October 2026 Visa Bulletin Released

 

The Department of State (DOS) has published its October 2026 Visa Bulletin and the main theme is uneven progress with several employment-based categories retrogressing and major advances in several family-based categories for nationals from Mexico and the Philippines. 

For employment-based final action dates, the main surprises were that EB-2 worldwide (which excludes China and India) retrogressed from current to January 1, 2025 and EB-3 worldwide retrogressed to May 15, 2024. 

For family-based final action dates, nationals of Mexico see substantial advances, especially in F-2B, which moves forward by more than one year.  Nationals of the Philippines also see advances across every family-based category, notably the F-4 category which advances by nearly nine months. 

In October, USCIS will honor the Dates for Filing chart for both employment-based cases and  family-based petitions (charts provided further below).  As these dates continue to fall ahead of the Final Action Dates, beneficiaries of employment and family-based immigrant visa petitions who are in the United States lawfully can file their applications and obtain interim employment and travel benefits until the government can actually approve their application.

Employment-Based Movement 

In October, the EB-1 category remains current worldwide.  While EB-1 China remains the same, EB-1 India advances by three months and two weeks. 

The EB-2 category worldwide has retrogressed from current to January 1, 2025. EB-2 China advances by one month, and EB-2 India becomes available again with a priority date of November 1, 2013. 

The EB-3 category has retrogressed to May 15, 2024.  While EB-3 China advances by one week and EB-3 Philippines by two weeks, EB-3 India remains the same.  The EB-3 Other Workers category also has retrogressed to January 1, 2022.  While China and Philippines advance, India remains the same. 

Here’s a chart for easy reference:

 
 

As a reminder, the Final Action Dates chart (above) determines when your green card can be approved.

For October 2026, USCIS has confirmed the Dates for Filing (below) should be used for employment-based categories. As you can see, the Dates for Filing chart gives a wide filing window for Chinese nationals in EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 categories although with limited progress toward final approval.

If the priority date for your employment-based category is before the date listed below and you are in the United States, you may file your application to adjust your status along with the applications for employment authorization and travel permission (assuming you have no bars to admissibility) with USCIS in October.

 
 

Family-based Movement

In October, the F-1 category stays the same for all nationals, except for those from Mexico and the Philippines. The dates for nationals of the Philippines will advance by six months and by eight months and a week for nationals of Mexico.

The F-2A category will move forward by one month for all nationals, except for nationals of Mexico for whom the category advances significantly by seven months. 

The F-2B category remains the same for all nationals, except for nationals from Mexico and the Philippines who will enjoy significant forward movement by 15 months and four months respectively. 

The F-3 category also remains the same for all nationals, except for nationals of the Philippines for whom there is a five-month advancement. 

The F-4 category also does not move for most nationals, except for nationals of India, Mexico, and the Philippines. F-4 for Indian nationals advances by six weeks; by two weeks for nationals of Mexico; and a huge leap forward by eight months and three weeks for nationals of the Philippines. 

Here’s a chart for easy reference:

 
 

By way of reminder, the categories are:

  • F-1 category:  unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

  • F2-A category: spouses and children under 21 of lawful permanent residents

  • F2-B category: unmarried adult children (over 21) of lawful permanent residents

  • F-3 category:  married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

  • F-4 category:  siblings of U.S. citizens

For October 2026, USCIS has confirmed the Dates for Filing (below) should be used for family-based categories. 

 
 

If the priority date for your family-based category is before the date listed above and you are in the United States, you may file your application to adjust your status along with the applications for employment authorization and travel permission (assuming you have no bars to admissibility) with USCIS in October. 

The entire visa bulletin is available on the State Department’s website, which includes information on the diversity visa lottery and the EB-5 priority dates. 

If you would like more information on how to understand the monthly visa bulletin, please check out our blog post on this topic and our podcast available here. 

This alert is for informational purposes only. Please contact us if you would like to discuss these developments further.

 
Nadia Yakoob