USCIS Sets October 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts for the Visa Bulletin
With the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”)’s publication of its new fiscal year 2027/October 2026 visa bulletin, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has decided to return to use the Dates for Filing for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications (Chart B). This is a change from the previous Fiscal Year 2026, which had been using the Final Action Dates chart (Chart A). Meanwhile, USCIS has decided to continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications table (Chart B). Notably, it does appear that USCIS has determined that with the start of the new fiscal year, it is ready to start accepting more applications for both the family-based and employment-based petitions. That is how USCIS has set the Dates for Filing Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based Visa Applications by using Chart B for both general visa categories.
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. As is in past articles, the focus of this discussion will primarily be on the Final Action Dates chart because that is how visas are actually issued each month and year.
Also note that the U.S. Congress had previously passed legislation that extends the Employment Fourth Preference - Certain Religious Workers (SR) category through December 11, 2026. It should also be noted that even at the start of the new Fiscal Year 2027, U.S. Department of State is already warning in advance of possible visa retrogression and unavailability for the “Rest of World” countries in both the family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visa categories in the coming months. So, these monthly visa date movements do need to be monitored closely.
Overall, the October 2026 visa bulletin does show some advancements for various countries. For India, it remains largely unchanged, with slight movements in some of the visa categories (EB1 and EB-2).
As mentioned herein already, by already giving its advance warning about possible future retrogression in the coming months, it does confirm the USCIS and the U.S. Department of State are working closely to try hard to hold the line on the overwhelming demand for adjustment of status applications, especially for India in the employment-based preference categories. It will be interesting to see how USCIS can continue to estimate the level of demand of the various employment preference categories for the new fiscal year 2027, especially where there remain large backlogs of unadjudicated I-485 adjustment of status applications for year 2026 and how they will plan for fiscal year 2027. We suggest the reader to keep monitoring this site for any updates about this matter.
Employment-based Immigrant Visa Categories:
- With the start of the new fiscal year, USCIS has decided to accept more applications in the employment-based visa categories. However, due to continuing overwhelming demand of these employment-based visa categories, particularly for India and China, it will be interesting to see how long the USCIS will keep using the Dates for Filing chart for these specific countries.
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 2027. - Employment-based first preference category (EB-1) (in the Final Action Dates table):
- There continues to be overwhelming demand in the EB-1 visa category for India in the month of October. Meanwhile for China and the rest of the world, their dates is either unmoved or remains ‘Current’ from the month of September 2026. For India, the visa availability date moved to February 1, 2023. But visa applicants should expect this category to once again become unavailable before the end of the new fiscal year. This is a category that will need continuous monitoring.
- China’s visa cutoff date also remains on July 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):
- For the month of October, the visa availability date for EB-2 for India is set on November 1, 2013. It should be noted that before this visa category became unavailable towards the end of the last fiscal year 2026, it was set on September 1, 2013 in the June 2026 visa bulletin (which was the last time the visa numbers were available for EB-2 India). It will be interesting to see whether there will be any further movements in the coming months. This certainly is a category that needs further monitoring.
- For China’s visa preference category: the visa availability date moved ahead to October 1, 2021.
- There is visa retrogression for “Rest of World” and Mexico and the Philippines in this category. It is set at January 1, 2025. This shows that visa demand is high even other countries besides India and China
- It will be interesting to see how much more movement (advancement or further retrogression), there would be in the coming months. This is an area that certainly needs continuous monitoring, especially as U.S. Department of State is already retrogressing EB-2 visa numbers at the start of the new fiscal year 2027. U.S. Department of State is certainly going to do all it can to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY2027 annual limit.
- Employment-based third preference category (EB-3) (in the Final Action Dates table):
- EB-3 India’s visa availability date remains on January 1, 2014. It will be interesting to see how EB-3 dates progresses in the coming months and whether the numbers may be used up before the end of the fiscal year or not, especially with great demand in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories.
- EB-3 China’s visa availability date moved slight ahead to January 8, 2022.
- EB-3 world’s visa availability date retrogressed to May 15, 2024 (it was September 1, 2024 in the last September 2026 visa bulletin). Meanwhile, the dates for Mexico (also retrogressed to May 15, 2024) and the Philippines moved ahead to August 15, 2023.
- In the EB-3 Other Workers (EW) category, there was various movements for most of the countries. For India, it remains on January 1, 2014. China’s date moved ahead to October 1, 2019. Mexico’s date retrogressed to January 1, 2022, while the Philippines moved ahead to January 1, 2022. And for the ‘World’ chargeability it also retrogressed to January 1, 2022.
- Employment-based fourth preference category (EB-4):
- In the month of October 2026, the U.S. Department of State has continued to make visas available for all countries with the existing date of December 15, 2022.
- In the meantime, the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category will continue to be available through December 11, 2026, thanks to recent U.S. Congressional action. The visa availability date has remained on December 15, 2022 for all countries. This date was the result of the category immediately becoming available earlier 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 made the EB-5 unreserved category to be December 1, 2023 for India starting with the new fiscal year 2027. However, this is a category with great demand and it will be necessary to continuously monitor the date movement for the upcoming months.
- For China, the date also remains on December 1, 2016. It will be interesting to see whether numbers are used up before the end of the fiscal year 2027 or not, especially for Unreserved numbers
- 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 to see if numbers are used up even before the end of the new fiscal year 2027. It was not used up in the last fiscal year 2026.
- 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.
- For the month of October 2026, there is some interesting movement across the board and for all countries, including for India, and there is good news here.
- So, in the Final Action Date for F-1 visa preference category (unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens)– India, the date remains on January 22, 2020.
- As for F-2A - India for the October 2026 visa bulletin, it advances again – this time to September 22, 2026. Other countries also moved ahead: China also moved ahead to September 22, 2026, and so does the World. And for Mexico, the date moved ahead to March 22, 2026. Philippines also advances to September 22, 2026.
- 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.
- However, for the new October 2026 visa bulletin, U.S. Department of State has decided to maintain a few of these categories in F2B on ‘hold’:
- India remains on August 22, 2019.
- China also stays on August 22, 2019.
- The rest of the world also remains on August 22, 2019.
- Mexico stays on May 15, 2010.
- Philippines moves ahead to October 1, 2013.
- There were no major movements in the F-3 dates though (Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. citizens):
- India – stayed on October 22, 2014.
- China – stayed on October 22, 2014.
- The Rest of the World also moved ahead to October 22, 2014.
- Mexico stayed on July 1, 2001.
- The Philippines moved ahead and is set for July 22, 2006.
- In the F-4 (brother and sister of U.S. citizen) category, dates did not move much for many countries for in October 2026 (brother or sister of U.S. citizen):
- India – moves ahead to December 15, 2006
- China – remains on October 22, 2011.
- The rest of the world also remains on October 22, 2011.
- Mexico moves slightly ahead to April 22, 2001.
- The Philippines moves significantly ahead to May 15, 2008 (it was on August 22, 2007 in the September 2026 visa bulletin)
Even at the start of the new Fiscal Year 2027, the U.S. Department of State continues to do 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, especially for India, which saw significant retrogressions in the EB-1 and the non-availability of EB-2 visa category for Indian nationals in the last Fiscal Year 2026 visa bulletin. For these various reason as outlined above, we do encourage readers to check in this space regularly for any further updates.