USA
The October 2026 Visa Bulletin and your place in line.
The State Department has published the Visa Bulletin for October 2026. The bulletin is a monthly chart that shows whose turn it is to get a green card in the categories that have a yearly limit. If you are waiting for a green card through work or family, it shows how far the line has moved this month.
Your place in that line is your priority date, usually the day the first filing in your case reached the government. When the bulletin shows a date later than yours for your category and country of birth, your turn has come.
The biggest change this month is in EB-2 for people born outside China and India. Until September that category had no line at all. In October only people with a priority date before January 1, 2025 can have an EB-2 green card approved, a cutoff almost two years back.
EB-3 moved back as well, by a smaller amount. People born in India and China moved forward in several categories, and people born in India can get EB-2 green cards again.
October 2026 visa bulletin: when work-based green cards can be approved.
The first chart, called final action dates, shows when a green card can actually be approved. Find the row for your category and the column for your country of birth. If your priority date is earlier than the date in that cell, USCIS or a US consulate can approve your green card this month. "Current" means there is no line in that category, so the green card can be approved once the rest of the case is ready.
Compared with September, most of the world moved back in EB-2 and EB-3, while India and China moved forward in several rows.
| Category | All other countries | China | India |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1, priority workers | Current | Jul 1, 2023 | Feb 1, 2023 (from Oct 15, 2022) |
| EB-2, advanced degree or exceptional ability | Jan 1, 2025 (from Current) | Oct 1, 2021 (from Sep 1, 2021) | Nov 1, 2013 (from Unavailable) |
| EB-3, skilled workers and professionals | May 15, 2024 (from Sep 1, 2024) | Jan 8, 2022 (from Jan 1, 2022) | Jan 1, 2014 |
| EB-3, other workers | Jan 1, 2022 (from Apr 1, 2022) | Oct 1, 2019 (from May 1, 2019) | Jan 1, 2014 |
| EB-4, special immigrants and religious workers | Dec 15, 2022 | Dec 15, 2022 | Dec 15, 2022 |
| EB-5, investors (unreserved) | Current | Dec 1, 2016 | Dec 1, 2023 (from Unavailable) |
| EB-5, investors (rural, high unemployment, infrastructure) | Current | Current | Current |
Final action dates for work-based green cards. A date in parentheses is the September 2026 date where it changed. Mexico and the Philippines have their own columns in the bulletin. Mexico matches all other countries in every row, and the Philippines does too except EB-3, at Aug 15, 2023 (from Aug 1, 2023).
Dates for filing in October 2026, and the USCIS chart choice.
The second chart, called dates for filing, runs ahead of the first. It shows when you can start the paperwork. Inside the US that means filing Form I-485, the green card application. Each month USCIS says which of the two charts applicants may use, and for October it accepts the Dates for Filing chart for family and work-based cases.
So if your priority date is earlier than the date in this chart, you can file your green card application this month. That holds even if the first chart has not reached you yet. The application then waits with USCIS until your final action date comes up. While it waits, you can apply for a work permit and a travel permit.
| Category | All other countries | China | India |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Current | Jul 1, 2024 (from Dec 1, 2023) | Jul 1, 2024 (from Dec 1, 2023) |
| EB-2 | Mar 15, 2026 (from Current) | Jan 1, 2023 (from Jan 1, 2022) | Jan 15, 2015 |
| EB-3, skilled workers and professionals | Aug 1, 2024 (from Current) | Apr 1, 2024 (from Jan 8, 2022) | Jan 15, 2015 |
| EB-3, other workers | Jun 1, 2022 (from Aug 1, 2022) | Oct 1, 2020 (from Oct 1, 2019) | Jan 15, 2015 |
| EB-4 | Jan 1, 2025 (from Jan 1, 2023) | Jan 1, 2025 (from Jan 1, 2023) | Jan 1, 2025 (from Jan 1, 2023) |
| EB-5 (unreserved) | Current | Mar 1, 2021 (from Mar 1, 2017) | May 1, 2024 |
| EB-5 (rural, high unemployment, infrastructure) | Current | Current | Current |
Dates for filing for work-based green cards, the chart USCIS accepts for green card applications filed inside the US this month. Mexico matches all other countries in every row; the Philippines does too except EB-3, at Jan 1, 2024 (unchanged).
EB-2 and EB-3 retrogression for the rest of the world.
Retrogression means a date moved backward, so the wait gets longer. The largest move in October is in EB-2, for everyone born outside China and India, including Mexico and the Philippines.
Until September, EB-2 was Current on both charts. There was no line: anyone with an approved petition could file the green card application and have it approved. In October both charts have a cutoff date again, and the two dates are far apart.
- Final action date: January 1, 2025. Only people whose priority date is before that day can have a green card approved this month. The cutoff sits about 21 months behind the bulletin, so anyone who filed in 2025 or 2026 now has to wait.
- Date for filing: March 15, 2026. People inside the US whose priority date is before that day can still file the green card application in October, because USCIS accepts this chart. The application then waits until the final action date reaches them.
Take an EB-2 applicant with a priority date in June 2025. In September that person could file and be approved. In October the same person can still file, but approval waits until the final action date moves past June 2025. An applicant whose priority date is after March 15, 2026 cannot file yet at all.
EB-3 moved back less. Its final action date went back about three and a half months, to May 15, 2024, and its filing date went from Current to August 1, 2024.
The State Department says in the bulletin that it moved these dates back to stay within the number of green cards it can issue in the new year. It also says it will keep watching demand and adjust the dates if needed.
If you have already filed your green card application and your date is no longer current, your case is not denied. It stays open and waits until the date moves forward again, and you can keep renewing your work and travel permits in the meantime. The same goes for national interest waiver cases, because they wait in the same EB-2 line as employer-sponsored cases.
EB-2 India, EB-1 India and China in the new fiscal year.
People born in India can get EB-2 green cards again. The category was paused in September because India had used its share for the year, and a new year of green cards started on October 1. The EB-2 priority date for India now stands at November 1, 2013, so the line is still more than ten years long.
India also moved forward in two other categories. The EB-1 priority date for India advanced about three and a half months, and EB-5 investor green cards are available to people born in India again.
People born in China moved forward in EB-2 and in both EB-3 rows. Their filing chart moved much further: about a year in EB-2 and more than two years in EB-3. With USCIS accepting that chart this month, many more applicants born in China can file their green card application now.
Family-based dates in the October 2026 visa bulletin.
Family green cards use the same two charts. The categories go from F1 to F4 and depend on the relationship, for example F2A for the spouse or child of a green card holder. In October most family dates stayed where they were. F2A moved forward one month, and people born in Mexico and the Philippines moved forward in most categories.
| Country of birth | F1 | F2A | F2B | F3 | F4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All other countries | Jan 22, 2020 | Sep 22, 2026 (from Aug 22, 2026) | Aug 22, 2019 | Oct 22, 2014 | Oct 22, 2011 |
| India | Jan 22, 2020 | Sep 22, 2026 (from Aug 22, 2026) | Aug 22, 2019 | Oct 22, 2014 | Dec 15, 2006 (from Nov 1, 2006) |
| Mexico | Sep 8, 2008 (from Jan 1, 2008) | Mar 22, 2026 (from Aug 22, 2025) | May 15, 2010 (from Feb 15, 2009) | Jul 1, 2001 | Apr 22, 2001 (from Apr 8, 2001) |
| Philippines | Nov 1, 2013 (from May 1, 2013) | Sep 22, 2026 (from Aug 22, 2026) | Oct 1, 2013 (from Jun 1, 2013) | Jul 22, 2006 (from Feb 22, 2006) | May 15, 2008 (from Aug 22, 2007) |
Final action dates for family green cards. China has its own column in the bulletin and matches all other countries. F1: unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens. F2A: spouses and children of green card holders. F2B: unmarried sons and daughters of green card holders. F3: married sons and daughters of US citizens. F4: brothers and sisters of adult US citizens.
On the filing chart F2A shows Current this month, so there is no cutoff for filing. A spouse or child of a green card holder who is inside the US can file the green card application now, whatever the priority date. The approval then waits for the date in the table.
The filing chart moved for a few other family groups too: F2B and F3 for Mexico, F2B, F3 and F4 for the Philippines, and F4 for India.
Fiscal year 2027 and the October visa bulletin dates.
The US government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30, and each year brings a new supply of green cards. That is why a category that ran out in September, like EB-2 India, can open again in October. It is also a point where dates get reset: after moving many dates forward during the past year, the State Department moved worldwide EB-2 and EB-3 back.
The exact number of green cards for fiscal year 2027 is not final yet. The Immigration and Nationality Act sets a floor of 226,000 family and 140,000 work-based green cards a year, and no single country can use more than 7 percent of them. Last year the work-based total came to 186,317, because family green cards left unused the year before are added to it.
One more change sits in this bulletin. Congress extended the religious worker category, part of EB-4, until December 11, 2026.
How do you check a priority date against the October 2026 charts?
You need four things: your priority date, your country of birth, your green card category, and whether you are in the US or abroad.
- Find your priority date. It is on the receipt or approval notice (Form I-797) for the petition filed in your case. If your employer went through a labor certification first, it is the day the Department of Labor received that application.
- Pick your column. Your country of birth decides it, not your passport. If you were not born in China, India, Mexico or the Philippines, you read the first column.
- Use the filing chart to file. If you are inside the US and your priority date is earlier than the date in the dates for filing chart, you can file your green card application this month.
- Use the final action chart for approval. Your green card can be approved or issued only once the final action date passes your priority date.
If you are abroad, the National Visa Center asks for your documents once the filing chart reaches your priority date. It schedules your interview at the consulate once the final action chart does. The State Department publishes the November 2026 bulletin during October, and this page moves to it when it does.
Common questions
The application stays pending. USCIS cannot approve a green card application until the final action date passes the priority date, so a case whose date moved back waits rather than fails. Work permit and travel permit renewals continue during the wait, and the case moves again once the date catches up.
No. The USCIS chart choice covers green card applications filed inside the US only. For applicants abroad, the National Visa Center collects documents once the Dates for Filing chart reaches the priority date, and the consular interview is scheduled once the final action date reaches it.
No. F2A is Current on the Dates for Filing chart, so a spouse or child of a green card holder may file the green card application this month. Approval waits until the priority date is earlier than the final action date: September 22, 2026 for most countries, March 22, 2026 for Mexico.
For applicants born in China and India, yes. Their EB-3 final action dates, January 8, 2022 and January 1, 2014, are later than their EB-2 dates. For everyone else EB-2 is further along, at January 1, 2025 against May 15, 2024 for EB-3.
Yes, for every country except China and India. The EB-1 final action date is July 1, 2023 for China and February 1, 2023 for India. The EB-1 category covers people with extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and multinational managers in a single line.
The State Department sets no fixed release date. A month’s bulletin usually appears around the middle of the month before it, so the November 2026 bulletin is expected during October 2026. USCIS announces separately which of the two charts applicants may use in November.
Sources
- Visa Bulletin for October 2026U.S. Department of State
Show all 6 sourcesShow fewer sources
- Visa Bulletin for September 2026U.S. Department of State
- Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa BulletinU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Visa Availability and Priority DatesU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- 8 U.S.C. 1151 - Worldwide level of immigration (INA 201)Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- 8 U.S.C. 1153 - Allocation of immigrant visas (INA 203)Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
2–3 years
$12,000–$19,500
