The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the September 2026 visa bulletin. The Visa Bulletin provides an update on the availability of immigrant visas for both consular processing and adjustment of status applications for the month of September 2026. The bulletin includes both the Final Action Dates and the Dates for Filing for employment-based and Family-Based immigrant visa categories. In addition, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announces each month which chart applicants should use to file their Adjustment of Status (AOS) applications.
USCIS announced that for employment-based adjustment of status for September 2026, applicants must file using the Final Action Dates chart (Chart A). Eligibility to file if their priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date listed for their preference category and country of changeability. See USCIS’s Visa Bulletin page for details.
Here’s what changed, and what didn’t, in the September 2026 bulletin.
Family-Based Categories
USCIS has directed family-based applicants to the Dates for Filing chart for September, and this is where the real movement is. Nearly every category jumped forward, in some cases by more than a year.
F-1 (unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of U.S. citizens): Dates for filing hold steady for Mexico and the Philippines but advance seven months for everyone else, to February 1, 2020. On final action dates, the Philippines is unchanged. Mexico moves up one month to January 1, 2008, and all other countries jump thirteen months to January 22, 2020.
F-2A (spouses and unmarried children under 21 of green card holders): Dates for filing remain current across the board. Final action dates advance one month for all countries, to August 22, 2026.
F-2B (unmarried children 21 or older of green card holders): Filing dates hold for Mexico and the Philippines, and move eight months forward for everyone else, to September 1, 2019. Final action dates stay put for Mexico and the Philippines but jump twenty months for all other countries, to August 22, 2019.
F-3 (married children of U.S. citizens): Filing dates are unchanged for Mexico and the Philippines and advance twenty months for the rest, to November 1, 2014. Final action dates follow the same pattern: steady for Mexico and the Philippines, but a two-year-and-five-month leap to October 22, 2014, for everyone else.
F-4 (siblings of U.S. citizens): Filing dates hold for India, Mexico, and the Philippines, and move eighteen months ahead for other countries, to November 1, 2011. On final action dates, India and Mexico are unchanged, the Philippines gains three weeks to August 22, 2007, and all other countries advance a little over two years, to October 22, 2011.
Employment-Based Categories
Demand for employment-based green cards has not changed that much, and India still carries most of the backlog.
EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 final action dates are steady across every country this month. EB-2 remains unavailable for Indian nationals.
EB-4, including certain religious workers, is the one category that moved: the final action date advanced two months, to December 15, 2022, for all countries.
EB-5 final action dates stay unchanged for all countries, except for China and India Unreserved.
The employment-based Dates for Filing chart didn’t move at all this month.
On another note: the DOS warned that EB-1 India, EB-2 (all countries), and EB-5 Unreserved could become unavailable before the fiscal year ends on September 30 if the current demand continues.
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