India’s May 1, 2022 EB-5 Cutoff Holds, But the Warning Got Sharper

The visa picture is tighter

The May 2026 Visa Bulletin leaves India’s EB-5 Unreserved Final Action Date at May 1, 2022, unchanged from April, but the State Department also says demand may push the cutoff backward or even make it unavailable, if usage keeps running hot. That’s the part investors should care about, because the cap math is tight and, frankly, the bulletin is spelling out risk instead of hinting at it.

Other India employment-based dates didn’t move either, so EB-1 stays at April 1, 2023, EB-2 at July 15, 2014 and EB-3 at November 15, 2013. The set-aside EB-5 tracks , rural, high unemployment and infrastructure , remain current, which turns out to be the cleaner path for many applicants.

Who feels it most

This hits Indian nationals with approved EB-5 petitions, especially people filing from abroad or trying to switch from L-1 or H-1B into a green card, because priority dates after May 1, 2022 can’t move to final approval yet. Tourists and short-term travelers aren’t affected and this doesn’t touch nonimmigrant visas at all, so the day-to-day travel crowd can ignore the noise.

For digital nomads, the direct impact is limited, though the broader message matters: US immigration is still moving by category and by demand, not by sympathy. That’s slow, weirdly opaque and expensive.

What to do now

If you’re eligible, file fast and watch both charts, because USCIS says employment-based adjustment applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart for May 2026, not the more generous filing dates chart many people relied on before April 30. The EB-5 bar is still $800,000 in targeted employment areas or $1.05 million standard, plus the job-creation rules and hefty filing fees, so nobody should treat this like a casual paperwork move.

If you’re still choosing a route, the set-aside EB-5 categories may be the safer bet and if you’re already in the queue, keep checking each monthly bulletin for retrogression. Read our full India guide for the complete picture.