The October 2026 Visa Bulletin reflects continued forward movement across most China and India employment-based final action categories, including notable advancement in the EB-1 India category. The Dates for Filing chart also shows progress in several employment-based categories for both countries, providing additional filing opportunities for eligible applicants.
As of the date of this alert, USCIS has indicated they will accept adjustment of status applications pursuant to Dates for Filing (Chart B) for the employment-based preference filings in October 2026. For more information, please visit the USCIS website.
Final Action Dates (Chart A):
China:
- EB-1: Remains unchanged with a cut-off date of July 1, 2023.
- EB-2: Advances 1 month with a cut-off date of October 1, 2021.
- EB-3: Advances 7 days with a cut-off date of January 8, 2022.
India:
- EB-1: Advances 3 month 17 days with a cut-off date of February 1, 2023.
- EB-2: Advances to a cut-off date of November 1, 2013.
- EB-3: Remains unchanged with a cut-off date of January 1, 2014.
Philippines:
- EB-1: Current.
- EB-2: Retrogresses to a cut-off date of January 1, 2025.
- EB-3: Advances 14 days with a cut-off date of August 15, 2023.
Others:
- EB-1: Current for all countries except China and India.
- EB-2: Worldwide (All Other) retrogresses to a cut-off date of January 1, 2025.
- EB-3: Worldwide (All Other) retrogresses 3 months 17 days with a cut-off date of May 24, 2024.
Dates for Filing (Chart B):
China:
- EB-1: Advances 7 months with a cut-off date of July 1, 2024.
- EB-2: Advances 1 year with a cut-off date of January 1, 2023.
- EB-3: Advances 2 years 2 months 24 days with a cut-off date of April 1, 2024.
India:
- EB-1: Advances 7 months with a cut-off date of July 1, 2024.
- EB-2: Remains unchanged with a cut-off date of January 15, 2015.
- EB-3: Remains unchanged with a cut-off date of January 15, 2015.
Philippines:
- EB-1: Current.
- EB-2: Retrogresses to a cut-off date of March 15, 2026.
- EB-3: Remains unchanged with a cut-off date of January 1, 2024.
Others:
- EB-1: Current for all countries except China and India.
- EB-2: Worldwide (All Other) retrogresses to a cut-off date of March 15, 2026.
- EB-3: Worldwide (All Other) retrogresses to a cut-off date of August 1, 2024.
Looking Forward
Individuals who are current should contact EIG to begin work on their Adjustment of Status case(s). If you already have an AOS pending with USCIS, it will not be adjudicated until the Final Action date becomes current.
The EIG team closely monitors changes to the monthly visa bulletin and determines the best action plan for each case. We will reach out to individuals whose priority date will be current next month to initiate the next step of the green card process.
For more information about the Visa Bulletin, we’ve summarized and answered frequently asked questions here. We encourage you to read this article to better understand what your priority date means.
The complete Visa Bulletin for October 2026 can be found here.