United States: April 2026 Visa Bulletin – Continued Advancement in Several Employment-Based Categories; USCIS to Honor Dates for Filing

Continuing the forward movement observed last month, the State Department’s April Visa Bulletin shows advancement in several employment-based immigrant visa categories, with especially large advances for most countries in the Final Action Dates for the EB-2 category and the Dates for Filing for the EB-3 Professional & Skilled Worker category.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced on its own Visa Bulletin-related web page that the agency will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the Visa Bulletin Dates for Filing chart in April.

The Dates for Filing cutoff dates govern when a foreign national may be eligible to submit an adjustment of status application to USCIS. To be eligible to file an employment-based adjustment application in April, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than the Date for Filing listed for their preference category and country below:

• EB-1: China and India will remain at December 1, 2023. All other countries will continue to be current.
• EB-2: India with advance by two and a half months, to January 15, 2015. China will remain at January 1, 2022. All other countries will remain current.
• EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: All countries except India, China, and Philippines will advance by over fourteen months and become current. India will advance by five months to January 15, 2015. China will remain at January 1, 2022, and Philippines will remain at January 1, 2024.
• EB-5: For the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China will remain at October 1, 2016, and India will remain at May 1, 2024. All other countries will remain current. The EB-5 set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will also remain current.

Under the April Bulletin, Final Action cutoff dates for issuance of an immigrant visa or approval of an adjustment of status application will be as follows: 

• EB-1: China and India will advance by one month to April 1, 2023. All other countries will continue to be current.
• EB-2: China will remain at September 1, 2021, and India will advance by ten months to July 15, 2014. All other countries will advance a year and a half, becoming current.
• EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: China will advance by six weeks to June 15, 2021. India and Philippines will remain at November 15, 2013, and August 1, 2023, respectively. All other countries will advance by eight months to June 1, 2024.
• EB-5: For the EB-5 Unreserved categories, China will advance by two weeks to September 1, 2016, and India will remain at May 1, 2022. All other countries will remain current. The EB-5 set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will also remain current.

The complete list of dates for each chart is located below.