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July 2026 Visa Bulletin: India closes, China and F1 move up

Choose a category and country to read the July 2026 cutoffs on both charts and compare each box with the June 2026 bulletin.

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

In the July 2026 bulletin

Not current

EB-2: advanced degree or exceptional ability

Final Action DateUnavailable
Date for FilingJanuary 15, 2015 · yours qualified
Became current laterOctober 2026, 3 months later

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

July opens the last quarter of the federal fiscal year, and the July 2026 Visa Bulletin looked like it. Two Indian employment boxes closed: EB-2 India, at September 1, 2013 in June, and EB-5 India, at May 1, 2022, were both listed as Unavailable (U), meaning no visa number could be issued in them that month whatever the priority date. EB-1 India took a second step back, 61 days to October 15, 2022. China went the other way: EB-3 China gained 143 days to December 22, 2021, EB-1 China 61 and EB-5 China 70. Families of most countries saw F1 advance 153 days to February 1, 2018, while F2A did not move. The Indian boxes stayed closed through September; EB-2 India came back in October at November 1, 2013.

The quarter when numbers run short

The fiscal year runs from October to September, and each country may receive at most 7 % of the preference numbers in it. By July, a line with heavy demand may have used its share. That is what the two closed boxes suggest. EB-2 India went from September 1, 2013 to Unavailable (U); EB-5 India, which had been at May 1, 2022, closed the same way. EB-1 India lost another 61 days, to October 15, 2022, after starting May at April 1, 2023. The Dates for Filing column for EB-2 India still read January 15, 2015: a closed Final Action box stops approvals, not the printing of the second chart.

China moved the other way

Chinese applicants had one of their better months. EB-3 China rose 143 days to December 22, 2021, the largest employment advance of the bulletin. EB-1 China gained 61 days to June 1, 2023, EB-5 China 70 days to December 1, 2016. EB-2 China, at September 1, 2021, did not move. For the rest of the world, EB-3 advanced 61 days to August 1, 2024 and EB-4 62 days.

Families: F1 out in front

F1 for most countries gained 153 days, to February 1, 2018. F3 Philippines moved 92 days and F3 worldwide 60. F2B worldwide added 61 days. Brothers and sisters advanced as well: F4 worldwide by 54 days and F4 Philippines by 17. Mexico saw only F3 move, by 31 days to June 1, 2001. F2A held at January 1, 2025.

Reading July for an Indian EB-2 case

An unavailable box is not a retrogression in the usual sense: nobody's place in line changed, the line simply stopped. A pending Form I-485 remained pending, and a priority date earlier than the old cutoff kept its place. Investors charged to India were in the same position under EB-5. What the calculator could not do that month was give a date, and the predictions table skips unavailable boxes for the same reason. The EB-3 China page has the full Chinese record. Previous month: June 2026. Next: August 2026.

Final Action Dates, July 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
F1February 1, 2018February 1, 2018February 1, 2018November 8, 2007May 1, 2013
F2AJanuary 1, 2025January 1, 2025January 1, 2025January 1, 2024January 1, 2025
F2BNovember 22, 2017November 22, 2017November 22, 2017February 15, 2009May 15, 2013
F3April 15, 2012April 15, 2012April 15, 2012June 1, 2001February 22, 2006
F4January 1, 2009January 1, 2009November 1, 2006April 8, 2001August 1, 2007
Employment-based (EB-5: unreserved numbers).
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
EB-1Current (C)June 1, 2023October 15, 2022Current (C)Current (C)
EB-2Current (C)September 1, 2021Unavailable (U)Current (C)Current (C)
EB-3August 1, 2024December 22, 2021January 1, 2014August 1, 2024August 1, 2023
EB-3 Other WorkersMarch 1, 2022April 1, 2019January 1, 2014March 1, 2022December 1, 2021
EB-4September 15, 2022September 15, 2022September 15, 2022September 15, 2022September 15, 2022
EB-5Current (C)December 1, 2016Unavailable (U)Current (C)Current (C)

Dates for Filing, July 2026

Family-sponsored: earliest priority dates allowed to file.
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
F1January 1, 2019January 1, 2019January 1, 2019October 1, 2008April 22, 2015
F2ACurrent (C)Current (C)Current (C)Current (C)Current (C)
F2BJune 8, 2018June 8, 2018June 8, 2018May 15, 2010October 1, 2013
F3December 8, 2012December 8, 2012December 8, 2012July 15, 2001August 8, 2006
F4March 1, 2010March 1, 2010December 15, 2006April 30, 2001March 22, 2008
Employment-based.
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
EB-1Current (C)December 1, 2023December 1, 2023Current (C)Current (C)
EB-2Current (C)January 1, 2022January 15, 2015Current (C)Current (C)
EB-3Current (C)January 1, 2022January 15, 2015Current (C)January 1, 2024
EB-3 Other WorkersAugust 1, 2022October 1, 2019January 15, 2015August 1, 2022August 1, 2022
EB-4January 1, 2023January 1, 2023January 1, 2023January 1, 2023January 1, 2023
EB-5Current (C)March 1, 2017May 1, 2024Current (C)Current (C)

Movement since the previous bulletin

Final Action Dates: ▲ forward, ▼ backward (retrogression).
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
F1▲ 153 days▲ 153 days▲ 153 daysno changeno change
F2Ano changeno changeno changeno changeno change
F2B▲ 61 days▲ 61 days▲ 61 daysno change▲ 37 days
F3▲ 60 days▲ 60 days▲ 60 days▲ 31 days▲ 92 days
F4▲ 54 days▲ 54 daysno changeno change▲ 17 days
EB-1▲ 30 days▲ 61 days▼ 61 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days
EB-2▲ 30 daysno change–▲ 30 days▲ 30 days
EB-3▲ 61 days▲ 143 days▲ 17 days▲ 61 daysno change
EB-3 Other Workers▲ 28 daysno change▲ 17 days▲ 28 days▲ 30 days
EB-4▲ 62 days▲ 62 days▲ 62 days▲ 62 days▲ 62 days
EB-5▲ 30 days▲ 70 days–▲ 30 days▲ 30 days

Questions people ask

What did “unavailable” mean for EB-2 India in the July 2026 Visa Bulletin?

It meant that no EB-2 visa number could be issued that month to anyone charged to India, so no Indian EB-2 green card could be approved in July, however old the priority date. Applications already filed simply stayed pending. The box remained unavailable in August and September and returned with a date in the October 2026 bulletin.

Why did EB-3 China advance in the July 2026 Visa Bulletin?

The bulletin gives no reason line by line, so we can only report the dates: EB-3 China moved almost five months on the Final Action chart while EB-2 China stood still. Chinese EB-3 has often moved on its own rhythm, sometimes ahead of EB-2 China, which is why both pages compare the two lines.

Did F2A move in the July 2026 Visa Bulletin?

No. The F2A Final Action Date stayed where June had left it, for most countries and for Mexico alike, while the F2A filing column remained current. The large F2A advance of the year came a month later, in the August 2026 bulletin, when the cutoff jumped well over a year.

Keep going

Visa Bulletin

This month’s Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing for every category and country, with what moved.

Bulletin history

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

Predictions

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

EB-3 China

Skilled workers born in mainland China: a filing date that leapt in October 2026 and a row that often outruns EB-2 China.

August 2026

F2A jumped about a year and a half and came within days of current; F1 and F4 worldwide also moved.

Official sources and data

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Data for 2026, checked on