The U.S. Department of State has released the July 2026 Visa Bulletin, and for the third consecutive month USCIS will use the more favorable Final Action Dates chart to determine who may file employment-based (EB) adjustment of status applications. The headline development is the complete unavailability of the EB-2 category for India for the remainder of fiscal year 2026.
Employment-based Final Action Dates for July 2026:
- EB-1 (Priority Workers): Current for all chargeability areas. China (mainland-born) advances to June 1, 2023, while India slightly retrogresses to October 15, 2022.
- EB-2 (Advanced Degree / NIW): Current for all areas. China holds at September 1, 2021. India is now Unavailable (“U”) because the country’s pro-rated annual EB-2 limit has been reached for FY2026.
- EB-3 (Skilled Workers): All chargeability areas at August 1, 2024. China advances to December 22, 2021; India inches to January 1, 2014.
For most applicants chargeable to the worldwide category, EB-1 and EB-2 remain Current, meaning there is no priority-date wait to file or have an adjustment of status application approved. That is significant news for NIW and EB-2 petitioners born outside of India and China, who continue to enjoy an open window.
The EB-2 India unavailability does not affect petitioning itself. Applicants from India can still file or maintain I-140 immigrant petitions; the unavailability only pauses the final green card allocation until visa numbers reset at the start of the new fiscal year in October 2026, when forward movement typically resumes.
Because USCIS confirmed it will honor the Final Action Dates chart for July, applicants should check whether their priority date is earlier than the listed date for their category and country before filing Form I-485. Worldwide EB-1 and EB-2 applicants remain eligible to file.
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Source: X (Twitter) @StateDept