The US State Department warns that appointments for green card applicants from India may be delayed further – in its June 2026 visa bulletin.
The June 2026 Visa Circular published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered little hope to Indian Green Card aspirants as the queue became longer, adding to the waiting time. To be clear, India’s final action date for the EB-1 category has been postponed by three and a half months to December 15, 2022.
In the EB-2 category, India’s final action date is set back by more than 10 months to September 1, 2013.
What are EB-1 and EB-2?
EB-1 and EB-2 are the two employment-based green card categories in the US immigration system. These are the paths most used by H-1Bs to apply for green cards. The EB-1 program is for people with exceptional abilities, researchers, and managers. The EB-2 program is intended for people with advanced degrees such as software engineers, data scientists, doctors, and researchers.
The EB-1 program has a shorter waiting period compared to the EB-2 and EB-3 programs.
What is the final action date?
The final action date mentioned in the monthly visa bulletin is a crucial marker for movement. This date determines who can actually get green card approval this month. So, this month, those with a priority date before December 15, 2022 for an EB-1 green card will receive their permanent residency. For the EB-2 program, those with a priority date before September 1, 2013, will receive their green card this month.
The priority date is the date on which the employer filed the PERM employment certification or the date on which the United States received the I-140 petition.
Further developments in the June visa bulletin
- EB-1: The deadline for China remains April 1, 2023. For all other countries, this category is in place, meaning there is no waiting time.
- EB-2: The deadline for China is September 1, 2021. For other countries, this is the current date.
- EB-3: Cut-off date for India moves forward to December 15, 2023 and cut-off date for China is now August 1, 2021. For other countries. The deadline for the EB-3 program is June 1, 2024.
- EB-5: The unreserved EB5 category for India remains on May 1, 2022, and the unreserved deadline for China remains September 22, 2016. The EB5 category remains in place for all other duty areas and for the three EB5 set-aside categories (rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure) in all countries.
Why retreat?
Rollback is dates that move backwards from previous dates when the quota is full. “High demand and use of numbers by aliens charged to India in the EB-1 and EB-2 visa categories made it necessary to roll back the final action dates to keep use of numbers within the FY 2026 annual limit,” USCIS said. It also warned of further rollbacks, or making the categories “unavailable”, if India’s pro rata limits in the EB-1 or EB-2 categories are 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.