October 2026 Visa Bulletin: China moves forward, worldwide EB-⁠2 and EB-⁠3 go back

The October 2026 Visa Bulletin opens fiscal year 2027, when a new year of green card numbers becomes available. Three things stand out this month: China-born applicants move forward, in some categories by years; worldwide EB-⁠2 and EB-⁠3 lose the "Current" they had in September; and USCIS will accept adjustment of status applications using the dates for filing chart, for both family and employment cases.

The short version

• Worldwide EB-⁠2: no longer current. Final action goes from Current to Jan 1, 2025; dates for filing from Current to Mar 15, 2026.
• Worldwide EB-⁠3: final action back from Sep 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024; dates for filing from Current to Aug 1, 2024.
• China: dates for filing jump. EB-⁠1 to Jul 1, 2024 (up 7 months), EB-⁠2 to Jan 1, 2023 (up a year), EB-⁠3 to Apr 1, 2024 (up more than two years), EB-⁠5 to Mar 1, 2021 (up four years).
• India: EB-⁠2 and EB-⁠5 have a final action date again after being unavailable in September. EB-⁠1 final action moves to Feb 1, 2023.
• Family: F2A moves a month to Sep 22, 2026 for most countries and stays Current for filing. Mexico and the Philippines move forward in nearly every family category.
• Filing: USCIS accepts the dates for filing chart for all family and employment categories this month.

Employment-based: what moved

The first date in each pair is final action, which is when a case can be approved. The second is dates for filing, which is the chart USCIS is using this month to decide who can send in an I-⁠485.

China

• EB-⁠1: final action holds at Jul 1, 2023. Dates for filing move from Dec 1, 2023 to Jul 1, 2024, up 7 months.
• EB-⁠2: final action moves from Sep 1, 2021 to Oct 1, 2021. Dates for filing move from Jan 1, 2022 to Jan 1, 2023, up a full year.
• EB-⁠3: final action moves a week, to Jan 8, 2022. Dates for filing move from Jan 8, 2022 to Apr 1, 2024, up two years and three months.
• Other workers: final action from May 1, 2019 to Oct 1, 2019; dates for filing from Oct 1, 2019 to Oct 1, 2020.
• EB-⁠5 unreserved: final action holds at Dec 1, 2016. Dates for filing move from Mar 1, 2017 to Mar 1, 2021, up four years.

The final action gains are small. The dates for filing gains are large, and because USCIS is using that chart this month, they are the ones that matter for filing: a China-born EB-⁠3 applicant with a priority date in 2022 or 2023 could not file in September and can file now.

India

• EB-⁠1: final action moves from Oct 15, 2022 to Feb 1, 2023. Dates for filing move from Dec 1, 2023 to Jul 1, 2024, up 7 months.
• EB-⁠2: final action was unavailable in September, when the year's numbers ran out. It returns at Nov 1, 2013. Dates for filing hold at Jan 15, 2015.
• EB-⁠3 and other workers: final action holds at Jan 1, 2014; dates for filing hold at Jan 15, 2015.
• EB-⁠5 unreserved: final action was unavailable in September and returns at Dec 1, 2023. Dates for filing hold at May 1, 2024.

For India the news is that EB-⁠2 and EB-⁠5 have a date again. Nothing in EB-⁠2 or EB-⁠3 moves forward.

Worldwide, and Mexico

Worldwide means every country not listed separately. Mexico follows the same dates as worldwide in every employment category this month.

• EB-⁠1: Current on both charts.
• EB-⁠2: final action was Current in September and is now Jan 1, 2025. Dates for filing was Current and is now Mar 15, 2026.
• EB-⁠3: final action goes back from Sep 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024. Dates for filing was Current and is now Aug 1, 2024.
• Other workers: final action goes back from Apr 1, 2022 to Jan 1, 2022; dates for filing from Aug 1, 2022 to Jun 1, 2022.
• EB-⁠4 and religious workers: final action holds at Dec 15, 2022 for every country. Dates for filing move from Jan 1, 2023 to Jan 1, 2025, up two years.
• EB-⁠5: Current on both charts, in every set-aside too.

A step back like this is called retrogression. It happens when the State Department expects more demand than there are numbers for the year, and it is common in October, when a year's allocation has to be spread across twelve months. If your priority date was current last month and is not now, your case is not lost: see "What this means for you" below.

The Philippines

• EB-⁠2: the same as worldwide, so Current to Jan 1, 2025 final action and Mar 15, 2026 for filing.
• EB-⁠3: final action moves two weeks, from Aug 1, 2023 to Aug 15, 2023. Dates for filing hold at Jan 1, 2024.
• Other workers: final action from Dec 1, 2021 to Jan 1, 2022; dates for filing from Aug 1, 2022 to Jun 1, 2022.

Family-based: what moved

Dates for filing for F2A, spouses and children of green card holders, stay Current for every country, so an F2A applicant can file an I-⁠485 now whatever their priority date.

• F1 (adult unmarried children of citizens): final action holds at Jan 22, 2020 for most countries. Mexico moves from Jan 1, 2008 to Sep 8, 2008; the Philippines from May 1, 2013 to Nov 1, 2013.
• F2A: final action moves from Aug 22, 2026 to Sep 22, 2026 for most countries. Mexico moves seven months, from Aug 22, 2025 to Mar 22, 2026.
• F2B (adult unmarried children of green card holders): final action holds at Aug 22, 2019 for most countries. Mexico moves from Feb 15, 2009 to May 15, 2010; the Philippines from Jun 1, 2013 to Oct 1, 2013. For filing, Mexico moves to Mar 22, 2011 and the Philippines to Oct 1, 2014.
• F3 (married children of citizens): final action holds at Oct 22, 2014 for most countries and at Jul 1, 2001 for Mexico. The Philippines moves from Feb 22, 2006 to Jul 22, 2006. For filing, Mexico moves from Jul 15, 2001 to Dec 1, 2002.
• F4 (siblings of citizens): final action holds at Oct 22, 2011 for most countries. India moves from Nov 1, 2006 to Dec 15, 2006; Mexico from Apr 8, 2001 to Apr 22, 2001; the Philippines from Aug 22, 2007 to May 15, 2008. For filing, the Philippines moves a year, to Mar 22, 2009.

Which chart to file with

USCIS says that for October 2026 it will accept I-⁠485 applications using the dates for filing chart, for every family-sponsored and every employment-based category. That chart is later than final action in most rows, so more people can file this month than the final action dates alone would allow.

Filing now does not mean approval now. Approval still waits for your priority date to be current under final action. Filing does let you apply for a work permit and a travel document while you wait, and it fixes your place in line.

What this means for you

1. Your priority date is earlier than the dates for filing date for your category and country: you can file your I-⁠485 this month. If you are worldwide EB-⁠2 or EB-⁠3, notice that the window has narrowed: it was Current in September and is a date now, and it may move again.
2. You already filed and your final action date went backward: nothing is lost. Your application stays pending, your work permit and travel document can still be issued, and the case is decided once your date is current again under final action.
3. You are close but not current: watch November. The first months of a fiscal year often move again once the State Department sees how much demand actually files.

What to watch next

• Whether worldwide EB-⁠2 and EB-⁠3 recover later in the year, or stay where October put them.
• Whether USCIS keeps accepting the dates for filing chart in November. It decides month by month.
• Whether China's dates for filing gains hold; a jump that large is usually followed by heavy filing.

Sources

Visa Bulletin for October 2026 USCIS: Adjustment of status filing charts from the Visa Bulletin The October and September tables, side by side, on ImmigraMate