EB-5 Set Aside Visa Utilization: How Full Are the Reserved Categories?

Every prospective EB-5 investor asks the same question about the reserved categories: are they still open? The answer today is yes. In the November 2026 Visa Bulletin, all three set aside categories remain Current for every nationality. But "current" and "plenty of room" are not the same thing.

This article compares the demand each category faces with its annual visa allocation, explains how unused numbers carry over, and describes what happens if a category fills.

USCIS publishes I-526E receipts by set-aside category, and the State Department publishes annual visa issuance by category. It does not publish pending petitions or approvals by category, so any estimate of how full a category is involves judgment. Statutory allocation numbers and published counts are Blue trust tier; EB5Status interpretations are Yellow trust tier.

How the set aside system works#

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 carved the annual EB-5 visa allocation into four buckets:

The EB-5 total is 7.1% of the employment-based worldwide level, which rises in years when unused family-sponsored numbers carry over. EB-5 does not receive fall-across from other employment categories.

One rule to note: set aside numbers not used in a fiscal year carry over to the same set aside in the next fiscal year. Numbers still unused at the end of that next year become available to unreserved applicants. So a set aside can have more than its base share in a given year, but it cannot bank numbers indefinitely.

Source: INA Section 203(b)(5)(B), as amended by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. Blue trust tier.

Current utilization by category#

Rural: heavy demand, low visa use so far#

Published receipts: rural projects drew 2,781 of 4,829 I-526E receipts through Q3 FY2025, about 58%, up from 2,305 rural receipts in FY2024. Visas issued: 332 rural visas in FY2024.

Rural is the most popular set aside category by a wide margin. Statutory processing priority and current visa availability have made it the default for investors from India and China who face long unreserved backlogs.

The gap between receipts and visas issued matters. Each investor family uses more than one visa number, so a year of rural filings represents several times the base allocation of about 2,000 numbers. Visa use has stayed low so far because most of those petitions are still pending, and a visa number is used only at the last step. As more rural petitions are approved, visa demand in the category will rise.

HUA: steady demand, slower processing#

Published receipts: 1,906 HUA receipts through Q3 FY2025, after 2,232 in FY2024. Visas issued: 91 HUA visas in FY2024.

High Unemployment Area projects offer set aside visa availability (current for all countries) without requiring a rural location. HUA petitions get no statutory processing priority, so they have moved more slowly than rural petitions.

HUA demand in receipts is substantial, but slower processing means it reaches the visa stage more gradually. The RIA also tightened how HUA areas may be drawn, limiting them to the project's census tract or tracts and directly adjacent tracts, which narrows the set of qualifying projects.

Infrastructure: barely used#

Visas issued: the State Department reported 0 infrastructure visas in FY2024, a figure industry participants dispute. USCIS receipts for the category have been small.

Infrastructure is the smallest set aside and the least used. The project must be administered by a governmental entity, and only regional center investors can use this set-aside, which limits the project universe. Few regional centers have built offerings around this structure.

Unused infrastructure numbers carry over to the infrastructure set-aside for one year and then become available to unreserved applicants, adding slightly to unreserved supply.

Source: USCIS I-526E receipts by set-aside category; Department of State Report of the Visa Office (FY2024). Blue trust tier for published counts; Yellow trust tier for interpretation.

When will the set asides fill?#

This is the question that matters for filing strategy. A category "fills" when visa demand from approved petitions exceeds the numbers available, triggering a cutoff date. Once a set aside has a cutoff date, it behaves like the unreserved category: investors face a priority date queue ordered by filing date and subject to per country limits.

Rural retrogression scenario#

Rural receipts have been large enough for several years that rural visa demand will rise as those petitions are approved. Carried-over unused rural numbers give the category extra room for now. No one can say exactly when demand will exceed supply, but rural is the set aside most likely to see a cutoff date first.

The most likely initial retrogression would affect India and China first, since those countries account for a large share of rural filings and are subject to per country limits. Investors from countries with lower demand (South Korea, Vietnam, Brazil) would likely remain current even if per country cutoff dates are imposed.

HUA retrogression scenario#

HUA retrogression appears further away because its petitions move more slowly. A rural cutoff date could divert new filings into HUA and change that picture.

Infrastructure retrogression scenario#

Not plausible in the foreseeable future, given how few infrastructure projects exist.

Source: EB5Status scenarios. Yellow trust tier. These are scenarios, not predictions. Actual outcomes depend on filing volumes, Congressional action, and USCIS operational decisions.

What happens when a set aside fills#

When a reserved category retrogresses, two things change for investors in that category.

Visa availability changes first. Instead of immediate visa availability upon I-526E approval, investors enter a priority date queue. Their place in line is determined by filing date. The Department of State publishes cutoff dates in the monthly Visa Bulletin, just as it does for the unreserved category.

Per country limits also apply. The 7% per country limit is applied within each set aside category, so Indian and Chinese investors could face retrogression in the rural category even while investors from lower demand countries remain current.

Processing speed is unaffected. The statutory priority for rural petitions is based on category, not visa availability. Even after retrogression, rural I-526E petitions would likely continue to be processed ahead of other petitions.

Finally, the carryover rule still applies. If a set aside category does not use its full allocation in a year (possible even under retrogression if per country limits leave numbers unused), the leftover numbers carry over to that set aside for one year before going to the unreserved pool.

The strategic implication#

The logic is straightforward: filing earlier in a reserved category is better than filing later.

Early filers in a set aside category that has not yet retrogressed capture the full benefit: priority processing (for rural) and immediate visa availability. If that category retrogresses after they file, they are ahead in the queue with an earlier priority date.

Late filers risk entering a category that has already retrogressed. They would still get the processing advantage, but they would face a visa wait that early filers avoided entirely.

The September 2026 grandfathering deadline has passed. Regional center investors who filed rural I-526E petitions on or before September 30, 2026 hold both lapse protection and an early priority date in the rural queue. If rural retrogresses, those filers are near the front of the line.

For a deeper analysis of rural retrogression risk, see the EB-5 Rural Backlog Tracker. For a comparison of all reserved categories, see EB-5 Reserved Visa Categories Explained.

Frequently asked questions#

Can I switch from one set aside category to another after filing?#

No. Your visa classification is determined at the time of I-526E filing based on your project's designation. Switching categories would require filing a new petition with a new project.

Do unused set aside visas help the unreserved category?#

Yes, after a delay. Unused set aside numbers first carry over to the same set aside for one fiscal year. Numbers still unused after that year go to the unreserved pool. Because infrastructure uses very few numbers, it is the set aside most likely to add to unreserved supply this way.

If rural retrogresses, does it still process faster than unreserved?#

Almost certainly. USCIS priority adjudication is based on the category of the petition, not on visa availability. Rural filings receive statutory priority processing; USCIS publishes no separate rural processing range, but completed I-526E cases showed a 13.6-month median in FY2026 Q3. A rural petition filed after retrogression would still move through that prioritized queue. The investor would then wait for a visa number, similar to the unreserved experience but in a separate, smaller queue.