The U.S. Department of State has released the July 2026 Visa Bulletin, and for employment-based green card applicants it brings a mix of forward movement, fresh retrogression, and one category going dark entirely. For the third month in a row, USCIS will honor the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based adjustment of status filings — so applicants should read their priority dates against that chart, not the Dates for Filing chart.
The headline development is EB-2 India, which is now listed as “Unavailable” for the remainder of fiscal year 2026 after the country’s pro-rated annual limit was reached. EB-5 India also went unavailable. EB-1 India retrogressed from December 15, 2022 back to October 15, 2022, a setback for the most-skilled Indian applicants. EB-1 China advanced modestly from April 1, 2023 to June 1, 2023, while EB-1 remains Current for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines.
For everyone outside India and China, the picture is healthier. EB-2 remains Current for the Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines, while EB-2 China holds at September 1, 2021. In the EB-3 category, the Rest of the World and Mexico moved forward from June 1, 2024 to August 1, 2024, China advanced from August 1, 2021 to December 22, 2021, and India inched ahead from December 15, 2013 to January 1, 2014.
What does this mean for petitioners? If you are an EB-2 or NIW applicant chargeable to the Rest of the World, your category is current and you can file or have your case adjudicated without a backlog. Indian-born EB-2 applicants, however, will need to wait out the fiscal year, and many are weighing whether an EB-1A extraordinary-ability petition — which is still Current for most of the world — offers a faster path. Always confirm your priority date and country of chargeability against the official bulletin before filing.
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Source: Reddit r/USCIS