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The August 2026 Visa Bulletin is out, and USCIS has confirmed it will use the Final Action Dates chart (Chart A) for employment-based adjustment of status filings this month. Family-sponsored applicants continue to use the Dates for Filing chart. For employment-based cases that means the stricter chart governs: unless a priority date falls earlier than the final action date for that category and country of chargeability, there is no I-485 to file in August.
The month divides sharply along country lines. India saw no forward movement in any employment-based category, while China advanced in two.
EB-1 India held flat at October 15, 2022. After two consecutive retrogressions, the date has stopped moving rather than recovering, and the bulletin attaches an explicit caution to the category: high demand and number use by applicants chargeable to India may make it necessary to render EB-1 unavailable in the coming weeks. For anyone in EB-1 India whose priority date is already current, that is a reason to file now rather than pace the case.
EB-3 India held at January 1, 2014, unchanged from July.
EB-2 India and EB-5 India (unreserved) both stay Unavailable after reaching their FY2026 limits. Unavailable is stricter than a cut-off date. There is no date to be earlier than, no immigrant numbers will be issued, and with USCIS on the final action chart there is no practical path to file. What it does not affect is equally important: priority dates hold, and a pending or approved I-140 is unaffected. Nothing is lost, it is simply frozen until the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2026.
The EB-5 set-aside categories, Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure, remain Current for every country, including India. For investors who can target those allocations, that route remains available while the unreserved category is closed.
EB-1 China advanced to July 1, 2023, and EB-3 China advanced to January 1, 2022. EB-2 China held at September 1, 2021.
The contrast is worth noting. China has advanced steadily this year rather than spiking, because it was not used as the relief valve for redirected visa numbers the way India was. Steady movement is less pronounced month to month, but it is the more durable pattern, and it is why China enters the FY2027 reset in a stronger position than India.
EB-3 advanced one month to September 1, 2024 for all chargeability areas and for Mexico. Philippines EB-3 held at August 1, 2023. EB-1, EB-2, and EB-5 unreserved remain Current across all of these.
Further down the chart, EB-3 Other Workers sits at April 1, 2022 worldwide, with China at May 1, 2019, India at January 1, 2014, and the Philippines at December 1, 2021. EB-4 and Certain Religious Workers are at October 15, 2022 for every country.
The State Department has indicated that EB-2 India should return to a final action date of July 15, 2014 or earlier once FY2027 numbers become available on October 1, 2026. EB-5 India unreserved is likewise expected to return to a dated status rather than remaining unavailable.
Both are projections rather than commitments. The bulletin itself cautions that demand in EB-2 more broadly may make it necessary to retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable again in the coming months in order to stay within the annual limit. Plan around the reset, but do not treat any specific October date as guaranteed.
August is a holding month for India. The priority now is queuing cases for the October 1 window, not treating the current freeze as a dead end.
That starts with getting affected cases filing-ready before the reset rather than after it. Civil documents, Form I-693 medical exams, and updated employer support letters should be collected in August and September so that packages can be submitted in the first days of October instead of being assembled then. Employees who file in that first week benefit most from the reset.
It also means revisiting category strategy for India-born employees. With EB-3 India at January 1, 2014 and EB-2 India unavailable, EB-3 now sits ahead of EB-2, which returns the downgrade question to the table for anyone whose priority date falls in that range. EB-1 warrants review for employees who plausibly qualify, though the unavailability warning attached to EB-1 India means those cases should move promptly rather than remain in review.
Finally, monitor the chart determination itself. USCIS publishes which chart applies each month, and a switch from Final Action Dates to Dates for Filing would change what can be submitted almost immediately. That determination often matters more to a given month's filing plan than the date movement does.
Sources:
Visa Bulletin for August 2026, U.S. Department of State
Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin, USCIS
USCIS has confirmed that employment-based adjustment of status applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart (Chart A) in the August 2026 Visa Bulletin. Family-sponsored applicants use the Dates for Filing chart (Chart B). USCIS makes this determination each month, so the chart in play should be checked before every filing.
Unavailable is stricter than a cut-off date. Rather than listing a date your priority date must precede, the category shows a "U", which means no immigrant numbers are being issued at all. EB-2 India and EB-5 India (unreserved) reached their FY2026 limits, so no green cards will be approved in those categories until the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2026. Priority dates are unaffected, and a pending or approved I-140 remains valid.
Both categories should return when FY2027 numbers are released on October 1, 2026. The State Department has indicated that the EB-2 India final action date will advance to July 15, 2014 or earlier at that point, and EB-5 India unreserved is expected to return to a dated status rather than staying unavailable. These are projections rather than commitments, and the bulletin warns that EB-2 demand more broadly could force retrogression again later in the year.
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