July 2026 Visa Bulletin Released

 

The Department of State (DOS) has published its July 2026 Visa Bulletin. In July, a number of employment and family-based categories will see forward movement. Unfortunately, EB-1 for Indian nationals will retrogress by two months, and EB-2 for Indian nationals will be unavailable.

According to the Department of State, all available EB-2 immigrant visas for nationals of India have been exhausted for fiscal year 2026. As a result, this category will be unavailable in July. Final approvals of EB-2 adjustment of status applications and issuance of immigrant visas generally will be paused until new visa numbers become available. We expect immigrant visas for EB-2 India will become available with the start of fiscal year 2027 on October 1, 2026.

Furthermore, the EB-1 category will retrogress by two months for Indian nationals and advance by two months for Chinese nationals. Meanwhile, the EB-3 and EB-3 Other Worker categories will see forward movement for all nationals except for nationals of China in the EB-3 Other Worker category.

For family-based final action dates, the F-1 category will move forward for all nationals except for nationals of Mexico and the Philippines. The F-2B category will advance for all nationals except for nationals of Mexico. The F-4 category also will move forward for all nationals except for those from India and Mexico.

In July, USCIS will only honor the Dates for Filing Chart for family-based petitions (chart provided further below). A handful of family-based categories will progress in July. As these dates continue to fall ahead of the Final Action Dates, beneficiaries of family-based immigrant visa petitions who are in the United States lawfully can get their applications filed and obtain interim employment and travel benefits until the government can actually approve their application.

Employment-Based Movement

In July, the EB-1 category remains current worldwide, except for Indian nationals, for whom the dates will retrogress by two months, and Chinese nationals, for whom the dates will advance by two months.

The EB-2 category will remain current for all nationals except for nationals of China and India. While EB-2 China will remain the same, EB-2 India will be unavailable.

The EB-3 category will move forward for all nationals, except those from the Philippines whose dates remain the same as last month. Similarly, the EB-3 Other Workers category (for positions requiring less than two years of training) for all nationals will advance, except for those from China.

Here’s a chart for easy reference:

 
 

As a reminder, USCIS will honor the Final Action Dates noted above in July. If the priority date for your employment-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 July.

Family-based Movement

In July, the F-1 category will advance by five months for all nationals, except for those from Mexico and the Philippines.

The F-2A category will remain the same as last month.

The F-2B category will advance by two months for all nationals, except for nationals from Mexico, for whom there will be no forward movement, and nationals from the Philippines, for whom there will be a one-month and one-week advancement.

The F-3 category will advance by one to three months depending on the country (see chart below).

The F-4 category will move forward by one month and three weeks for all nationals, except for nationals of India and Mexico for whom the dates will stay the same in July and for nationals of the Philippines for whom the F-4 category will advance by two weeks and three days.

Here’s a chart for easy reference:

 
 

As mentioned above, USCIS will continue to honor the Dates for Filing chart (further below) for family-based immigrant visa categories in July.

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

  • WHAT DATES IN THE VISA BULLETIN SHOULD YOU USE FOR FILING YOUR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION WITH USCIS?

If USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, then USCIS will state here that you may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin, which usually has dates later than the Final Action Dates noted above. Otherwise, USCIS will indicate on its website that you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart (above) to determine when you may file your adjustment of status application in the United States.

For July 2026, USCIS has confirmed the Dates for Filing (below) should be used for only 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 July.

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