The U.S. Department of State released the September 2026 Visa Bulletin, setting new cutoff dates for family-sponsored and employment-based green card applicants and warning that several employment-based categories could tighten again before September 30. The bulletin puts EB-1 India, EB-2 and unreserved EB-5 under the clearest pressure as fiscal year 2026 enters its final month.
That matters now because the bulletin governs when applicants may move ahead with their cases, and September is the last month before the annual visa cycle resets. For people waiting on a green card, the difference between a current date and a cutoff can decide whether a file can move or must stay put, and the answer depends on which chart U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chooses for September.
The bulletin includes both the Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing chart. The first controls when a visa number may be issued. The second can let applicants submit paperwork earlier. Anyone applying for adjustment of status through USCIS must follow the chart that USCIS designates for the month, but as of August 22 the agency had not posted its September selection. USCIS uses the Dates for Filing chart when it decides that more immigrant visas are available than there are known applicants.
For family cases, F2A remains one of the most favorable categories. It covers spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, and it stays current worldwide in the Dates for Filing chart. In the Final Action Dates chart, the cutoff is August 22, 2026, for most countries, including China, India and the Philippines, while Mexico is limited to August 22, 2025. In either chart, a priority date must be earlier than the listed cutoff. Current means no cutoff applies. Unavailable means visa numbers are not authorized for issuance in that category.
Employment-based cases show the pressure more sharply. EB-1 visa numbers remain current for most countries, but China is capped at July 1, 2023, and India at October 15, 2022. EB-2 is current for most countries, yet China is at September 1, 2021 and India is Unavailable in EB. In unreserved EB-5, most countries remain current, China is at December 1, 2016 and India is unavailable. The three EB-5 set-aside categories for qualifying rural, high-unemployment-area and infrastructure investments remain current for all listed countries.
The friction point is in the late-fiscal-year warning. The State Department said high demand could force EB-1 India to become unavailable before the fiscal year ends, and it said EB-2 and unreserved EB-5 may have to move backward if visa use reaches the fiscal year 2026 limits. Those categories could also become temporarily unavailable if the limit is reached, which is the clearest sign that the September chart could be less generous than the one applicants are reading now.
So the next move belongs to USCIS. Once it posts the September chart selection, adjustment-of-status applicants will know whether they can use the more flexible filing chart or the stricter final-action chart. Until then, the September 2026 Visa Bulletin has already done the part that matters most: it has told applicants where the calendar is still open, where it is closing, and where one more week of demand could shut the door.
