Families waiting for a green card through adjustment of status are receiving new USCIS notices marked “initial review,” even though their priority dates aren’t yet current. At the same time, the October Visa Bulletin is being delayed — likely due to the recalculation of numbers for countries affected by the now-rescinded ban, and a pause in green card issuance at consulates worldwide.

Why the Visa Bulletin Isn’t Out on Time

The Department of State usually publishes the October Visa Bulletin by the end of September. By law this is mandatory — numbers must be allocated according to the distribution set by Congress. However, the delay is being explained by several factors.

In mid-August, the ban on citizens of 75 countries introduced earlier was rescinded. Now the Department of State and USCIS are reconciling new numerical figures: how many visas will shift from the family category to the employment category, and how this will affect the availability of slots. This information usually appears by late September, but calculating all the scenarios is more complex than before.

A second reason is added — green card issuance has been paused at nearly all consulates worldwide. Although a few countries have resumed the process, most are still waiting. In past years, USCIS has several times released the October bulletin without final visa reallocation data, then adjusted the numbers in November and December. There are no legal obstacles to acting the same way in 2026, so publication could happen any day this week — before September 30.

New I-485 Supplement J Notices

Over the past two weeks, people who filed for adjustment of status in the EB2 and EB3 categories have begun receiving notices closing their cases on Form I-485 Supplement J. This is not cause for concern.

Supplement J exists for two purposes: to confirm the validity of a job offer, or to requalify for a different position under the AC21 rule. If you’ve been waiting for your change of status to be approved for more than six months, you can change jobs — this won’t affect your I-485 as long as the new position is in the same category as stated in the original I-140. A case closure on Supplement J is simply confirmation: USCIS has recorded that you still have a genuine offer or that you completed the transfer correctly.

I-485 Notices Marked “Initial Review”

A more interesting case is the notices being sent out in recent days to applicants with priority dates from 2014–2015, and even to those who filed their I-485 quite recently. They state that the case requires USCIS attention and its status has been changed to “initial review.”

This means an officer has opened your case and started working on it. Even if the final action date for granting a green card hasn’t arrived yet, someone at USCIS has already touched your file. For cases that have waited for years, this may mean a re-check: if the applicant once passed an FBI check, they may now go through it again to assess social media activity or public charge status — exactly as the Department of State requires for current cases.

For those who filed their I-485 recently, the notice states: we are beginning to review your profile. USCIS didn’t used to send such letters before, but now it does so deliberately.

Why USCIS Sends Notices Even When the Date Isn’t Current Yet

Officially, USCIS explains this as transparency: the applicant will receive a notice about the privacy release (consent for an FBI check), which didn’t exist before. This tells you: we are preparing to start the background check.

But there may be other reasons too. USCIS has requested new funding, including a proposed $100,000 fee for each H-1B petition. The justification is that this money would cover the costs of processing all applications at USCIS and the Department of State. To prove that active work is underway on all cases, the agency may deliberately send interim notices — even if they convey little information. This documents activity on every case.

There’s also an optimistic interpretation: USCIS may be updating statuses in the database in advance, preparing for the moment when priority dates become current. As soon as that happens after the new Visa Bulletin is released, the case will be processed quickly because the groundwork has already been laid.

Overall, these notices aren’t a bad sign. Movement on a case, even if interim, is better than total silence. It shows that your application hasn’t been forgotten.

When to Expect the October Visa Bulletin

By law, USCIS and the Department of State are required to publish the figures. At the latest, this will happen by September 30, but there’s a chance of getting them sooner, this week: on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. No official explanation for the delay has been given, so all that’s left is to wait.