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August 2026 Visa Bulletin: the F2A leap

Select a category and a country to see the August 2026 cutoffs on both charts and how far each one moved from July 2026.

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

In the August 2026 bulletin

Current

F2A: spouse or minor child of a green card holder

Final Action DateJuly 22, 2025
Date for FilingCurrent · 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 August 2026 Visa Bulletin belonged to F2A, the category for spouses and minor children of green card holders. Its Final Action Date for most countries jumped 567 days, from January 1, 2025 to July 22, 2026, which left the cutoff only 10 days before the bulletin month itself. Mexico, which keeps its own F2A date, moved 568 days to July 22, 2025. In October 2025 the worldwide F2A cutoff had read February 1, 2024. Other family lines advanced too: F1 worldwide by 317 days and F4 worldwide by 243, while on the filing chart F2B worldwide gained 207 days. Employment barely moved: EB-2 India and EB-5 India remained unavailable, and the largest employment advance was about a month. F2B Mexico again did not move.

F2A almost catches the calendar

A green card holder who married abroad files Form I-130 for the spouse, and the spouse waits in F2A. For most of fiscal year 2026, that wait sat still: the cutoff opened the year at February 1, 2024 and did not move at all until May. August changed the scale. The worldwide Final Action Date jumped 567 days, to July 22, 2026. That is 10 days before August 1, close enough that a visa number was available to almost anyone holding an approved F2A petition. Mexico's own F2A date moved by about the same distance, to July 22, 2025, which still left Mexican spouses 375 days behind the bulletin month. The F2A filing column read Current (C).

The rest of the family chart

F1 worldwide, unmarried sons and daughters of citizens, moved 317 days to December 15, 2018. F4 worldwide, brothers and sisters, gained 243 days to September 1, 2009. F2B and F3 worldwide moved less on approval, 40 and 30 days, but much more on the filing chart: 207 and 83 days. Mexico's other family lines were nearly still: F1 Mexico 23 days, F3 Mexico 30, and F2B Mexico unchanged at February 15, 2009, the date it had held since the February bulletin.

Employment in a holding pattern

EB-2 India and EB-5 India stayed Unavailable (U). Worldwide EB-3 and EB-3 Other Workers each moved about a month, to September 1, 2024 and April 1, 2022. EB-4 gained 30 days and EB-1 China 30. EB-1 and EB-2 for the rest of the world stayed Current (C), and EB-2 China sat at September 1, 2021 for another month. For an employment applicant, August was a month to wait and watch.

Why a late jump like this happens

The family preference system has 226,000 numbers a year (INA sections 201 to 203), and the fiscal year ends on September 30. When a line is not producing enough approvals to use its share, moving the cutoff forward is how more applicants become eligible before the year closes. The sequel is on the September 2026 page; the long view of F2A, including its current years from 2019 and the 2023 rollback, is on the F2A page and the F2A Mexico page.

Final Action Dates, August 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
F1December 15, 2018December 15, 2018December 15, 2018December 1, 2007May 1, 2013
F2AJuly 22, 2026July 22, 2026July 22, 2026July 22, 2025July 22, 2026
F2BJanuary 1, 2018January 1, 2018January 1, 2018February 15, 2009June 1, 2013
F3May 15, 2012May 15, 2012May 15, 2012July 1, 2001February 22, 2006
F4September 1, 2009September 1, 2009November 1, 2006April 8, 2001August 1, 2007
Employment-based (EB-5: unreserved numbers).
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
EB-1Current (C)July 1, 2023October 15, 2022Current (C)Current (C)
EB-2Current (C)September 1, 2021Unavailable (U)Current (C)Current (C)
EB-3September 1, 2024January 1, 2022January 1, 2014September 1, 2024August 1, 2023
EB-3 Other WorkersApril 1, 2022May 1, 2019January 1, 2014April 1, 2022December 1, 2021
EB-4October 15, 2022October 15, 2022October 15, 2022October 15, 2022October 15, 2022
EB-5Current (C)December 1, 2016Unavailable (U)Current (C)Current (C)

Dates for Filing, August 2026

Family-sponsored: earliest priority dates allowed to file.
CategoryAll other countriesChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
F1June 15, 2019June 15, 2019June 15, 2019December 1, 2008April 22, 2015
F2ACurrent (C)Current (C)Current (C)Current (C)Current (C)
F2BJanuary 1, 2019January 1, 2019January 1, 2019May 15, 2010October 1, 2013
F3March 1, 2013March 1, 2013March 1, 2013July 15, 2001August 8, 2006
F4June 22, 2010June 22, 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 8, 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▲ 317 days▲ 317 days▲ 317 days▲ 23 daysno change
F2A▲ 567 days▲ 567 days▲ 567 days▲ 568 days▲ 567 days
F2B▲ 40 days▲ 40 days▲ 40 daysno change▲ 17 days
F3▲ 30 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 daysno change
F4▲ 243 days▲ 243 daysno changeno changeno change
EB-1▲ 31 days▲ 30 daysno change▲ 31 days▲ 31 days
EB-2▲ 31 daysno change–▲ 31 days▲ 31 days
EB-3▲ 31 days▲ 10 daysno change▲ 31 daysno change
EB-3 Other Workers▲ 31 days▲ 30 daysno change▲ 31 daysno change
EB-4▲ 30 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days▲ 30 days
EB-5▲ 31 daysno change–▲ 31 days▲ 31 days

Questions people ask

How close to current was F2A in the August 2026 Visa Bulletin?

Very close for most countries: the Final Action Date landed less than two weeks before the start of the bulletin month, so a visa number was available to nearly every spouse or minor child of a green card holder whose petition was filed before that date. Mexico stayed about a year further back on its own line.

Why does F2A Mexico have a different date in the August 2026 Visa Bulletin?

Because Mexico uses more than its per-country share of family numbers, F2A Mexico is sometimes given its own cutoff. Part of F2A is exempt from the per-country limit by law, which is why the Mexican F2A gap is usually smaller than in F1, F2B, F3 or F4. In August 2026 the two dates stood about a year apart.

Did employment dates move in the August 2026 Visa Bulletin?

Very little. EB-3 and EB-3 Other Workers for most countries, EB-1 China and EB-4 each gained about a month, EB-3 China a few days, and the Indian EB-2 and EB-5 boxes stayed unavailable. August was a family month, with the largest moves in F2A, F1 and F4.

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.

F2A (spouse or child of resident)

Spouses and children under 21 of green card holders: the shortest family line, often current on the filing chart.

F2A Mexico

Mexican-born spouses and minor children of green card holders: the one Mexico family line counted in months.

Official sources and data

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Data for 2026, checked on