September 2026 Visa Bulletin: EB Frozen, Family Surges

If you have read our analysis of the June 2026 Visa Bulletin, you know that there was no progress in EB-1 India, which retrogressed to October 15, 2022, and EB-2 India went “Unavailable” both in June and now three months after that. At the same time, the F3 family category – US citizens’ married sons and daughters – has advanced by more than 2 years in one bulletin. Same visa system, same fiscal year, but entirely different results. Here is what the Department of State’s September 2026 Visa Bulletin states and why there is such a difference in movement of the two categories. This September 2026 visa bulletin breakdown walks through both sides of that divide.

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What Does September’s Visa Bulletin Show?

Final Action Dates – the chart U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is using for employment-based filings this month:

Every employment-based row matches the situation as of August. On the family side, F1 made an advance of approximately 13 months, while F2B moved forward approximately 1 year 7 months, followed by F3 with a jump of 2 years 5 months and F4 making a gain of about 2 years 1 month – all in one bulletin. The State Department also cautioned that EB-1 India, EB-2 Worldwide, and EB-5 Unreserved may become unavailable before the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2026. These are the exact visa bulletin final action dates applicants should track this month.

Employment-Based Categories: Why Nothing Moved

The EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 Final Action Dates remain unchanged from August in every country. However, the Stable status is a warning. The Department of State mentions that “high demand and use by applicants from India for EB-1 visa could lead to the unavailability of the category, if the pro-rated limit for India’s chargeability is reached before the end of the fiscal year.” This warning applies to the EB-2 category as well as the EB-5 category. With the end of the fiscal year on the calendar for September 30, 2026, the current dates are viewed as a moment in time. Taken together, it is another static month for the EB1 EB2 visa bulletin picture.

Why Is India EB-2 Unavailable?

Instead of assigning a retrogressed date to EB-2 India, it is given the status of “Unavailable,” which indicates the fact that Indian applicants won’t be given a single visa in that category for the time remaining in that fiscal year. It is crucial to point out that “Unavailable” is a more serious status than retrogression because it points at the absolute absence of visa issuances, rather than the mere fact of date moving backwards. This is a consequence of demand being able to surpass India’s annual quota on a constant basis; this quota is equal to 7% of the annual limit regardless of the number of applicants. EB-2 refers to the specialists holding advanced degrees as well as applications submitted under the National Interest Waiver, which are evaluated in line with Dhanasar standards of processing. In practical terms, this is what India EB2 unavailable looks like on the ground.

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Family-Sponsored Categories: Why They’re Surging

The increase in the dates for F1, F2B, F3, and F4 is not an indication that the government is making a policy change towards family-based immigration. Instead, it is an adjustment based on an issue related to the fiscal year. These two categories of immigration are allocated a different number of slots for immigration every year by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The State Department has said that it moved family dates forward in earlier months “to utilize available Fiscal Year visa numbers when immigrant visa issuances have been very low.” Family categories were underutilized, so they were pushed forward so that they can obtain the applicants are required to utilize the numbers before the numbers run out on September 30. This is a commonplace event in the last month of the fiscal year and does not change anything for employment-based categories, whereby the demand exceeds the supply for EB-1 India and EB-2 categories, meaning that there is no room to advance dates for them. It is simply how a family preference visa bulletin September correction plays out each year.

What This Means for EB-1A Filers

The family-category movement has no direct implications for EB-1A applicants, as family and employment quotas operate separately. The key point is the applicant’s place of chargeability. Therefore, Worldwide, Mexico, and the Philippines are current; for China, the cut-off date is July 1, 2023, whereas India’s is October 15, 2022, with a high likelihood of moving into Unavailable status before September 30.

What Should EB-1A Filers Do Now?

EB-1A applications are assessed under the Kazarian two-pronged test for extraordinary ability. In that context, EB-1A is completely separated from EB-2 NIW and family-based categories, which means that the latest family advances had no effect on the EB-1A category. It is important to:

• Confirm your priority date with the Final Action Date chart rather than with the Dates for Filing chart. As per the USCIS announcement made this month, it will employ the Final Action Dates in the employment-based Form I-485 filings.
• If you have a current or nearly current EB-1 India/China priority date, make sure you act in time while numbers are still in place.
• Have your supporting documents and responses to RFEs ready in advance; in the middle of the month, the category marked “unavailable” will not open again before the new fiscal year starts.
• Consider October 1, 2026 as the next date to watch.

Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing

Each month, USCIS is in charge of determining the chart that will be used. Some examples include the Final Action Date chart used for employment-based applicants for September 2026 or the more advantageous Dates for Filing chart for family-sponsored applicants. Make sure you verify which chart is applicable for your category before applying for Form I-485, as using the inappropriate chart is a normal and easily preventable error while filing.

Conclusion

October 1, 2026, indicates the start of the fiscal year 2027, introducing a new yearly allocation for each category. The important visas to keep an eye on are the EB-1 India, EB-2 global and India, and EB-5 Unreserved. The situation of whether they will restart, stay the same, or advance in October will depend on the amount of allocations utilized in FY2026 by September 30. We will talk about this change in next month’s bulletin.

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