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The Visa Bulletin this month, read for you

Pick your category and country of birth to see this month’s cutoff on both charts, whether your priority date beats it, and how far it moved.

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

In the October 2026 bulletin

Current

F2B: unmarried son or daughter (21+) of a green card holder

Final Action DateMay 15, 2010
Date for FilingMarch 22, 2011 · yours qualified

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 Visa Bulletin for October 2026 is the State Department's monthly list of cutoff dates for green cards that have an annual limit. Each family and employment category has one row, and the columns are the countries that use more than their share: China, India, Mexico and the Philippines, with everyone else in the first column. Your priority date must be earlier than the date in your box. This month 19 of those boxes moved forward, 3 moved back and 10 did not move. The largest advance was EB-5 India, by 579 days; the largest step back was EB-2 worldwide, by 608 days. For applicants inside the United States, USCIS lets both family and employment cases file Form I-485 on the Dates for Filing chart this month. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not in the bulletin at all, because they have no cap.

Reading the October 2026 bulletin in three moves

Find the row first: the preference category on your approved petition, F1 to F4 for family, EB-1 to EB-5 for employment. Then the column, which is your country of chargeability, almost always your country of birth. Last, compare. The date in the box is the cutoff; anyone with an earlier priority date can move to the final step this month. A box that reads Current (C) has no line at all, and one that reads Unavailable (U) is closed whatever your date. The tables below this text hold all 11 categories, both charts, and the change since last month for every box.

What moved this month, and what slipped

Counting only the boxes that have a date of their own, 19 advanced, 3 went back and 10 stayed where they were. The longest jump forward was EB-5 India at 579 days, ahead of F2B Mexico at 454. The worst step back was EB-2 worldwide, which lost 608 days; a move like that usually means the State Department saw more demand than numbers. Not a single box is unavailable. For context, EB-2 India stands at November 1, 2013 and F4 for most of the world at October 22, 2011. To see how a month like this one fits the long record, open the archive of every bulletin since 2001; for what may come next, the predictions page shows ranges only where our back-test allows it.

The chart USCIS accepts for Form I-485

Two charts appear in each bulletin. Final Action Dates govern approval; Dates for Filing let people hand in Form I-485 earlier. Which one counts for filing inside the United States is not set by the bulletin but by USCIS, on its filing charts page. For October 2026 it chose Dates for Filing for both family and employment cases, checked on October 1, 2026. Abroad, an immigrant visa can only be issued once the Final Action Date has passed the priority date.

Where these numbers come from

Family preference visas are capped at 226,000 a year and employment visas at 140,000, with no country above 7 % of the total (INA sections 201 to 203). We read each bulletin from the State Department's own archive (bulletin for October 2026) the day it appears, and type nothing by hand. To test your own date, use the priority date calculator.

Final Action Dates, October 2026

Family-sponsored: a green card can be approved if the priority date is earlier than the date shown.
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
F1January 22, 2020January 22, 2020January 22, 2020September 8, 2008November 1, 2013
F2ASeptember 22, 2026September 22, 2026September 22, 2026March 22, 2026September 22, 2026
F2BAugust 22, 2019August 22, 2019August 22, 2019May 15, 2010October 1, 2013
F3October 22, 2014October 22, 2014October 22, 2014July 1, 2001July 22, 2006
F4October 22, 2011October 22, 2011December 15, 2006April 22, 2001May 15, 2008
Employment-based (EB-5: unreserved numbers).
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
EB-1Current (C)July 1, 2023February 1, 2023Current (C)Current (C)
EB-2January 1, 2025October 1, 2021November 1, 2013January 1, 2025January 1, 2025
EB-3May 15, 2024January 8, 2022January 1, 2014May 15, 2024August 15, 2023
EB-3 Other WorkersJanuary 1, 2022October 1, 2019January 1, 2014January 1, 2022January 1, 2022
EB-4December 15, 2022December 15, 2022December 15, 2022December 15, 2022December 15, 2022
EB-5Current (C)December 1, 2016December 1, 2023Current (C)Current (C)

Dates for Filing, October 2026

Family-sponsored: earliest priority dates allowed to file.
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
F1February 1, 2020February 1, 2020February 1, 2020December 1, 2008April 22, 2015
F2ACurrent (C)Current (C)Current (C)Current (C)Current (C)
F2BSeptember 1, 2019September 1, 2019September 1, 2019March 22, 2011October 1, 2014
F3November 1, 2014November 1, 2014November 1, 2014December 1, 2002October 22, 2006
F4November 1, 2011November 1, 2011February 1, 2007April 30, 2001March 22, 2009
Employment-based.
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
EB-1Current (C)July 1, 2024July 1, 2024Current (C)Current (C)
EB-2March 15, 2026January 1, 2023January 15, 2015March 15, 2026March 15, 2026
EB-3August 1, 2024April 1, 2024January 15, 2015August 1, 2024January 1, 2024
EB-3 Other WorkersJune 1, 2022October 1, 2020January 15, 2015June 1, 2022June 1, 2022
EB-4January 1, 2025January 1, 2025January 1, 2025January 1, 2025January 1, 2025
EB-5Current (C)March 1, 2021May 1, 2024Current (C)Current (C)

Movement since the previous bulletin

Final Action Dates: ▲ forward, ▼ backward (retrogression).
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
F1no changeno changeno change▲ 251 days▲ 184 days
F2A▲ 31 days▲ 31 days▲ 31 days▲ 212 days▲ 31 days
F2Bno changeno changeno change▲ 454 days▲ 122 days
F3no changeno changeno changeno change▲ 150 days
F4no changeno change▲ 44 days▲ 14 days▲ 267 days
EB-1▲ 30 daysno change▲ 109 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days
EB-2▼ 608 days▲ 30 days▲ 61 days▼ 608 days▼ 608 days
EB-3▼ 109 days▲ 7 daysno change▼ 109 days▲ 14 days
EB-3 Other Workers▼ 90 days▲ 153 daysno change▼ 90 days▲ 31 days
EB-4no changeno changeno changeno changeno change
EB-5▲ 30 daysno change▲ 579 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days

Questions people ask

How do I find my box in the Visa Bulletin chart?

Take the category from your petition approval (for example F2B or EB-3), find that row, then move across to the column of your country of birth, not your citizenship. Mexico, the Philippines, India and China have their own columns; everyone else uses the first one. If your priority date is earlier than the date in that box, it is current.

What do “C” and “U” mean in the Visa Bulletin?

C means current: every priority date qualifies that month, so there is no line. U means unavailable: no visa number can be issued in that category for that country during the month, whatever the priority date. A U often appears near the end of a fiscal year, when the annual numbers for a country have run out.

Does the Visa Bulletin apply to the spouse of a U.S. citizen?

No. Spouses, parents and unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens are immediate relatives, with no annual limit, so they never wait for a bulletin date. The spouse of a green card holder is different: that is category F2A, which has a cutoff and appears in the family chart every month.

Why can the Visa Bulletin cutoff go backwards?

The cutoff is set so that demand in a month matches the numbers left for the year. When more people with early dates come forward than expected, the State Department moves the date back to stop numbers running out. That is called retrogression, and it has happened in every major category since 2001.

Keep going

Predictions

Graded forecast ranges for people a year behind each cutoff, and the boxes where we refuse to guess.

Bulletin history

Every Visa Bulletin since December 2001 on one screen: pick a month, a category and a country.

September 2026

Fiscal year 2026 ends with the biggest family jumps of the year: F3, F4, F2B and F1 worldwide.

Final Action vs Dates for Filing

Two charts in every Visa Bulletin: which one USCIS lets you file with this month, and what each one decides.

Priority date calculator

When will my priority date be current? A forecast range, its past error, filing status and fees.

Official sources and data

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Data for 2026, checked on