The August 2026 Visa Bulletin, Explained Without the Headache
FISCAL YEAR ENDS SEPTEMBER 30 — DOS WARNS MORE CATEGORIES COULD CLOSE BEFORE THEN
If the August 2026 Visa Bulletin made you feel like you were reading a spreadsheet in a language you never studied, you are in very good company. Two charts, five country columns, a wall of dates, and somewhere in there is the answer to whether you can finally file.
This month is worth understanding, because a lot moved. F2A advanced almost 19 months in a single month — one of the largest jumps in years for spouses and minor children of green card holders. Most employment categories crept forward. And two categories for India stayed shut, with no realistic reopening before the new fiscal year begins October 1.
Let's go through what changed since July, and what the Department of State is telling us about September and beyond.
First Things First: Which Chart Are You Supposed to Read?
This is the single most common mistake we see, and it costs people months. The bulletin has two charts, and USCIS decides each month which one adjustment of status applicants may use. The choice changes. What was true in March may not be true in August.
For August 2026, USCIS confirmed:
Family-sponsored cases → Dates for Filing (Chart B). If your priority date is earlier than the date in Chart B, you may file your I-485 now.
Employment-based cases → Final Action Dates (Chart A). Employment applicants do not get the earlier filing chart this month, which is the stricter of the two options.
Important: if you are outside the United States and going through a consulate instead of adjusting status, none of that applies to you. Consular cases move on Final Action Dates, and the National Visa Center uses its own timing for when you may submit documents.
One more thing consular applicants need to know this month: the bulletin's own Section D states that "immigrant visa issuance rates for aliens from certain countries have decreased in light of various actions the administration has taken to protect national security and public safety." A current priority date does not guarantee an interview or a visa on the timeline you would normally expect. If you are waiting on a consulate abroad, this matters more to you than any date in the tables below.
The Big Family News: F2A Moved Almost 19 Months
F2A covers spouses and unmarried children under 21 of lawful permanent residents. In July, the Final Action Date sat at January 1, 2025. In August it jumped to July 22, 2026.
Read that date again, because it surprises people: it is only weeks in the past. In practical terms, nearly everyone currently waiting in F2A now has a visa number available. Mexico moved the same distance, to July 22, 2025.
Here is the full family picture for Final Action Dates, with July for comparison:
| Category | July 2026 | August 2026 | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| F1 — adult unmarried sons/daughters of USCs | 01FEB18 | 15DEC18 | +10.5 months |
| F2A — spouses/minor children of LPRs | 01JAN25 | 22JUL26 | +18.7 months |
| F2B — adult unmarried sons/daughters of LPRs | 22NOV17 | 01JAN18 | +6 weeks |
| F3 — married sons/daughters of USCs | 15APR12 | 15MAY12 | +1 month |
| F4 — siblings of USCs | 01JAN09 | 01SEP09 | +8 months |
Those are the "All Chargeability Areas" figures. They apply to China in every family category, and to India in every category except F4, where India sits further back at November 1, 2006. Mexico and the Philippines remain in a different universe: Mexico's F4 sits at April 8, 2001, and the Philippines at August 1, 2007, and neither moved. F3 Mexico is at July 1, 2001.
If you are filing an I-485, though, the chart that governs you this month is Dates for Filing, and that one moved too:
F2A is Current. No date at all — every F2A applicant may file.
F1 advanced to June 15, 2019 from January 1, 2019.
F2B advanced to January 1, 2019 from June 8, 2018 — about seven months.
F3 advanced to March 1, 2013 and F4 to June 22, 2010.
“A priority date becoming current is not an approval. It is
permission to take the next step — and the window can close
again before you take it.”
Employment Categories: Small Steps, and Two Doors Still Closed
Employment movement in the August 2026 Visa Bulletin was modest but real. Remember that employment adjustment filers use Final Action Dates this month, so these are the numbers that matter to you.
| Category | All Areas | China | India | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Current | 01JUL23 | 15OCT22 | Current |
| EB-2 | Current | 01SEP21 | Unavailable | Current |
| EB-3 Skilled Workers & Professionals | 01SEP24 | 01JAN22 | 01JAN14 | 01AUG23 |
| EB-3 Other Workers | 01APR22 | 01MAY19 | 01JAN14 | 01DEC21 |
| EB-4 | 15OCT22 | 15OCT22 | 15OCT22 | 15OCT22 |
| EB-5 Unreserved | Current | 01DEC16 | Unavailable | Current |
Mexico tracks the All Areas column exactly in every employment category this month, which is why it is not broken out separately
What actually changed from July: EB-1 China gained a month, EB-3 for most countries and Mexico gained a month to September 1, 2024, EB-3 China moved about a week, Other Workers gained a month for All Areas, Mexico and China, but did not move for India or the Philippines, and EB-4 gained a month. EB-1 India and EB-3 India did not move at all. EB-5 set-aside categories — rural, high unemployment, infrastructure — remain Current for everyone.
EB-2 India and EB-5 Unreserved India are marked “U” — Unavailable. Demand from India has outrun the pro-rated annual limits in both categories. In practice, categories marked unavailable this late in the year rarely reopen before the fiscal year turns over.
The fiscal year ends September 30. New numbers are allocated on October 1, which is why these categories typically reopen in the October bulletin — often with a much earlier date than before they closed.
What the Department of State Is Warning About Next
The bulletin's own notes are the part almost nobody reads, and this month they are unusually blunt. Three warnings are worth planning around:
EB-1 India could become unavailable “in the coming weeks.” Not months. High demand is pushing against the annual limit.
EB-2 may retrogress or close. DOS says sufficient demand andincreased number use may make it necessary to retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable in the coming months. China EB-2 and Philippines EB-3 were also flagged.
A general retrogression warning. The bulletin states that visa categories "may become 'Unavailable' prior to the end of the fiscal year if annual limits, category limits, or pro-rated per-country limits are reached," and that the situation "is being continually monitored."
Diversity Visa numbers may run out before September 30. DV-2026 selectees should not assume the full month of September is available to them.
Translation: if a category is open for you right now, the safest assumption is that this window is temporary. The September bulletin is the last of fiscal year 2026, and September is historically the month when categories snap shut
What You Can Actually Do This Month
A bulletin is only useful if it turns into action. Depending on where you sit, here is what August calls for.
Find your priority date and stop guessing. It is printed on your I-797 approval notice for the I-130 or I-140 — the receipt date of that petition, not the date you got married or the date you filed anything else.
If you are F2A, move now. Dates for Filing is Current and Final Action is only weeks in the past. This is the strongest position F2A applicants have been in for a long time, and it may not last.
File the whole package, not just the I-485. Filing the I-765 work permit and I-131 travel document together costs nothing extra and gets the clock started on both.
Get the medical exam and civil documents ready before your date is current, not after. People lose months waiting on a birth certificate from abroad.
If you were born in India or China and your spouse was not, ask about cross-chargeability. You may be able to use your spouse's country of birth, which for an EB-2 India applicant right now is the difference between closed and Current. This is one of the most underused rules in the system.
If a child is close to turning 21, get the CSPA math done immediately. Big date movements change age-out calculations in both directions, and F2A jumping 18 months affects a lot of families with teenagers.
➢ If your category retrogresses after you file, you do not lose your case. A filed I-485 stays pending. You keep renewing your EAD and advance parole and you wait for a number. Retrogression delays approval; it does not undo a filing. That is exactly why filing during an open window matters so much.
Four Misreadings of the August 2026 Visa Bulletin
We field these every month, and each one has cost somebody real time.
➢ “Current means approved.” It means a visa number is available. Your case still needs to be adjudicated, and your eligibility is a separate question entirely.
➢ “I'll use whichever chart has the better date.” You do not get to choose. USCIS names the chart each month, and this month employment filers are on the stricter one.
➢ “My country column is the one I was born in… right?” Chargeability follows country of birth, not citizenship or where you live now — with the cross-chargeability exception above.
➢ “Immediate relatives need to check the bulletin.” Spouses, parents, and minor unmarried children of U.S. citizens have no annual cap. If that is your category, the bulletin does not apply to you at all.
You Are Not Behind, and You Are Not Alone
Waiting on a priority date is a peculiar kind of hard. Your life is on a calendar that somebody else publishes in the middle of every month, and one line in a table can move a family reunion by years.
If you have spent this month refreshing the bulletin and still cannot tell whether it is your turn, that is not a failure on your part. These charts are genuinely confusing, and the rules underneath them are worse. Getting a clear read on where you stand takes one conversation.
If your date looks close, or you cannot tell, talk to us before the September bulletin comes out. We will tell you honestly whether this is a month to file or a month to prepare.
Call us: 
Visit: Frequently Asked Questions
If you are adjusting status inside the U.S., yes — Dates for Filing for F2A is Current in August 2026, so every F2A applicant may file. What you still need is a valid, approved or pending I-130 and eligibility to adjust, which is its own analysis. Filing when a window is open is almost always the right instinct, because a filed I-485 survives a later retrogression.
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Posted in: Adjustment of Status, Blog, Green Card, Immigration News, Visa Bulletin
I am confused -in order to remain in status my husband had to leave the US before 6 July which he did 4 July after almost 6 months in the US. He has a pending I-130 as I am a greencard holder and filed spousal visa I-130 and priority date is October 15 2025. He is in South Africa since 5 July when he arrived and application for I-130 sent to California (got email from USCIS action on my case). We are filing consular in SA as we have to remain in status. What do I do now? This is so hard being apart in our sixties 🥲. According to USCIS 6 months in the US six months out correct? They also said if he attempts to come back sooner the border patrol have the right to terminate his 10 year V1/V2 visitors visa and that would automatically result in his I-130 being denied. Is there something I can do or not? I would so much appreciate an answer please 🙏.
Many thanks
Melanie Bauer
2392275328
We can hear how much you’re carrying right now, being apart from your husband at this stage of your life, doing everything by the book, and still not having a clear answer is exhausting in a way that’s hard to put into words.
We can’t confirm or speak to the specific rules you’ve mentioned here in the comments and we’d rather give you a real, accurate answer than guess in a public comment. Please click “Schedule a Discovery Session” at the top of this page so our team can go through the specifics with you directly and tell you where things actually stand.