the 8,980 newly available Unreserved visas for FY2026, there could be as many as 10,000 immigrant visas available to the Unreserved EB-5 category in the current fiscal year. This would represent approximately 3,240 more visas than the regular Unreserved allocation of 6,760 visas per year.
EB-5 Visa Data Dashboard Updated with FY2026 Visa Availability
IIUSA’s popular EB-5 Visa Data Dashboard has been updated with the latest FY2026 annual visa limits published by the State Department, along with additional data and insights.
Explore the latest trends and statistics on EB-5 visa usage by visiting IIUSA’s EB-5 Visa Data Dashboard at: https://iiusa.org/eb5-visa-data-dashboard/
