August 2026 Visa Bulletin: Priority Dates, Analysis, and What It Means

The State Department released the August 2026 Visa Bulletin in mid-July 2026. Family categories had their biggest month of the fiscal year: F2A leapt about eighteen months to July 22, 2026, which lands the cutoff within days of today. F1 gained more than ten months and F4 gained eight. India EB-2 and EB-5 Unreserved stayed Unavailable.

If you have been waiting on a family green card, this is the bulletin you were hoping for. F2A moved from January 1, 2025 to July 22, 2026. The State Department built the August 2026 Visa Bulletin on demand reported through July 15, so that cutoff means the queue has caught up to today for spouses and minor children of green card holders. F1 gained ten and a half months, F4 gained eight. Employment barely moved. India EB-2 and EB-5 Unreserved are still closed, India EB-1 held steady, and the rest inched forward a month.

Section D explains the surge. Visa issuance for nationals of certain countries has dropped because of Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998 and the updated immigrant visa processing guidance for certain nationalities. So the Department is pushing dates forward for everyone else, to use up FY2026 numbers before September 30. Section D also warns that retrogression may follow.

If this is your first bulletin, our complete visa bulletin guide covers priority dates and the two charts, and our July 2026 analysis has last month's numbers.

What changed this month

Family categories moved a lot this month; employment mostly sat still.

Family-Sponsored Month-Over-Month Changes:

Employment-Based Month-Over-Month Changes:

F2A moved further in one month than every other category combined, with F1 and F4 also posting large gains.

Family-sponsored categories: all Final Action Dates

F2A is now effectively current

F2A covers the spouse and unmarried minor children of a lawful permanent resident. It is where most mixed-status families are stuck, and it just went from a nineteen-month backlog to almost none. The cutoff is July 22, 2026 for worldwide, China, India, and the Philippines, and July 22, 2025 for Mexico. The past five bulletins show how unusual that is.

The F2A cutoff climbed steadily through spring 2026 and then jumped a year and a half in the August bulletin.

The way those numbers get handed out has a wrinkle. F2A numbers exempt from the per-country limit go to priority dates before July 22, 2025. The ones subject to the limit go to every country except Mexico, for dates from July 22, 2025 up to July 22, 2026. All Mexico F2A numbers are exempt, so Mexico's cutoff sits a year earlier.

In practice: if you filed an I-130 for your spouse or minor child before July 22, 2026, a visa number is available right now. Our I-485 adjustment of status guide walks through the domestic route, and I-485 versus consular processing covers the choice if your relative is abroad.

F1, F2B, F3, and F4

F1 (unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens) jumped ten and a half months to December 15, 2018 for worldwide, China, and India. Mexico F1 inched forward to December 1, 2007. Philippines F1 held at May 1, 2013.

F4 (brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens) moved up eight months to September 1, 2009 for worldwide and China. India, Mexico, and Philippines F4 did not move. F2B advanced about six weeks worldwide to January 1, 2018, and Philippines F2B stayed at June 1, 2013. F3 moved a month to May 15, 2012. Philippines F3 remained at February 22, 2006.

Filing under the wrong preference category is a common mistake, and an expensive one, because you will not find out for years. Immiva's free I-130 eligibility check tells you which category applies before you file, and I-130 priority dates and the visa bulletin walks through finding your place in line.

Employment-based categories: all Final Action Dates

India: EB-2 and EB-5 still closed, EB-1 stopped falling

India EB-2 and EB-5 Unreserved are still Unavailable, so no visa numbers can be issued at all. That is harsher than a retrogression, which at least keeps serving cases ahead of the cutoff. The August bulletin also dropped the July sections that explained these closures. The charts just show "U" and leave it there. July said both would come back in October once FY2027 numbers reset, with EB-2 near the May 2026 level. August does not repeat that and does not contradict it.

That makes the Dates for Filing chart the one India applicants should watch. India EB-2 held at January 15, 2015 and EB-5 Unreserved at May 1, 2024. If USCIS allows that chart, you may still be able to submit an employment-based I-485 even though no number can be assigned yet.

India EB-1 held at October 15, 2022 after retrogressing in June and July, which makes it the first stable month since spring. That is not an all clear. Section E still carries the warning that the category may go unavailable within weeks if India's pro-rated limit is reached. India runs into the per-country limit harder than anyone else because of the employment-based green card backlog.

Everything else gained about a month

EB-3 worldwide and Mexico moved to September 1, 2024, and EB-3 China to January 1, 2022. EB-3 India and Other Workers India both sat at January 1, 2014. Other Workers picked up a month for worldwide, Mexico, and China. EB-4 and Religious Workers moved a month everywhere, to October 15, 2022, and EB-1 China gained a month to July 1, 2023. The three EB-5 set-asides stayed Current.

The EB-2 warning now covers the whole category

The warning language changed too, and it is easy to miss. July carried country-specific warnings about China EB-2 and Philippines EB-3. Both are gone in August, replaced by a single Section F warning that names no country: demand and number use in EB-2 may require retrogressing the date or making the category unavailable in the coming months.

EB-2 is Current for worldwide, Mexico, and the Philippines right now. A category-wide warning is the State Department telling you that may not last. If you have an approved I-140 in EB-2 and a current date, this is not the month to let the paperwork sit. Immiva walks you through the employment-based I-485 question by question and flags the filing errors that get applications rejected, which counts for more when a window could close.

Which chart should you use in August?

USCIS decides each month whether adjustment of status filers use Dates for Filing or Final Action Dates. Check USCIS.gov/visabulletininfo at the start of August.

Family-sponsored Dates for Filing:

The filing chart advanced too: F1 gained five and a half months, F2B about seven, F3 about three, and F4 about four for worldwide and China. F2A stays fully Current, as it has all year.

Employment-based Dates for Filing:

The employment filing chart is frozen for the third month running. The only movement anywhere on it was EB-3 China, which picked up a week to January 8, 2022.

What to do now

First, find where your own case sits. Our priority date checker explains how to read your cutoff, and the visa bulletin tool holds every month's chart.

In F2A: a number is available. File. Dates this generous late in a fiscal year usually come with a correction afterward, and Section D says so plainly. Our step-by-step I-485 guide walks you through the process, and the I-485 document checklist tells you what goes in the package. You will pay the filing fee through Pay.gov, since USCIS no longer takes personal checks.

In F1, F3, or F4: check your date against both charts. If you are newly current, do the same. If you are close, start gathering documents now instead of scrambling in September.

In India EB-2 or EB-5 Unreserved: a category going Unavailable does not cancel a pending I-485. Your case stays pending, and you keep your work permit and Advance Parole. USCIS just cannot approve it until a number frees up.

A green card holder with family waiting: naturalizing turns your spouse and minor children into Immediate Relatives, and the preference wait disappears. The three-year rule for spouses of U.S. citizens may get you there sooner, and the N-400 residence calculator shows where you stand.

Diversity Visa (DV) lottery update

For August, DV-2026 regional cutoffs are: Africa 60,000 (Algeria 51,250, Egypt 36,000), Asia 40,000 (Nepal 13,500), Europe 29,000, North America (Bahamas) Current, Oceania 2,050, and South America and the Caribbean 4,000. These match exactly what the July bulletin previewed.

September cutoffs jump sharply: Africa 101,250 (Algeria 85,000, Egypt 50,000), Asia 40,000 (Nepal 13,500), Europe 47,500, North America (Bahamas) Current, Oceania 3,000, and South America and the Caribbean 4,750.

Africa rises by nearly 70 percent in one month and Europe by more than half. It is the same end-of-year push you see in the family charts. DV-2026 entitlement ends September 30, 2026, and the bulletin repeats that the numbers could run out before then. NACARA and NDAA provisions have cut the DV-2026 limit to roughly 52,000. If you were selected and have not finished processing, do it now. For lottery passport rules, see our DV Lottery 2027 passport requirement guide.

What to expect for September 2026

September is the last bulletin of FY2026. A few things worth watching.

F2A will probably retrogress in October. A cutoff this close to the present does not survive a fiscal year boundary. Once FY2027 limits apply, expect the October bulletin to pull it back. Nothing to panic over. Just file now instead of waiting until the fall.

EB-2 is the one to watch. Section F warns that the whole category could retrogress or close. Worldwide EB-2 has been Current all year, so a pullback there would hit far more people than India's closures did.

India EB-1 could still go Unavailable. It held this month, but Section E keeps the warning alive.

India EB-2 and EB-5 should return in October. September is too early. The reset comes with the new fiscal year.

The September bulletin publishes in mid-August. Our June 2026 analysis and May 2026 analysis fill in earlier months, and the family green card backlog explainer puts these numbers in context.

Official Sources

This guide uses the August 2026 Visa Bulletin, released by the U.S. Department of State on July 15, 2026. We checked every figure against these official sources as of July 2026:

Department of State

• Visa Bulletin for August 2026: all Final Action Dates, Dates for Filing, and DV cutoffs cited above
• Visa Bulletin for August 2026 (PDF): printer-friendly version used to cross-check every chart
• Visa Bulletin for July 2026: month-over-month comparison baseline
• Visa Bulletin for June 2026: F2A trend data
• Visa Bulletin for May 2026: F2A trend data
• Visa Bulletin for April 2026: F2A trend data
• Visa Bulletin Archive
• Immigrant Visa Processing Updates

USCIS resources

• USCIS Visa Bulletin Information: which chart applies each month
• Form I-485 Instructions
• Form I-130 Instructions
• USCIS Filing Fees
• USCIS Processing Times

Federal law

• INA Sections 201-203: annual limits and preference category allocation
• INA Section 202: per-country limits, capped at 7 percent of the annual total
• Presidential Proclamation 10949
• Presidential Proclamation 10998

Immigration law changes often. We watch USCIS and State Department updates and revise this guide when the regulations change.