September 2026 Visa Bulletin – USCIS Continues to Use Final Action Dates for EB Filings; Status Quo Across Employment Categories

The U.S. State Department has released the September 2026 Visa Bulletin, which is the twelfth and final Visa Bulletin for the fiscal year. The headline in this month’s Visa Bulletin is the lack of any change across both Employment and Family categories, typical for the final month of the fiscal year, as well as the continued unavailability of the EB-2 and EB-5 Unreserved categories for India.

Importantly, USCIS has announced that Employment-Based applicants must continue to use the Final Action Dates chart to determine if they are eligible to file their I-485 Adjustment of Status applications. Family-sponsored applicants are permitted to use the Dates for Filing chart.

Which Employment-based Applicants Are Eligible to File I-485 in September 2026?

By using the Final Action Dates chart, USCIS will allow the following applicants to file I-485 in the month of September 2026.   The change (“forward” or “retrogression”) noted below is related to the I-485 filing eligibility from the prior month.

Worldwide (ROW)

• EB-1 ROW with any priority date (remains Current);
• EB-2 ROW with any priority date (remains Current);
• EB-3 ROW with a priority date before September 1, 2024 (no change).

India

• EB-1 India with a priority date before October 15, 2022 (no change);
• EB-2 India is currently Unavailable (no visas can be issued or I-485s filed for the remainder of the fiscal year);
• EB-3 India with a priority date before January 1, 2014 (no change).

China

• EB-1 China with a priority date before July 1, 2023 (no change);
• EB-2 China with a priority date before September 1, 2021 (no change);
• EB-3 China with a priority date before January 1, 2022 (no change).

Summary of the September 2026 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Please note that USCIS will determine and publish, about a week after this Visa Bulletin is published, whether or not to accept I-485 filings on the basis of these filing dates.

Summary of the September 2026 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

USCIS will determine and publish separately, a few days after this Visa Bulletin is published, whether or not to accept I-485 filings on the basis of these filing dates.

New Fiscal Year Begins October 1 – Next Visa Bulletin Expectations

This is the last Visa Bulletin for the fiscal year and at the beginning of the new fiscal year (starting on October 1), the annual visa numbers for immigrant visas reset.   As a result, we expect many categories which have been artificially slowed down over the last few months to be available for I-485 filings again. Please stay tuned for the October Visa Bulletin in the first 10-14 days of September for our alert and details.

Current Date?

Our office stands ready to assist in the applicable process.  There are many applicants across many of the employment and family categories who can now process their (and their family members’) I-485 Adjustment of Status applications from within the U.S. or process their immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if our office can help you take advantage of this (very time-sensitive for some) opportunity to file I-485 applications. We are also happy to provide a free quote for preparing and filing your I-485 application.

Confused About the Visa Bulletin?

We understand that the Visa Bulletin, with its the multiple publications, categories and conditions may be confusing – we invite you to review our Visa Bulletin Explained article for our attempt in helping applicants understand the Visa Bulletin and know what to look for (and when).

Further Updates and News

We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics. We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about this month’s Visa Bulletin.