US Visa Bulletin September: Family wait for green card eases for Indians; EB-1 sees little change | Today’s news
Indian families seeking permanent residence in the US through the family-sponsored categories got a reprieve as the deadlines moved up substantially this month, but nothing changed for professionals seeking EB-1 visas.
The visa bulletin for September said the last action date for China and India had moved from December 15, 2018, to January 22, 2020 for the F-1 categories, which include unmarried adult sons and daughters of US citizens.
The September bulletin is the last for the current financial year and new annual visa numbers will be available from 1 October. The US federal government’s fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 of the following year.
“High demand and heavy utilization by foreigners billed to India under the EB-1 visa category may force the category to be unavailable in the coming weeks if India’s EB-1 pro rata cap is reached before the end of the fiscal year. This situation will be continuously monitored and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly,” the visa bulletin said.
The EB-1 category includes priority workers, including individuals of exceptional ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain leadership roles of multinational corporations.
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For September, the EB-1 action cutoff date for India is October 15, 2022. In general, an applicant must have a priority date earlier than the cutoff listed in order to have an immigrant visa number available for final action, subject to additional eligibility requirements.
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The FY 2026 cap for family-sponsored preferential immigrants is 226,000.
The worldwide level of annual employment-based preference immigrants is 186,317, with the country’s preference immigrant limit set at seven percent of the total family-supported and employment-based annual preference limits, or 28,862. The dependent area limit is set at two percent, or 8,247.
Date of final event for categories F2A, F2B, F3
The last action date for the F2A category, which applies to spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents, has moved up one month from July 22, 2026 to August 22, 2026 in most countries, including China, India and the Philippines.
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The F2B category, which includes unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents, is one of September’s biggest beneficiaries.
For most countries, including China and India, the last action date has moved from 1 January 2018 to 22 August 2019 – almost 20 months of forward movement in a single Visa Bulletin.
For the F3 category, which includes married sons and daughters of US citizens, the date of the last event moved from May 15, 2012, to October 22, 2014 – about 29 months ahead.
