The U.S. Department of State’s October 2026 Visa Bulletin recorded retrogression in the EB2 and EB3 categories for rest-of-the-world applicants — priority dates moved backward instead of the advance many expected.
In short
- EB2 and EB3 rest of the world retrogressed: from “current” to January 1, 2025, and from September 1 to May 15, 2024, respectively.
- In October, USCIS uses the Dates for Filing chart for adjustment of status — the only guaranteed month of the year for this chart.
- For China, EB3 advanced nearly two years — from January 8, 2022 to April 1, 2024 — while India’s reserved EB2 and EB5 categories reopened.
- By the end of September, 270,000 adjustment of status applications were pending against an annual limit of 140,000 green cards.
- The Department of State has warned that further retrogression is possible in November — no improvement is guaranteed.
What changed in the October 2026 Visa Bulletin
The Department of State released the October Visa Bulletin, and the biggest hit landed on the EB2 and EB3 rest-of-the-world categories — both went through retrogression. By comparison, several other categories didn’t move at all in October.
The Department of State released the October Visa Bulletin, and the biggest hit landed on the EB2 and EB3 rest-of-the-world categories — both went through retrogression.
EB1 rest of the world stayed current — meaning no queue date, and applications in this category keep moving without delay. EB5 rest of the world also remained current for unreserved visas — the changes didn’t touch this category.
Country-specific charts took a hit too: the EB2 charts for Mexico and the Philippines received the same retrogression as EB2 rest of the world. So the October pullback wasn’t limited to the general worldwide category — it also hit applicants tied to these two countries.
EB2 and EB3 rest of the world: the new priority dates
EB2 rest of the world shifted from “current” to January 1, 2025: an applicant’s priority date must now fall on or before that date. EB3 rest of the world retrogressed from September 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024 — a gap of nearly four months.
The same retrogression hit EB2 for Mexico and the Philippines: both categories took the identical step back as rest of the world.
Year over year, the picture is also negative: in October 2025, EB2 rest of the world was current, and EB3 rest of the world stood at May 15, 2025. Today’s dates — January 1, 2025 and May 15, 2024, respectively — are worse than a year ago. In other words, October 2026’s retrogression doesn’t offset earlier progress; it extends the backlog.
EB2 and EB3 rest of the world: before and after
Priority dates moved backward compared to September 2026.
- EB2 rest of the world
- EB3 rest of the world
EB2 rest of the world moved from “current” to January 1, 2025; EB3 rest of the world fell from September 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024. Both categories are now worse off than a year ago.
Changes for applicants born in China and India
For applicants born in China, the October bulletin brought forward movement, not retrogression. The EB3 category advanced from January 8, 2022 to April 1, 2024 — almost two years. The EB2 category for the same group moved forward by roughly a year.
For those born in India, the changes affect different categories. EB1 moved forward. The reserved EB2 and EB5 categories became available again — in September they had been unavailable.
So the negative movement in the October bulletin is confined to the EB2 and EB3 rest-of-the-world categories. For China and India, the trend is largely positive.
Final action dates vs. dates for filing: which chart USCIS uses in October
Every month the Visa Bulletin publishes two charts for family and employment categories, and the difference between them determines whether you can even file a green card application at all. The Final Action Dates chart is the table the government uses to approve a green card. The Dates for Filing chart is the table used only to accept an application for review. Each month, USCIS separately announces which of the two charts applicants for adjustment of status can use to file.
In September, for employment-based categories, USCIS used the Final Action Dates chart. The cutoff on that chart was September 1, 2024 — anyone with a later priority date couldn’t file at all, even if the Dates for Filing chart showed “current” for their category. In October, USCIS switched back to the Dates for Filing chart: the real-world setback for applicants turns out smaller than it looks on paper, because they couldn’t have filed before September 1, 2024 anyway.
October is the only month of the year when use of the Dates for Filing chart for adjustment of status is guaranteed in advance. There’s no such guarantee for November: USCIS can revert to the Final Action Dates chart at any point, which would again lengthen wait times for anyone who hasn’t filed yet.
In October, USCIS uses the Dates for Filing chart for adjustment of status — the only month of the year when this is guaranteed in advance.
Final action dates vs. dates for filing: the difference
| Parameter | Final Action Dates chart | Dates for Filing chart |
|---|---|---|
| What it determines | This chart is used to approve a green card | This chart is used only to accept an application for review |
| Used in September | Yes, for employment categories | No |
| Used in October | No | Yes |
| September cutoff | September 1, 2024 | — |
Each month, USCIS separately announces which of the two charts applicants can use to file for adjustment of status.
What this means for pending adjustment of status applications
For those who are only planning to file, the retrogression isn’t as painful as it first appears. In September, a priority date for filing an adjustment of status application in the EB3 category had to be September 1, 2024 or earlier. Under the October bulletin, after the switch back to the Dates for Filing chart, the threshold for filing under EB3 rest of the world became earlier than the Final Action Dates cutoff of May 15, 2024 — however, the exact Dates for Filing date for EB3 isn’t specified in the source material, so it would be inaccurate to estimate the size of the gap in months.
The situation is entirely different for those whose applications are already pending. Here the retrogression hits harder, because this is about approval, not filing. For EB2 rest of the world, the bar moved from “current” status to January 1, 2025: applications with a later priority date that could have been approved last month can no longer be approved. The same story applies to EB3 — the retrogression from September 1 to May 15 means cases with priority dates between May 15 and September 1, 2024, which were approvable just recently, have fallen out of the queue. These applicants now face longer waits and delays on cases already filed.
EB2 and EB3 rest-of-the-world applicants with a priority date that was approvable just recently have now fallen out of the queue and will face delays.
Why the Visa Bulletin retrogressed
By the end of September, 270,000 adjustment of status applications in employment-based categories were pending — against a statutory limit of 140,000 green cards per year. That’s more than double the annual quota, and the Department of State cites this mismatch as the main reason for the retrogression.
An additional quarterly limit also applies: in the first three quarters of each fiscal year, no more than 27% of the visas available for that year can be issued. The October bulletin is the first of fiscal year 2027, so the quota has only just begun to open while the number of pending cases is already enormous.
At the same time, 270,000 filed applications don’t equal 270,000 future green cards: many I-485 applications are filed concurrently with an I-140 petition, and if the I-140 is denied, the I-485 can’t be approved either. A telling example is national interest waiver petitions, where the denial rate has risen from roughly 37% to 57%. The Department of State can’t adjust the bulletin until USCIS works through these underlying I-140 cases — real demand will only become visible once the backlog of pending petitions is processed at scale.
A telling example is national interest waiver petitions, where the denial rate has risen from roughly 37% to 57%.
Pending applications vs. the annual green card quota
Pending employment-based cases are nearly double the annual limit.
- Pending adjustment of status applications (employment categories)270,000As of end of September
- Annual limit of employment-based green cards140,000Statutory limit
By the end of September, 270,000 adjustment of status applications were pending against an annual limit of 140,000 green cards — more than double the quota.
What to expect from the November bulletin
The Department of State has explicitly warned that further retrogression is possible in November — improvement in the dates is not guaranteed. Forward movement in employment categories is theoretically possible, but depends on several factors, none of which has been settled yet.
The Department of State has explicitly warned that further retrogression is possible in November — improvement in the dates is not guaranteed.
One such factor is the fate of unused family-based green card numbers. By some estimates, as many as 73,000 could be available, and if transferred into the employment-based pool, that would meaningfully increase the number of visas available in November. But this is a projection, not a settled outcome: the Department of State still can’t gauge real demand, because it’s waiting on USCIS to process pending I-140 petitions.
One detail matters specifically for those filing adjustment of status in October: USCIS is using the Dates for Filing chart, and October is the only month of the year when that’s guaranteed. There’s no guarantee the agency won’t revert to the Final Action Dates chart in November — which would mean later dates and longer waits.
Frequently asked questions
Why can’t the Department of State simply raise the green card quota to clear the backlog?
The green card quota for employment-based categories is capped by law at 140,000 per year, with an additional quarterly rule limiting the first three quarters of a fiscal year to no more than 27% of that year’s available visas. These limits are set by legislation, not the Visa Bulletin itself, so the Department of State can only adjust queue dates — not the size of the quota.
Does the chance of national interest waiver approval depend on an applicant’s country of origin?
The rise in national interest waiver denials from roughly 37% to 57% is tied to overall pressure on the employment-based queue, not to any specific country — the source material presents this figure as a general trend, without a breakdown by applicants’ country of origin.
Comments
Reader experience is useful, but it is not advice: check the rules on the official site.
No account needed: click Sign in, type any name, and you are done.