Families waiting for U.S. green cards received some welcome movement in the August 2026 Visa Bulletin. The largest change affects spouses and young children of permanent residents, whose final action date moved forward by more than 18 months.
The news is far less encouraging for Indian professionals. The EB-2 and unreserved EB-5 categories remain unavailable for applicants from India. The State Department also warned that EB-1 India could run out of available visa numbers within weeks.
Applicants should not read the bulletin as an approval notice. A date becoming current allows a case to move to the next stage, but the applicant must still meet every immigration requirement and complete the remaining checks.
Spouses and Children of Green Card Holders Get the Biggest Move
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The strongest movement came in F2A, the family category for spouses and unmarried children under 21 of lawful permanent residents.
For most countries, the F2A final action date advanced from January 1, 2025, to July 22, 2026. Mexico moved from January 1, 2024, to July 22, 2025.
A final action date controls when the government can approve an immigrant visa or adjustment of status application. Applicants generally need a priority date earlier than the date printed in the bulletin.
The F2A dates for filing are also current across every listed country. That means qualified applicants can prepare and submit visa documents when instructed. People applying from inside the United States must still check the USCIS filing chart for August before submitting Form I-485.
Family category
July final action date
August final action date
F1, unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens
February 1, 2018
December 15, 2018
F2A, spouses and young children of permanent residents
January 1, 2025
July 22, 2026
F2B, unmarried adult children of permanent residents
November 22, 2017
January 1, 2018
F3, married children of U.S. citizens
April 15, 2012
May 15, 2012
F4, siblings of adult U.S. citizens
January 1, 2009
September 1, 2009
The table shows dates for countries without a separate listing. Mexico, India, and the Philippines have different dates in several categories because demand has exceeded the per-country limits.
EB-1 India Is Still Open, but It May Not Stay Open
The August bulletin did not close EB-1 India. Its final action date remains October 15, 2022. The category covers priority workers, including people with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives.
The concern comes from a direct warning in the bulletin. The State Department said high demand may force it to mark EB-1 India as unavailable before the fiscal year ends on September 30.
An unavailable category is marked with the letter “U.” Consulates cannot issue immigrant visas in that category, and USCIS cannot approve affected adjustment cases until new numbers become available.
India has already reached that point in EB-2 and unreserved EB-5. Both remain unavailable in August. EB-3 India stays at January 1, 2014, leaving applicants with newer priority dates waiting.
The official August 2026 Visa Bulletin also warns that EB-2 could move backward or become unavailable for additional countries if demand continues at its current rate.
Some Employment Categories Still Moved Forward
The employment side is not frozen everywhere. EB-1 China advanced by one month to July 1, 2023. EB-3 for most countries moved from August 1 to September 1, 2024. China’s EB-3 date advanced to January 1, 2022.
EB-4 also gained one month and now carries a final action date of October 15, 2022, for all listed countries.
Those changes help applicants whose priority dates now fall before the new cutoffs. They do not remove the wider backlog. Employment green card cases can still be held up by labor certification, petition processing and annual visa limits.
Our guide to family and employment green card delays explains how those separate waits can affect the same case.
What Applicants Should Do in August
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Applicants should find the priority date on their I-797 approval notice and compare it with the correct category and country column. A date must normally be earlier than the published cutoff, not the same as it.
People with current dates should make sure civil records, medical examinations, and financial documents are ready. Applicants already in the United States should confirm which chart USCIS has chosen for August before filing an adjustment application.
Indian EB-1 applicants with current priority dates have the most immediate reason to act. The category remains available now, but the State Department has made clear that its remaining visa numbers may not last through September.
Annual employment limits reset when fiscal year 2027 begins on October 1. New numbers can reopen a category, although a reset does not guarantee that its cutoff date will advance immediately.
