USCIS Sets March 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts for the Visa Bulletin
Sheetal A. Patel of Pasricha & Patel, LLC, explains the adjustment of status filing charts for the Visa Bulletin
With the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”)’s publication of its March 2026 visa bulletin, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has decided to continue to use the Dates for Filing for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications (Chart B). This is the continuation of the change that began with the October 2025 visa bulletin, which started using Chart B after many months of using Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status (Chart A). Meanwhile, USCIS has also decided to continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications table (Chart B). Please refer to the sections below for specific discussions about the visa availability date movements and trends under both the employment-based immigrant visa petitions, as well as the family-based immigrant visa petitions
Meanwhile, U.S. Congress has signed into legislation H.R. 7148, which has extended the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) Category until September 30, 2026. This does mean that the applicable SR Final Action date will continue to be January 1, 2021.
Overall, the March 2026 visa bulletin does show some steady movements in the various dates, and notably for EB-1 & EB-2 India, which shows one (1) month of advancements in EB-1 to March 1, 2023, and two (2) months of advancement to July 15, 2023 in the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases.
Beginning with the change to dates for filing for employment-based adjustment of status applications (chart B) for October 2025, it appears the USCIS is continuing to try to increase the demand for adjustment of status applications, with the possible aim of gauging the level of demand of the various employment preference categories, and then using the initial response to decide how to plan for the rest of the fiscal year. We suggest the reader to keep monitoring this site for any updates about this matter.
Employment-based Immigrant Visa Categories:
- As has been the case for the last few years, USCIS and the Department of State are doing their best to manage the demand and usage of employment visa numbers, while fully recognizing that there is overwhelming demand, which resulted in the visa numbers in this category being exhausted and used up in late August to early September of 2025 in the last fiscal year. Just like last fiscal year, the Department of State does expect visa numbers to be used up before the end of this latest fiscal year.
USCIS is changing to the use of Dates for Filing for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications (Chart B) and accepting applications in all employment-based categories based on projected visa demand. It is hard to say how long USCIS will utilize Chart B, but it does show that USCIS is willing to exercise some discretion and start accepting adjustment of status applications with later priority dates, possibly to accommodate those applicants who have been waiting for the last few years, to finally be able to apply for employment authorization document (EAD) and advance parole travel document (AP).
The discussions below are still focused on the actual immigrant visa availability (Chart A) because this is where the actual visa numbers will be utilized for each month in the Fiscal Year 2026.
- Employment-based first preference category (EB-1) (in the Final Action Dates table):
- There is slight movement in the EB-1 cutoff dates for March 2026, particularly for India. For India, the visa availability date moves ahead by one month to March 1, 2023.
- China’s visa cutoff date also advances to March 1, 2023.
- Meanwhile, for ‘World’, and Mexico, and Philippines, EB-1 continues to be Current/Available.
- Employment-based second preference category (EB-2)(in the Final Action Dates table):
- The visa availability date for EB-2 for India also advances to September 15, 2013. It will be interesting to see whether there will be any further steady movement in the coming months. This certainly is a category that needs further monitoring.
- For China’s visa preference category: the visa availability date stays on September 1, 2021.
- There were also significant movements for Mexico, the Philippines, and the World: they all advance to October 15, 2024.
As this is still considered the early stage in the new Fiscal Year 2026, it will be interesting to see how much more movement there will be in the coming months. This is an area that certainly needs continuous monitoring.
- Employment-based third preference category (EB-3) (in the Final Action Dates table):
- EB-3 India’s visa availability date stays on November 15, 2013. It will be interesting to see how EB-3 dates progress in the upcoming months of fiscal year 2026, if at all.
- EB-3 China’s visa availability date stays on May 1, 2021.
- EB-3 world’s visa availability date moved ahead by four (4) months to October 1, 2023. Meanwhile, the dates for Mexico and the Philippines both moved ahead to October 1, 2023.
- In the EB-3 Other Workers (EW) category, there was some movement for some of the countries. For India, it stays on November 15, 2013. China’s date stays on December 8, 2018. Mexico and Philippines’ dates both move ahead to November 1, 2021. And for the ‘World’ chargeability it also moves ahead to November 1, 2021.
- Employment-based fourth preference category (EB-4):
- In the month of March 2026, the U.S. Department of State has made visas available for all countries with the date of July 15, 2021.
- In the meantime, the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category is now available to September 30, 2026, thanks to recent U.S. Congressional action. The visa availability date is now July 15, 2021 for all countries. This date was the result of the category immediately becoming available on February 3, 2026, and it is subject to the same final action dates as the other Employment Fourth Preference categories that are based on foreign state of chargeability.
- Employment-based fifth preference category (EB-5) (referring to the Final Action Date chart):
- There is continuously great demand and numbers usage by applicants from India and China. And because of high demand, the Department of State has continued to maintain India’s visa availability date on May 1, 2022. It stays on this date in the March 2026 visa bulletin. For China, the date also stays on August 15, 2016. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here and at least in the next few months.
- For the other countries, and the rest of the world, the visa continues to be current/available for the nationals from those countries and regions. It will also be interesting how this category progresses in the upcoming year.
- On the EB-5 immigrant investor visa category, a reminder once again to readers that DOS’s visa bulletin for EB-5 preference category has also been updated to reflect the new provisions of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA).
- It now has two (2) pools of visa numbers within the EB-5 category. One is reserved for certain set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure projects), while the remaining available numbers remain ‘unreserved’.
- Finally, in the Final Action Dates chart for EB5 Set Asides (which covers Rural, and High Unemployment, and Infrastructure areas) for Chinese born and Indian born applicants as well as applicants from around the world continue to remain ‘Current’.
Family-based Immigrant Visa Categories (with discussions also touching on the Final Action Dates table):
- A reminder that DOS continues to use the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications chart.
- But in connection with the actual Final Action Dates table which is the actual visa availability date table to look at, and starting in June 2023, due to the steady usage of the F2A – Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents – DOS had to set a final action date for this category in order to maintain steady availability of this particular visa category for the upcoming months.
- For the month of March 2026, there was hardly any movement across the board at all, with the exception for F4-Phillippines.
- So, in the Final Action Date for F-1 visa preference category (unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens)– India, the date has stayed on November 8, 2016.
- As for F-2A - India for the March 2026 visa bulletin, it remains on February 1, 2024. Other countries also see dates largely remain the same: China, and World, and Philippines also stayed on February 1, 2024. As for Mexico, their visa availability has stayed on February 1, 2023.
- As early as back in the August 2023 visa bulletin, the DOS had also explained that the F2B – Unmarried Son and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Resident, is experiencing steady usage throughout the years.
- In fact, for the latest March 2026 visa bulletin, U.S. Department of State has no movement of dates in F2B:
- India remained on December 1, 2016.
- China remains on December 1, 2016.
- The rest of the world also stayed on December 1, 2016.
- Mexico stayed on February 15, 2009, and the Philippines also stayed on December 22, 2012.
- There was no movement in the F-3 dates though (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. citizens):
- India – September 8, 2011 (remains unchanged)
- China – September 8, 2011(remains unchanged)
- The rest of the world also remained on September 8, 2011.
- Mexico remains on May 1, 2001.
- The Philippines also stays on March 1, 2005.
- In the F-4 (brother and sister of U.S. citizen) category, dates did not move at all for the February 2026 (brother or sister of U.S. citizen):
- India – stays on November 1, 2006
- China – stays on January 8, 2008
- The rest of the world also stays on January 8, 2008
- Mexico stayed the same on April 8, 2001
- The Philippines advances to September 1, 2006
Even at the early start of the new Fiscal Year 2026, the U.S. Department of State is still doing its best to try and keep the various employment-based and family-based visa numbers in steady movement and to not have the visa numbers be used up too quickly. But with still high demand for these visas, Department of State will continue to be cautious in how it sets its monthly visa number goals.
With the first few months of the new fiscal year 2026, it is not unusual to see the visa availability dates experience some fluctuations and stagnations, especially in the start of the new fiscal year. This is the period of time that we advise readers to keep their eyes out for any changes in this visa bulletin.
For this key reason, we do encourage readers to check in this space regularly for any further updates.
Pasricha & Patel’s Immigration Department has extensive experience in handling business and personal immigration matters. Our team is happy to speak with you on your specific issue.