November 2026 Visa Bulletin: Release Status and Current Dates

The U.S. State Department has not yet published the November 2026 Visa Bulletin. As of October 18, 2026, the official Visa Bulletin index on travel.state.gov lists October 2026 as the newest edition, and the USCIS page that names the chart to use for green card filings still shows November as "coming soon."

The visa bulletin for November 2026 is the second bulletin of fiscal year 2027, and it normally appears in the middle or second half of October. Until it lands, the October 2026 bulletin governs every family-sponsored and employment-based case. Below are the full October charts that remain in force, everything that changed between September and October, what to watch for when the November dates arrive, and how to tell which chart applies to you.

November 2026 Visa Bulletin: release status right now

Each month the State Department's Visa Office publishes a bulletin that sets the cutoff dates for the numerically limited green card categories in the following month. The November bulletin therefore controls who can receive a green card, and who can file paperwork, between November 1 and November 30, 2026.

Here is where things stand on October 18, 2026:

• State Department: the Visa Bulletin index lists "Visa Bulletin for October 2026" as the only Fiscal Year 2027 edition. No November 2026 page or PDF is posted.
• USCIS: the "Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin" page says that for October 2026, all family-sponsored and all employment-based applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart. Its "Next Month's Adjustment of Status Filing Charts" section reads "Coming soon."
• Timing: USCIS says it expects to designate one of the two charts within one week of the State Department publishing the bulletin. In practice, the chart decision for November will follow shortly after the November bulletin itself.

The October 2026 bulletin carries a Visa Office date of September 4, 2026, earlier than usual, because it was the first bulletin of the new fiscal year. The November edition has no fixed release date, but bulletins typically appear around the middle of the preceding month, and some arrive in the final third of it.

Final Action Dates in force: employment-based (October 2026)

Final Action Dates decide when a green card can actually be approved, by USCIS for people adjusting status inside the United States or by a consulate for people processing abroad. Your priority date must be earlier than the date shown. "C" means current: everyone qualified can be approved. These are the dates that apply until the November bulletin replaces them.

Category	All other countries	China (mainland born)	India	Mexico	Philippines
EB-1	C	01JUL23	01FEB23	C	C
EB-2	01JAN25	01OCT21	01NOV13	01JAN25	01JAN25
EB-3	15MAY24	08JAN22	01JAN14	15MAY24	15AUG23
EB-3 Other Workers	01JAN22	01OCT19	01JAN14	01JAN22	01JAN22
EB-4	15DEC22	15DEC22	15DEC22	15DEC22	15DEC22
EB-5 Unreserved	C	01DEC16	01DEC23	C	C
EB-5 Set-asides (rural, high unemployment, infrastructure)	C	C	C	C	C

The Certain Religious Workers category follows the same dates as EB-4. The October bulletin notes that a law signed on September 2, 2026 extends that category only through December 11, 2026, so religious workers should watch the December bulletin closely as well.

Dates for Filing in force: employment-based (October 2026)

Dates for Filing tell you when you may submit your application, either Form I-485 to USCIS or your documents to the National Visa Center, even though approval must wait for the Final Action Date. Because USCIS has allowed this chart for October, many applicants can get their I-485 on file months or years before a green card number is available, which also opens the door to a work permit and travel document while the case waits.

Category	All other countries	China (mainland born)	India	Mexico	Philippines
EB-1	C	01JUL24	01JUL24	C	C
EB-2	15MAR26	01JAN23	15JAN15	15MAR26	15MAR26
EB-3	01AUG24	01APR24	15JAN15	01AUG24	01JAN24
EB-3 Other Workers	01JUN22	01OCT20	15JAN15	01JUN22	01JUN22
EB-4	01JAN25	01JAN25	01JAN25	01JAN25	01JAN25
EB-5 Unreserved	C	01MAR21	01MAY24	C	C
EB-5 Set-asides	C	C	C	C	C

Family-sponsored dates in force (October 2026)

Family-sponsored preference categories cover relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents other than immediate relatives. Spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents of adult U.S. citizens are not in these charts at all, because there is no annual cap on immediate relative visas.

Final Action Dates

Category	All other countries	China (mainland born)	India	Mexico	Philippines
F1: unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens	22JAN20	22JAN20	22JAN20	08SEP08	01NOV13
F2A: spouses and children of permanent residents	22SEP26	22SEP26	22SEP26	22MAR26	22SEP26
F2B: unmarried sons and daughters (21+) of permanent residents	22AUG19	22AUG19	22AUG19	15MAY10	01OCT13
F3: married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens	22OCT14	22OCT14	22OCT14	01JUL01	22JUL06
F4: brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens	22OCT11	22OCT11	15DEC06	22APR01	15MAY08

Dates for Filing

Category	All other countries	China (mainland born)	India	Mexico	Philippines
F1	01FEB20	01FEB20	01FEB20	01DEC08	22APR15
F2A	C	C	C	C	C
F2B	01SEP19	01SEP19	01SEP19	22MAR11	01OCT14
F3	01NOV14	01NOV14	01NOV14	01DEC02	22OCT06
F4	01NOV11	01NOV11	01FEB07	30APR01	22MAR09

The F2A line deserves a closer look. For October, F2A numbers exempt from the per-country limit go to applicants from every country with priority dates before March 22, 2026. Numbers subject to the per-country limit go to applicants from every country except Mexico with priority dates from March 22, 2026 up to September 22, 2026. All Mexican F2A numbers are exempt numbers, which is why Mexico's F2A date is March 22, 2026 rather than September 22, 2026.

What moved from September to October 2026

Since there is no November chart to compare yet, the most useful benchmark is the change from the last bulletin of fiscal 2026 to the first bulletin of fiscal 2027. New annual visa numbers became available on October 1, and the State Department said that dates advanced in many categories, while some employment-based categories for "Rest of World" applicants had to retrogress to keep issuances within the quarterly and annual limits for fiscal 2027.

Employment-based Final Action Dates

Category	September 2026	October 2026	Direction
EB-1 India	15OCT22	01FEB23	Advanced about 3.5 months
EB-2 all other countries, Mexico, Philippines	C	01JAN25	Retrogressed from current
EB-2 China	01SEP21	01OCT21	Advanced 1 month
EB-2 India	U (unavailable)	01NOV13	Numbers available again
EB-3 all other countries, Mexico	01SEP24	15MAY24	Retrogressed about 3.5 months
EB-3 China	01JAN22	08JAN22	Advanced 1 week
EB-3 India	01JAN14	01JAN14	No change
EB-3 Philippines	01AUG23	15AUG23	Advanced 2 weeks
EB-3 Other Workers, all other countries	01APR22	01JAN22	Retrogressed 3 months
EB-5 Unreserved India	U (unavailable)	01DEC23	Numbers available again

On the filing side, the Dates for Filing chart moved more generously. EB-1 China and India jumped from December 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024. EB-2 China moved a full year to January 1, 2023, and EB-3 China leapt from January 8, 2022 to April 1, 2024. EB-4 filing dates advanced two years, from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2025, and EB-5 Unreserved China filing moved from March 1, 2017 to March 1, 2021. For the rest of the world, EB-2 and EB-3 filing dates, which had been current in September, now carry dates of March 15, 2026 and August 1, 2024. India's EB-2 and EB-3 filing dates stayed at January 15, 2015.

Family-sponsored highlights

• Mexico gained the most: F1 Final Action moved from January 1, 2008 to September 8, 2008, F2A from August 22, 2025 to March 22, 2026, and F2B from February 15, 2009 to May 15, 2010.
• Philippines advanced in every category: F1 by six months to November 1, 2013, F2B to October 1, 2013, F3 to July 22, 2006 and F4 by roughly nine months to May 15, 2008.
• India F4 moved six weeks, from November 1, 2006 to December 15, 2006.
• All other countries held still in F1, F2B, F3 and F4, while F2A moved one month to September 22, 2026.

For a full month-by-month breakdown, see our October 2026 Visa Bulletin analysis and the running record of every edition in the Visa Bulletin 2026 tracker.

What to watch for in the November 2026 bulletin

The State Department does not publish forecasts with its bulletins, so nobody outside the Visa Office knows the November dates in advance. What can be said with confidence is which lines carry the most uncertainty, based on what the October bulletin itself said.

• Rest-of-world EB-2 and EB-3. These categories retrogressed in October because demand exceeded what fiscal 2027's quarterly limits allow. The bulletin said the situation is being monitored continually and adjustments will be made as needed. Further movement in either direction is possible, and early-year bulletins have historically moved cautiously.
• EB-2 India and EB-5 India. Both returned from "unavailable" in October with dates of November 1, 2013 and December 1, 2023.
• Which chart USCIS picks. USCIS allowed Dates for Filing for both family and employment cases in October. That choice is reassessed monthly, and the agency switches to Final Action Dates when it judges that known applicants already exceed the visas available. If November reverts to Final Action Dates, people who planned to file an I-485 based on the more generous chart may need to wait.
• Religious workers. The Certain Religious Workers category is authorized only through December 11, 2026 unless Congress extends it again.

How to read your priority date against the bulletin

Your priority date is your place in line. For most family cases it is the date USCIS received the Form I-130 petition; for most employment cases it is the date the labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor, or the Form I-140 filing date when no labor certification is needed. It appears on your I-797 receipt or approval notice. Our guide to what a priority date is shows exactly where to find it.

1. Find your category. For example, EB-2 for an advanced-degree professional or a national interest waiver, F4 for a sibling of a U.S. citizen.
2. Find your chargeability country. This is generally your country of birth, not citizenship. China in the bulletin means mainland-born; people born in Hong Kong or Taiwan generally fall under the all-other-countries column. A spouse's country of birth can sometimes be used instead, which is known as cross-chargeability.
3. Check the right chart. If you are inside the U.S. and filing Form I-485, use whichever chart USCIS designates for that month. If you are processing through a consulate abroad, the National Visa Center uses Dates for Filing to invite documents and Final Action Dates to schedule interviews.
4. Compare. If your priority date is earlier than the date shown, you are eligible for that step this month. If the box says "C," your category is current. If it says "U," no numbers are available.

Applicants living in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and elsewhere follow the same charts. A British-born, Canadian-born or Australian-born applicant falls under "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed," and the National Visa Center and the consulate in their home country apply the same cutoffs.

Why the backlog looks the way it does

Federal law sets the size of the queue. The Immigration and Nationality Act provides at least 226,000 family-sponsored preference visas and at least 140,000 employment-based visas a year. No single country can take more than 7% of the combined total, which is 25,620 in a year. When demand from one country outstrips that cap, its applicants wait in a separate, slower line. The October bulletin lists four oversubscribed areas: mainland China, India, Mexico and the Philippines.

That per-country rule explains why an Indian-born engineer with an EB-2 petition filed in 2014 is still waiting, while an EB-2 applicant from a smaller-demand country with a 2024 priority date may be approved this year. It also explains the gap for Mexican family applicants, whose F3 Final Action Date sits at July 1, 2001, more than 13 years behind the worldwide date. Our explainer on the green card backlog breaks down the queue by category and country, and Indian applicants can follow every category on our page for green card priority dates for India.

Employment-based numbers are split by preference: 28.6% of the worldwide level each for EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3, plus 7.1% each for EB-4 and EB-5. Within EB-3, no more than 10,000 numbers can go to "Other Workers," and for fiscal 2027 that ceiling is reduced by roughly 150 to offset an older program for Central American applicants. Within EB-5, 32% of numbers are reserved for rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure investments, which is why those set-aside rows remain current for every country.

What this means for you this month

Waiting inside the United States on H-1B, L-1 or another status

Until USCIS posts its November decision, the October charts and the instruction to use Dates for Filing remain in force. If you can file now, prepare your I-485 package, medical exam and supporting documents. If you cannot file yet, keep your nonimmigrant status valid and track your employer's timelines for extensions.

Processing through a consulate abroad

The National Visa Center uses the Dates for Filing chart to tell applicants when to submit civil documents and the DS-260. Interviews can be scheduled only once your priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date. If you live outside the U.S., keep your National Visa Center account current and your passport valid.

Self-petitioners and investors

Professionals pursuing an EB-2 national interest waiver are in the same EB-2 line as employer-sponsored applicants, so the January 1, 2025 rest-of-world Final Action Date applies to them as well. EB-5 investors in the reserved categories remain current regardless of country, while unreserved investors from China and India face the dates shown above.

For realistic end-to-end timelines, including petition processing and interview waits on top of the bulletin queue, see how long it takes to get a green card.

When will the November dates be known?

The State Department posts each new bulletin on its Visa Bulletin page without advance notice of the exact day. USCIS follows within about a week with its chart designation. Once both are out, check three things: whether your Final Action Date moved, whether your Dates for Filing date moved, and which chart USCIS tells you to use. The November charts will apply from November 1 through November 30, 2026.

Until then, the October 2026 numbers above are the official dates. This article will be updated with the full November 2026 charts and a line-by-line comparison against October as soon as they are published.