The State Department says the EB-1 program may become unavailable to Indians in fiscal year 2026.
The August 2026 Visa Bulletin released by the Department of State on Monday brought good news for family-sponsored applicants. The F2A final action date for spouses and children of permanent residents has moved forward from January 2025 in July to July 2026 in August for all duty areas.
What is F2A and who is it for?
F2A is a Family Sponsored Immigrant Visa (Green Card) category for spouses and unmarried children (under 21) of U.S. lawful permanent residents (green card holders).For India, the final action date is July 2026, which means the US government is currently issuing green cards to applicants whose priority date is before July – meaning the waiting time is much less, and the backlog in this category has disappeared.
There is no good news for employment-based green card applicants
The visa bulletin does not provide any good news for those whose application for a green card has been sponsored by their companies. Instead, the department warned in advance of a decline as fiscal year 2026 came to a close. It has already been announced that the EB-2 and EB-5 categories will not be available for India. The administration has now said that the EB-1 program may also become unavailable and the EB-2 program may decline.“High demand and utilization of the number by foreigners charged to India in the EB-1 visa category may necessitate the category being made unavailable in the coming weeks if India’s quota limit in the EB-1 category is reached before the end of the fiscal year.
The bulletin added that this situation will be monitored continuously, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.“Sufficient demand and increased use of numbers in the EB-2 visa category may make it necessary to move back the final action date or make the category unavailable in the coming months to keep use of numbers within the maximum allowable under the FY 2026 annual limit,” it said.
Business deadlines for India
EB-1 (Exceptional Capacity): October 12, 2022EB-2 (Advanced Degree Professionals): Not availableEB-3 (Skilled Workers): January 1, 2014EB-4 (special immigrants): October 15, 2022EB-5 (Investors): Not available.