EB-1 India: the first preference with an Indian queue
Enter the priority date of your EB-1 Form I-140 to check whether a person born in India can file or be approved under this month’s bulletin.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error
October 2026 bulletin
Current
Your date is before the Final Action cutoff: a green card can be approved this month.
| Final Action Date | February 1, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Date for Filing | July 1, 2024 |
| I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing) | You can file |
| I-485 employment, national average (August 2026) | 11.8 months |
| Government fees (paper filing, with work permit and travel permit) | $3,645 |
How this was calculated
- Fees: I-140 $715 + I-140 $600 + I-485 $1,440 + I-765 $260 + I-131 $630 (USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and State Department visa fees).
Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error
The October 2026 Visa Bulletin gives EB-1 India a Final Action Date of February 1, 2023 and a Date for Filing of July 1, 2024. The Final Action Date moved 109 days forward from the previous bulletin. Applicants born elsewhere, apart from mainland China, face no EB-1 cutoff at all. The Indian column read Current as recently as December 2022; it then took a date in January 2023 and, in August 2023, lost about 121 months in one bulletin, the deepest single drop in the archive for this line. Even so, it sits roughly 9 years ahead of EB-2 India (November 1, 2013), which is why Indian professionals who may qualify for both preferences compare them. USCIS currently accepts the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based I-485 applications.
Current until the end of 2022
The Indian EB-1 column has spent long stretches at Current, the most recent from April 2021 through December 2022. It then took a date of February 1, 2022 in January 2023. The real break came in August 2023: the cutoff went from February 1, 2022 to January 1, 2012, about 121 months in one bulletin. October 2023 reopened the line at January 1, 2017. Counting every step back since 2001, the column has retrogressed 10 times.
Fiscal 2026: up, down and back
The last twelve months show how a first-preference queue can wobble. The Final Action Date stood at February 1, 2023 in January 2026 and April 1, 2023 in April, slid to December 15, 2022 in June and was October 15, 2022 in September. The October 2026 bulletin put it at February 1, 2023. The Date for Filing is July 1, 2024, the same as for mainland China, so an Indian EB-1 applicant whose priority date falls between the two charts can, in a month when USCIS accepts the filing chart, hold a pending Form I-485 while the Final Action Date catches up. How the two charts differ.
Next to EB-2 India
The Indian EB-2 Final Action Date is November 1, 2013, about 9 years behind this one. A worker who already holds an approved EB-2 petition and later qualifies for EB-1, for example as a multinational manager, needs a new Form I-140 in the first preference. EB-2 India and the portability guide cover the second queue and the rules for keeping an older date.
How much the forecast is worth
Tested on every month from October 2012 to October 2025, our forecast for Indian EB-1 dates six months behind the cutoff missed by a median of 3 months and held the real outcome 44 % of the time; that passes our rule, so the calculator shows a range at that distance. A year behind, the error was 5 months with 43 % coverage, not enough to publish a date.
EB-1 in the October 2026 bulletin
| Country | Final Action | Dates for Filing | Change this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| All other countries | Current (C) | Current (C) | ▲ 30 days |
| China (mainland born) | July 1, 2023 | July 1, 2024 | no change |
| India | February 1, 2023 | July 1, 2024 | ▲ 109 days |
| Mexico | Current (C) | Current (C) | ▲ 30 days |
| Philippines | Current (C) | Current (C) | ▲ 30 days |
Every October since 2002
| Bulletin | Final Action Date | Years behind the bulletin |
|---|---|---|
| October 2002 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2003 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2004 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2005 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2006 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2007 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2008 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2009 | Unavailable (U) | – |
| October 2010 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2011 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2012 | Unavailable (U) | – |
| October 2013 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2014 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2015 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2016 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2017 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2018 | June 1, 2016 | 2.3 |
| October 2019 | January 1, 2015 | 4.7 |
| October 2020 | June 1, 2018 | 2.3 |
| October 2021 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2022 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2023 | January 1, 2017 | 6.7 |
| October 2024 | February 1, 2022 | 2.7 |
| October 2025 | February 15, 2022 | 3.6 |
| October 2026 | February 1, 2023 | 3.7 |
How our forecast did for this case
| Distance behind the cutoff | Median error, our model | Median error, “last 12 months” rule | Range held the real date | Start months tested | Published? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | 3 months | 570 months | 44 % | 75 | Yes |
| 12 months | 5 months | 578 months | 43 % | 72 | No reliable forecast |
| 24 months | 10 months | 577 months | 19 % | 62 | No reliable forecast |
| 48 months | 4 months | 594 months | 29 % | 28 | No reliable forecast |