August 2026 Employment-Based Visa Bulletin Updates
This week, U.S. Department of State (DOS) released its Visa Bulletin for August 2026.
Below is a summary of the employment-based updates compared with the July 2026 bulletin.
This month, the employment-based bulletin is comparatively steady following July’s sharper retrogressions and unavailability. The most notable developments are limited forward movement in EB-1 China and EB-3 for Worldwide (All Other), China and Mexico, while India remains largely stalled: EB-1 India holds at October 15, 2022, EB-2 India remains unavailable, and EB-3 India remains unchanged.
EB-2 is otherwise stable, with China holding at September 1, 2021 and all other chargeability areas remaining current. USCIS continues to require the use of Final Action Dates for employment-based I-485 filings in August. The State Department also continues to caution that, as demand increases near the end of FY 2026, additional retrogression or unavailability may be necessary before September 30, 2026; in particular, EB-1 India may become unavailable in the coming weeks if annual visa numbers are exhausted.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED FINAL ACTION DATES
EB-1
All others (Worldwide) – Current (unchanged)
China – July 1, 2023 (advances 1 month)
India – October 15, 2022 (unchanged)
Mexico – Current (unchanged)
Philippines – Current (unchanged)
EB-2
All others – Current (unchanged)
China – September 1, 2021 (unchanged)
India – UNAVAILABLE (unchanged)
Mexico – Current (unchanged)
Philippines – Current (unchanged)
EB-3
All others –September 1, 2024 (advances 1 month)
China – January 1, 2022 (advances 10 days)
India – January 1, 2014 (unchanged)
Mexico – September 1, 2024 (advances 1 month)
Philippines – August 1, 2023 (unchanged)
USCIS confirmed that early-AOS filings under the "Dates for Filing" chart will not be accepted for August.
