The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the first bulletin of fiscal year 2027, identifying when applicants in family and employment-based immigrant visa categories may take the next step toward lawful permanent resident status (green card). For October 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is permitting adjustment of status applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine whether they may submit Form I-485. The most popular categories have moved as follows:
- EB-1 is current for all countries except China and India. The priority/cut-off date for both China and India is July 1, 2024.
- EB-2 has a priority date of March 15, 2026 for all countries except China and India. The filing date is January 1, 2023, for China and January 15, 2015, for India.
- EB-3 has a filing date of August 1, 2024 for all countries except China, India, and the Philippines. The filing dates are April 1, 2024 for China, January 15, 2015 for India, and January 1, 2024 for the Philippines.
The EB-1 category includes EB-1A extraordinary ability aliens, EB-1B outstanding researchers and professors, and EB-1C multinational managers and executives. The EB-2 category includes National Interest Waivers, Schedule A Exceptional Ability and advanced degree PERM labor certification application-based Forms I-140 immigrant visa petitions. The EB-3 category includes skilled workers (two years of experience), professionals (bachelor’s degree) and other workers.
USCIS has confirmed that employment-based adjustment of status applicants for the green card must use the Dates for Filing chart for October 2026 to determine whether they may submit Form I-485. An applicant for the green card may file if the applicable category is current or if the applicant’s priority date is earlier than the cutoff date listed for the preference category and country of chargeability, provided all other adjustment-of-status requirements are satisfied.
For those interested in holding green card status, it is very important to closely monitor the Visa Bulletin each month to learn if a visa number is available to apply for a green card. A foreign national who is eligible to file for the green card in the month noted in the Visa Bulletin chart should file that month, since the visa numbers can slide backwards (retrogress) in successive months, making the foreign national ineligible until the visa number becomes available again.
Applicants who are eligible under the October 2026 Dates for Filing chart should consider filing Form I-485 during October if they are otherwise eligible. Because cutoff dates may advance, remain unchanged, or retrogress in later months, eligible applicants should carefully evaluate whether to file while their priority dates permit filing.
In the charts below, the “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications for the green card may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. For employment-based cases, the priority date is the date that the PERM labor certification, or if not required, the Form I-140 was filed. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date which is earlier than the listed date may file their application.
DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA APPLICATIONS
For October 2026, USCIS will accept employment-based Forms I-485 based on the Dates for Filing chart below. Applicants must have a priority date earlier than the listed cutoff date, unless the category is current, and must otherwise be eligible to adjust status.
| Employment- based |
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed |
CHINA- mainland born |
INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | 01JUL24 | 01JUL24 | C | C |
| 2nd | 15MAR26 | 01JAN23 | 15JAN15 | 15MAR26 | 15MAR26 |
| 3rd | 01AUG24 | 01APR24 | 15JAN15 | 01AUG24 | 01JAN24 |
| Other Workers | 01JUN22 | 01OCT20 | 15JAN15 | 01JUN22 | 01JUN22 |
| 4th | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 |
| Certain Religious Workers | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 | 01JAN25 |
| 5th Unreserved | C | 01MAR21 | 01MAY24 | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: Rural | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: High Unemployment | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: Infrastructure | C | C | C | C | C |