Business Immigration Insights

Today, September 29, the State Department published the October Visa Bulletin, the first issue of Fiscal Year 2027. The release – just two days before the new fiscal year begins – is exceptionally late as compared to other monthly release dates during FY2026 and release dates of other October Bulletins in recent fiscal years.

Throughout FY26, State released the Bulletin around the middle to third week of the preceding month. That same pattern held true for each October Bulletin for the past five years, all of which were released between September 14 and September 20.

The extreme delay this month generated speculation that when the Bulletin finally was released, it would announce that the annual limit had been reached for FY26 in one or more categories and the State Department would not be scheduling any more immigrant visa interviews during September.

However, the October Bulletin contains no such announcement. In fact, there are indications the State Department’s expected demand simply did not materialize and the government is therefore taking action to open the pipelines and start FY27 with strong number use. It now appears the delay may have been due to internal bottlenecks and/or IT or data processing delays.

The October Bulletin actually shows modest advances in priority dates, from 1 week to 5 months (though some categories remain unchanged from September or have even retrogressed). Further, for the first time since April 2026, USCIS has announced it will use the Dates for Filing chart in October, thereby allowing from 5 to 17 months of additional filing time depending on nationality and category.

Below is a summary, which is based on Final Action Dates and shows changes from the previous month, but first – some background if you’re new to these blog posts.  If you’re familiar with the Visa Bulletin, feel free to skip the following bullet points:

• The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which then releases two charts – “Dates for Filing” and “Final Action Dates” – and designates which chart will apply that month.
• If USCIS designates Dates for Filing and your priority date (that is, the date you were placed on the waiting list) is earlier than the cutoff date for your nationality and category in that chart, you may submit your I‑485 adjustment of status application (if you’re eligible to apply with USCIS from inside the United States). However, USCIS cannot approve the application and issue your green card until your priority date is current in Final Action Dates.
• If you are applying from outside the United States, you cannot file your DS‑260 immigrant visa application until the National Visa Center notifies you to do so, and your home embassy cannot issue you an immigrant visa until your priority date is current in Final Action Dates.

Now, for the October Visa Bulletin:

Priority dates for India advance for EB-1 and EB-2:

• EB-1 advances5 months to February 1, 2023
• EB-2, which had been unavailable since July, advances 2 months to November 1, 2013
• EB-3 Professionals and EB-3 Other Workers hold at January 1, 2014

 China sees modest advances in all categories except EB-1:

• EB-1 holds at July 1, 2023
• EB-2 advances 1 month to October 1, 2021
• EB-3 Professionals advances 1 week to January 8, 2022
• EB-3 Other Workers advances 5 months to October 1, 2019

 All Other Countries retrogresses, except EB-1 and, for the Philippines, EB-3:

• EB-1 remains current
• EB-2, which had been current since April, retrogresses to January 1, 2025
• EB-3 Professionals retrogresses5 months to May 15, 2024 (except the Philippines, which advances 2 weeks to August 15, 2023)
• EB-3 Other Workers retrogresses 3 months to January 1, 2022 (except the Philippines, which advances 1 month to January 1, 2022)

 NOTE 1: USCIS will accept I-485 applications in October based on the Department of State’s more favorable Dates for Filing chart, which allows from 5 to 17 months of additional filing time, depending on nationality and category:

• Indian nationals gain 17 months in EB-1; 14.5 months in EB-2; and 12.5 months in EB-3 Professionals and EB-3 Other Workers.
• Chinese nationals gain 1 year to file in EB-1; 15 months in EB-2; almost 15 months in EB 3 Professionals; and 1 year in EB-3 Other Workers.
• Nationals of all other countries may file their I-485s in advance of their priority dates being current by 14.5 months in EB-2; 2.5 months in EB-3 Professionals; and 5 months in EB-3 Other Workers.

NOTE 2: The Dates for Filing chart applies only to I-485 applications with USCIS.  Immigrant visa applications with US embassies are always based on the Final Action Dates chart.