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EB-3 Philippines: a column that comes and goes

Enter the priority date from your PERM or Schedule A petition to check an EB-3 case for a person born in the Philippines against this month’s bulletin.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error

Where will you apply?

October 2026 bulletin

Current

Your date is before the Final Action cutoff: a green card can be approved this month.

Final Action DateAugust 15, 2023
Date for FilingJanuary 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
  1. 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).

Fee details, line by line

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

In the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-3 for people born in the Philippines has a Final Action Date of August 15, 2023 and a Date for Filing of January 1, 2024. That is about 9 months behind the worldwide EB-3 date, May 15, 2024. Unlike India and China, the Philippine column only splits from the worldwide one part of the time: in 45% of bulletins since October 2015. It was Current from October 2020 to April 2023, then took its own date in May 2023. The line has retrogressed 17 times since 2001, and its deepest single fall, in May 2015, cost about 87 months. For nurses sponsored under Schedule A, the latest USCIS range for the I-140 petition is 25.5 to 26.5 months. Our back-test passes for dates about six months behind the cutoff.

Current until spring 2023

For two and a half years the Filipino EB-3 column needed no priority date at all: it read Current from October 2020 to April 2023. In May 2023 it took a date of June 1, 2022 and by August 2023 had fallen to May 1, 2020. It opened fiscal 2026 at April 1, 2023, reached August 1, 2023 in March 2026 and stood at August 15, 2023 in October 2026. Meanwhile the worldwide row is at May 15, 2024, with a filing date of August 1, 2024 against January 1, 2024 for the Philippines.

A record of reversals

With 17 retrogressions since 2001, this column has stepped back more often than any other EB-3 column tracked here. The worst came in May 2015, when the cutoff went from October 1, 2014 to July 1, 2007, and the next bulletin cut it again to January 1, 2005. Any range for this column has to carry that history; the retrogression guide explains how drops like these happen.

Nurses and the petition stage

Registered nurses can be sponsored under Schedule A, which skips the PERM step. In the September 2026 USCIS release, Schedule A nurse petitions on Form I-140 took 25.5 to 26.5 months. Their priority date is the I-140 filing date. For lower-skilled jobs, the Philippine Other Workers column currently matches the worldwide one at January 1, 2022; see EB-3 Other Workers.

What the forecast can carry

Tested from October 2012 to October 2025, forecasts for Filipino EB-3 dates six months behind missed by a median of 3 months, with 61 % coverage, enough to show a range. A year behind, the error was 5 months against a real wait of about 5, which does not pass.

EB-3 in the October 2026 bulletin

USCIS asks applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart this month to file Form I-485.
CountryFinal ActionDates for FilingChange this month
All other countriesMay 15, 2024August 1, 2024▼ 109 days
China (mainland born)January 8, 2022April 1, 2024▲ 7 days
IndiaJanuary 1, 2014January 15, 2015no change
MexicoMay 15, 2024August 1, 2024▼ 109 days
PhilippinesAugust 15, 2023January 1, 2024▲ 14 days
EB-3 Philippines: Final Action cutoff by bulletin month since December 20012002200620102014201820222002200620102014201820222026
Solid line: Final Action Date. Dashed line: Dates for Filing (since October 2015). A drop is a retrogression.

Every October since 2002

October opens each federal fiscal year, so it is the cleanest point to compare one year with the next.
BulletinFinal Action DateYears behind the bulletin
October 2002Current (C)–
October 2003Current (C)–
October 2004Current (C)–
October 2005March 1, 20014.6
October 2006May 1, 20024.4
October 2007August 1, 20025.2
October 2008January 1, 20053.7
October 2009Unavailable (U)–
October 2010January 8, 20055.7
October 2011December 8, 20055.8
October 2012Unavailable (U)–
October 2013December 15, 20066.8
October 2014October 1, 20113.0
October 2015January 1, 20078.7
October 2016December 1, 20105.8
October 2017December 1, 20151.8
October 2018June 1, 20171.3
October 2019October 15, 20172.0
October 2020Current (C)–
October 2021Current (C)–
October 2022Current (C)–
October 2023December 1, 20211.8
October 2024November 15, 20221.9
October 2025April 1, 20232.5
October 2026August 15, 20233.1

How our forecast did for this case

Back-test from October 2012 to October 2025, each month using only the bulletins known that month.
Distance behind the cutoffMedian error, our modelMedian error, “last 12 months” ruleRange held the real dateStart months testedPublished?
6 months3 months6 months61 %122Yes
12 months5 months8 months61 %117No reliable forecast
24 months9 months32 months57 %76No reliable forecast
48 months20 months70 months70 %47No reliable forecast

Questions people ask

Why does EB-3 Philippines sometimes have the worldwide date and sometimes not?

The Philippine column gets its own date only when demand from people born in the Philippines would exceed the 7% per-country share in that row. When it does not, the bulletin prints the worldwide date in the Philippine column. Since 2015 that has happened in roughly half of bulletins, which is why the column can rejoin and leave the worldwide line.

What is a Schedule A nurse petition in EB-3 Philippines cases?

Schedule A is the Department of Labor list of occupations with too few U.S. workers, which includes professional nurses, so the employer files Form I-140 directly with USCIS without a DOL-approved PERM labor certification. USCIS publishes a separate processing range for these petitions. The visa queue is the same EB-3 row as other Filipino skilled workers.

Does EB-3 Other Workers Philippines follow the same date as EB-3 Philippines?

Not necessarily. Other Workers is its own row with a worldwide ceiling of 10,000 numbers a year, and its Philippine column can carry a different date from the skilled-worker row. Read the row that matches the classification on the approved I-140. The Other Workers page tracks the worldwide line, which Philippine applicants share when their column has no separate date.

Keep going

EB-3 skilled workers

Third preference: the worldwide cutoff for skilled workers and professionals, its October 2026 step back and the history.

Philippines

Every Visa Bulletin category for people born in the Philippines, against the worldwide dates.

EB-3 Other Workers

Unskilled EB-3 jobs: a row capped at 10,000 a year, trimmed by NACARA, and running years behind skilled EB-3.

I-140 processing time

Immigrant worker petition times for all eight published I-140 categories, next to each category’s Visa Bulletin cutoff.

I-485 employment-based

Employment green card adjustment times as USCIS publishes them, field offices against service centers.

Official sources and data

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Publisher of Visa Bulletin data, green card wait forecasts, USCIS processing times and 2026 filing fees

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Data for 2026, checked on