- The October 2026 Visa Bulletin was published on September 29, 2026, two days before FY-2027 began and later than every October edition since at least 2018.
- EB-2 India reopens at Nov 1, 2013, while EB-2 for all other countries retrogresses from Current to Jan 1, 2025.
- USCIS says October adjustment filers use the Dates for Filing chart for both family and employment cases.
The October 2026 Visa Bulletin is out. The State Department published it on September 29, 2026 (Number 19, Volume XI, CA/VO date September 4, 2026). Full analysis: October 2026 Visa Bulletin: Complete Analysis and Forecast. What changed from September: October vs September 2026 key differences.
- EB-2 India reopens at a Final Action date of Nov 1, 2013, and EB-5 Unreserved India at Dec 1, 2023, after three months Unavailable.
- EB-2 for all other countries, Mexico and the Philippines retrogresses from Current to Jan 1, 2025; EB-3 rest of world falls 109 days to May 15, 2024.
- EB-1 India advances to Feb 1, 2023. Family F1, F2B, F3 and F4 for rest of world and China hold at September’s dates.
- USCIS says both family-sponsored and employment-based adjustment filers must use the Dates for Filing chart in October 2026.
- The bulletin has no Diversity Visa section: DV-2027 registration never opened, so there are no DV-2027 cut-offs.
The U.S. Department of State published the October 2026 Visa Bulletin on September 29, 2026, two days before the fiscal year began. As of Saturday, September 26, the department’s Visa Bulletin page still listed September 2026 as the current edition and marked the next one “Coming Soon.” That made this October bulletin later than any October edition since at least 2018: every one from 2018 through 2025 was public by September 24.
Free toolCSPA Age-Out Calculator OnlineThe State Department gave no reason for the timing, and the bulletin itself does not explain it. Nothing on the public record explains the gap, and VisaVerge is not going to guess at one. One explanation can be ruled out: a government shutdown. President Trump signed a stopgap funding bill on September 2, 2026 that keeps the government funded through December 11, 2026.
October’s bulletin carries more weight than any other month’s. It is the first edition of fiscal year 2027, which begins on Thursday, October 1, when annual green card limits reset. It sets the first cutoff dates under limits of at least 226,000 family-sponsored and 140,000 employment-based preference visas, and it tells applicants whether they can file Form I-485 or be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview.
The September 2026 dates applied through September 30; from October 1 the October bulletin controls. Our October 2026 Visa Bulletin analysis covers every category in the new edition, and our September 2026 Visa Bulletin analysis covers the one it replaced. This article documents the delay and how unusual it was.
Where Things Stand on September 26
The State Department publishes each bulletin on travel.state.gov, usually in the middle of the month before it takes effect. The index page shows the October 2026 edition as “Coming Soon,” with no date and no notice explaining the timing. The department has issued no press statement on it.
Independent trackers see the same thing. QueueCheck, which monitors the State Department index, reported that October 2026 was still listed as “Coming Soon” at its September 26 check. It also declined to attribute the timing to staffing, policy, demand, or annual-limit calculations without an official statement.
Some third-party sites have estimated a release around Monday, September 28. That is a forecast, not an announcement. The only reliable signal will be the bulletin itself appearing on travel.state.gov.
How Late Is This? Eight Years of October Bulletins
The State Department does not publish a timestamp for when a bulletin goes live. Each bulletin does carry an internal document date (the “CA/VO” line), but that date comes earlier than public release. The October 2025 bulletin, for example, is dated September 3, 2025, yet it reached the public around September 12. The table below uses the approximate date each October bulletin first became publicly available, based on dated law-firm alerts and VisaVerge’s own coverage.
Across the eight years, the median October bulletin arrived 18 days before the fiscal year began. The latest was October 2020, which came out on September 24, 2020, one week before October 1. The earliest was October 2022, which law firms were analyzing by September 7.
Published on September 29, the October 2026 bulletin gave applicants two days between publication and the start of the fiscal year, less than in any year in the table. Last year’s edition, covered in our October 2025 Visa Bulletin guide, gave applicants nearly three weeks to prepare.
What the September Bulletin Already Signaled
The State Department has not linked anything to the delay. Its September 2026 bulletin does, however, describe the pressures October’s cutoff dates will have to resolve, in unusually direct language. The statements below are context, not a stated cause.
In Section C, the department wrote that immigrant visa issuance rates “have decreased in FY 2026, in part due to the policies the President has put in place since January 2025 to protect national security and the integrity of our immigration process,” and because some embassies and consulates “have faced limited or suspended visa operations in response to global events.” To make sure available numbers were used, it said, dates for filing and final action dates “have been advanced across various immigrant visa categories throughout recent months.”
The same section warned that “retrogression may become necessary in the coming weeks to keep issuances within annual limits” if more demand materializes or administration actions change. In plain terms: cutoff dates were pushed forward to avoid wasting visas, and some may have to move back.
The bulletin then flagged three categories by name:
- EB-1 India (Section E): high demand “may necessitate making the category unavailable in the coming weeks” if India’s pro-rated EB-1 limit is reached before the fiscal year ends. VisaVerge reported this on September 4 in U.S. Warns EB-1 Green Cards for Indians May Run Out Before Sept 30.
- EB-2 (Section F): demand may require retrogressing the final action date or making the category unavailable to stay within the FY2026 annual limit.
- EB-5 unreserved (Section G): the same warning, retrogression or unavailability before the fiscal year ends.
None of this says why the October bulletin is late. It does show that October’s dates must account for categories that ran hot in FY2026, and that the department had already warned readers to expect possible backward movement.
Why October Is the Hardest Bulletin to Set
Every October bulletin is set before the department knows its final annual numbers. Under Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the family-sponsored preference limit is at least 226,000 a year. The employment-based limit is at least 140,000, plus any family-sponsored numbers left unused in the previous fiscal year. That spillover is why the FY2026 employment-based limit reached 186,317, about 46,000 above the base figure.
Calculating the official limits requires data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on immediate relative adjustments and parole numbers. Section D of the September bulletin notes that USCIS delivered that data for FY2026 on July 24, 2026, nearly ten months into the fiscal year. Until then, the Visa Office allocates numbers using “reasonable estimates” under INA Section 203(g). The October bulletin is always built on estimates.
The per-country cap adds a second layer. Each country is limited to 7% of the combined family and employment limits: 28,862 visas in FY2026, or 29,136 with EB-5 carryover numbers included. For heavily oversubscribed countries such as India and China, that cap, not the worldwide total, sets the pace of movement.
FY2027’s limits are not known yet. If family-sponsored numbers went unused in FY2026, the statute moves them into FY2027’s employment-based limit, but the final count cannot be settled until the fiscal year closes on September 30.
The September 2026 Dates That Applied Through September 30
Through September 30, the September 2026 bulletin controlled both final action and filing eligibility; the October vs September key differences shows every date that changed on October 1. The table below shows its two charts for the categories readers ask about most. “C” means current (no backlog) and “U” means unavailable. Our September vs August key differences breakdown shows how each date moved from the month before.
Three lines matter most for October. EB-2 India is listed as unavailable because its FY2026 allocation ran out; the department announced on May 22, 2026 that embassies and consulates could not issue more EB-2 visas to applicants chargeable to India until FY2027 begins. In October it reopens at a Final Action date of Nov 1, 2013. EB-2 for all other countries was current on both charts, the category the department warned could retrogress; in October it did, to Jan 1, 2025 for Final Action and Mar 15, 2026 for Filing. EB-1 India ended September at October 15, 2022, under an active warning, and opens October further forward at Feb 1, 2023.
What the Delay Means for I-485 Filers
Adjustment of status applicants need two decisions before they can file in October, not one. The first is the bulletin. The second is USCIS’s choice of chart. The bulletin itself sets the rule: applicants “must use the ‘Final Action Dates’ charts” unless USCIS states on its website, uscis.gov/visabulletininfo, that they may use the “Dates for Filing” charts instead. USCIS makes that call each month. For October 2026 it chose the Dates for Filing chart for both family-sponsored and employment-based filings.
October has often opened the more generous chart. For October 2024, USCIS allowed both family-sponsored and employment-based applicants to use Dates for Filing. For October 2025, it did the same for employment-based filings. That pattern is not a guarantee, and it is a poor reason to file before the official page updates.
Filing Form I-485 when your priority date is not current under the designated chart risks rejection. A rejected package costs time you may not be able to recover, especially if a child is close to aging out or your nonimmigrant status is near its end. Consular applicants face a parallel question: the National Visa Center schedules immigrant visa interviews against the Final Action Dates, so interview scheduling for October also waits on the bulletin.
What to Do Before You File
The late bulletin left little time between publication and October 1, so the useful work is the preparation that makes a filing clean. These steps apply whatever your category’s October date.
If your case has a hard deadline, such as a child near age 21 under the Child Status Protection Act or a job change pending under AC21 portability, speak with an immigration attorney now. The October dates are out, and a filing error is harder to fix than a filing delay.
What Happens Next
The October 2026 bulletin is now out. Our complete October analysis covers every category, and our October vs September comparison shows each date that moved. The next release to watch is the November 2026 bulletin, the second of FY-2027.
October 1 did not arrive without a bulletin, although it came closer than in any of the eight years reviewed here. For how last year’s forecasts compared with the real October edition, see our October 2025 Visa Bulletin predictions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the October 2026 Visa Bulletin delayed?
The State Department has not given a reason. Its Visa Bulletin page listed October 2026 as Coming Soon until the bulletin appeared on September 29, 2026, with no explanation. A government shutdown is not the cause, because a stopgap funding bill signed on September 2, 2026 keeps the government funded through December 11, 2026.
When was the October 2026 Visa Bulletin released?
The State Department published the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, Number 19, Volume XI, on September 29, 2026. Its CA/VO date is September 4, 2026.
Has the October Visa Bulletin ever been this late before?
Not in recent years. Every October bulletin from 2018 through 2025 was publicly available by September 24. The latest was October 2020, released September 24, 2020. The median October bulletin gave applicants 18 days before the fiscal year began on October 1.
Which visa bulletin applies now?
The September 2026 Visa Bulletin controlled final action and filing eligibility through September 30, 2026. From October 1, the October 2026 bulletin applies: it lists EB-1 India at February 1, 2023, EB-3 India at January 1, 2014, and EB-2 India at November 1, 2013.
Which chart do I use to file Form I-485 in October 2026?
USCIS says both family-sponsored and employment-based applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart in the October 2026 Visa Bulletin. Your priority date must be earlier than the Filing date for your category and country.
When does EB-2 India become available again?
EB-2 India ran out of FY2026 numbers, and the State Department said on May 22, 2026 that no more EB-2 visas could be issued to applicants chargeable to India until FY2027 begins on October 1. The October 2026 bulletin reopens it at a Final Action date of November 1, 2013, with a Dates for Filing date of January 15, 2015.
Did the October 2026 visa bulletin retrogress?
Yes, for rest-of-world employment categories. EB-2 for all other countries, Mexico and the Philippines went from Current to January 1, 2025, EB-3 rest of world and Mexico fell to May 15, 2024, and Other Workers rest of world and Mexico to January 1, 2022. No family-sponsored date moved backward.
What are the FY2026 green card annual limits?
The September 2026 bulletin set the FY2026 worldwide family-sponsored preference limit at 226,000 and the employment-based limit at 186,317. The per-country limit was 28,862, or 29,136 with EB-5 carryover numbers. For FY2027, the October 2026 bulletin gives only the statutory floors: 226,000 family-sponsored, at least 140,000 employment-based and a per-country limit of 25,620.
