January 2026 Employment-Based Visa Bulletin Updates

This week, the Department of State (DOS) released its Visa Bulletin for January 2026.

Below is a summary of the employment-based updates, compared to the December 2025 Bulletin. Essentially, there will be slight movement forward for most categories and USCIS will continue to accept the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based I-485 applications.

EMPLOYMENT-BASED FINAL ACTION DATES

EB-1

All others –Current (unchanged)

China –  advances 10 days to February 1, 2023

India – advances 323 days to February 1, 2023

Mexico – Current (unchanged)

Philippines – Current (unchanged)

EB-2 

All others – advances 2 months to April 1, 2024

China – advances 3 months to September 1, 2021

India – advances 2 months to July 15, 2013

Mexico – advances 2 months to April 1, 2024

Philippines – advances 2 months to April 1, 2024

 

EB-3                          

All others – advances 7 days to April 22, 2023

China – advances 1 month to May 1, 2021

India – advances 2 months to November 15, 2013

Mexico – advances 7 days to April 22, 2023

Philippines – advances 7 days to April 22, 2023

 

EARLY ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS (AOS) FILING DATES

The Department of State has confirmed that Early AOS Filing for January 2026 will be accepted, and there has a little bit of advancement in most of the EB-1 and EB-2 dates:

 

Employment- based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	01AUG23	01AUG23	C	C
2nd	15OCT24	01JAN22	01DEC13	15OCT24	15OCT24
3rd	01JUL23	01JAN22	15AUG14	01JUL23	01JUL23

KEY TERMS

*Final Action Dates: Applicants whose priority dates are current under these dates can file for Adjustment of Status (AOS) and/or have their application approved in January 2026 

*Dates for Filing / Early Filing Dates: Applicants with current priority dates under these dates may file their AOS in January 2026 and begin to have their applications be processed, but must wait for their priority date to become current under Final Action Dates for approval.

*Current: Means that an applicant with a priority date earlier than or matching the published cutoff date is eligible to move forward with their immigration application.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your immigration counsel.