The United States Department of State’s August 2026 Visa Bulletin has delivered some of the biggest advances of the year for family-sponsored green card applicants, while employment-based categories recorded more limited progress, with some visa classes remaining unavailable for applicants from India due to exhausted annual limits.
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The Visa Bulletin is important because it determines when immigrant visa applicants can move forward in the green card process. It uses two major timelines: Final Action Dates, which show when the government can approve and issue a green card, and Dates for Filing, which show when applicants may submit documents and begin processing even before a green card becomes available. In practical terms, the filing date allows applicants to join the queue, while the final action date shows when they have reached the front of the line.
According to the August bulletin, family-sponsored visa applicants were the biggest beneficiaries, with several categories moving forward significantly compared with July.
The most notable movement came in the F2A category, which covers spouses and unmarried children of lawful permanent residents. For most countries, the final action date jumped from January 1, 2025, to July 22, 2026. Mexico also advanced, moving from January 1, 2024, to July 22, 2025.
The F1 category, which covers unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, also moved forward for most countries, advancing from February 1, 2018, to December 15, 2018. Mexico advanced from November 8, 2007, to December 1, 2007, while the Philippines remained unchanged at May 1, 2013.
In the F2B category, which applies to unmarried adult sons and daughters of green card holders, the final action date for most countries moved from November 22, 2017, to January 1, 2018. The Philippines advanced from May 15, 2013, to June 1, 2013, while Mexico remained unchanged at February 15, 2009.
The F3 category, for married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, recorded modest progress. Most countries moved from April 15, 2012, to May 15, 2012, while Mexico advanced from June 1, 2001, to July 1, 2001. The Philippines remained unchanged at February 22, 2006.
The F4 category, which covers siblings of adult U.S. citizens, also saw movement for most countries, with the final action date advancing from January 1, 2009, to September 1, 2009. However, India, Mexico and the Philippines did not move forward in that category.
The bulletin also showed gains in the Dates for Filing chart for several family-based categories. In F1, most countries moved from January 1, 2019, to June 15, 2019, while Mexico advanced from October 1, 2008, to December 1, 2008. The Philippines remained unchanged.
For F2B applicants, most countries advanced from June 8, 2018, to January 1, 2019, while Mexico and the Philippines did not change. In F3, most countries moved from December 8, 2012, to March 1, 2013, while Mexico and the Philippines remained static. The F4 filing date for most countries advanced from March 1, 2010, to June 22, 2010, while Mexico, India and the Philippines remained unchanged.
The F2A filing chart remained current worldwide, meaning eligible applicants in that category may continue filing regardless of priority date.
However, the August bulletin also contained warnings about possible future slowdowns as the fiscal year approaches its end on September 30. The State Department warned that high demand from Indian applicants in the EB-1 employment-based category could make the category unavailable in the coming weeks if India’s annual visa allocation is exhausted.
The department also warned that increased usage in the broader EB-2 category could lead to future retrogression or temporary unavailability. It said visa issuance rates from some countries had declined due to administrative actions affecting immigrant visa processing, prompting recent advances across multiple categories to ensure available visas are used before the end of fiscal year 2026.
Unlike the family-sponsored categories, employment-based visas recorded only limited progress in August.
In the EB-1 category, China’s final action date advanced from June 1, 2023, to July 1, 2023. India remained unchanged at October 15, 2022, while all other countries remained current. The State Department again warned that high demand and visa usage could make the category unavailable for India before the fiscal year ends.
The EB-2 category remained unchanged. It stayed current for most countries but remained unavailable for India in both July and August. China remained at September 1, 2021.
There was more noticeable movement in EB-3 skilled worker and professional visas. For most countries, the final action date advanced from August 1, 2024, to September 1, 2024. China moved from December 22, 2021, to January 1, 2022, while India remained unchanged at January 1, 2014. Mexico advanced by one month from August 1, 2024, to September 1, 2024, while the Philippines remained at August 1, 2023.
The Other Workers category also advanced. Most countries moved from March 1, 2022, to April 1, 2022, while China advanced from April 1, 2019, to May 1, 2019. Mexico also moved from March 1, 2022, to April 1, 2022, while India and the Philippines remained unchanged.
In the employment-based filing chart, EB-3 China moved slightly from January 1, 2022, to January 8, 2022, while other employment filing categories remained unchanged.
The EB-4 category advanced across all countries, moving from September 15, 2022, to October 15, 2022. Certain Religious Workers also recorded the same movement worldwide.
For EB-5 investor visas, the unreserved category remained largely unchanged. China stayed at December 1, 2016, while India remained unavailable. The category remained current for most other countries. All EB-5 set-aside categories, including rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure investments, remained current worldwide.
The clearest beneficiaries of the August bulletin are family-sponsored applicants, especially those in the F2A category. F1, F2B and F4 applicants also saw meaningful forward movement, while employment-based applicants saw only modest advances in EB-1, EB-3 and EB-4 categories.
With only two months left in fiscal year 2026, applicants will now be watching to see whether the State Department can maintain the advances or whether growing demand will force some cut-off dates to move backward, become unavailable, or change again before new visa numbers become available in October.
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