India’s employment-based green card backlog just shifted in several important ways.
The October 2026 Visa Bulletin brings EB-2 India back from unavailable status, moves EB-1 India forward by more than three months, and allows employment-based adjustment-of-status applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart in October. See also: China Green Card Dates Just Jumped Years Ahead. Other Applicants Are Being Pushed Back.
That means some Indian applicants who could not file an I-485 in September may now have a filing window in October. But the actual green card approval dates remain much further behind.
The new bulletin marks the start of fiscal year 2027, when a fresh supply of employment-based immigrant visa numbers becomes available. The State Department also warns that some categories for applicants from countries other than India and China have moved backward because of demand and annual visa limits.
Here is what changed.
EB-1 India jumps forward
The biggest movement for India’s top employment-based category came in EB-1.
The Final Action Date moved from October 15, 2022, to February 1, 2023.
That is a jump of more than three months from September.
The more important number for people trying to file an adjustment-of-status application in October is the Dates for Filing date: July 1, 2024.
USCIS is allowing employment-based applicants to use that filing chart in October. So an eligible EB-1 India applicant with a priority date earlier than July 1, 2024, may be able to file Form I-485 this month, assuming the other requirements are met.
That does not mean the green card can immediately be approved. The Final Action Date remains February 1, 2023.
The two charts serve different purposes, and confusing them can make the October numbers look much better than they actually are.
EB-2 India is back
The bigger headline for many Indian applicants is EB-2.
India’s EB-2 category was listed as unavailable in September after the State Department had exhausted the available FY2026 numbers for the category. The State Department had previously said the annual allocation would reset when fiscal year 2027 began on October 1. See also: H-1B Lottery Has a New Rule: Your Salary Could Now Decide Your Odds.
Now EB-2 India is available again.
The October Final Action Date is November 1, 2013.
The Dates for Filing date remains January 15, 2015.
That means the October filing opportunity did not actually move forward compared with September’s filing chart. What changed is that EB-2 India is no longer unavailable for final action.
For applicants with older priority dates, that distinction matters.
EB-3 India barely moves
EB-3 India did not get the kind of movement seen in EB-1.
The October Final Action Date remains January 1, 2014, exactly where it was in September.
The Dates for Filing date remains January 15, 2015.
So an EB-3 applicant with a priority date in the 2014 range may see no change in the ability to file compared with September.
That is especially noticeable when compared with China, where the EB-3 Professional and Skilled Worker Dates for Filing date jumped to April 1, 2024.
EB-4 India gets a much newer filing date
EB-4 India has a Final Action Date of December 15, 2022.
But its Dates for Filing date jumps to January 1, 2025.
That creates a substantial gap between the date at which an application may be filed and the date at which an immigrant visa number is available for final action.
The same January 1, 2025 Dates for Filing date applies across the listed countries in the October employment-based chart.
EB-5 India is also back
India’s unreserved EB-5 category also returns from unavailable status.
The October Final Action Date is December 1, 2023, while the Dates for Filing date is May 1, 2024.
The EB-5 set-aside categories for rural areas, high-unemployment areas and infrastructure remain current for India.
October 2026 India dates at a glance
| Category | Final Action Date | Dates for Filing |
|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | February 1, 2023 | July 1, 2024 |
| EB-2 | November 1, 2013 | January 15, 2015 |
| EB-3 | January 1, 2014 | January 15, 2015 |
| EB-4 | December 15, 2022 | January 1, 2025 |
| EB-5 Unreserved | December 1, 2023 | May 1, 2024 |
These are the October 2026 dates published by the State Department.
Yes, USCIS is allowing the earlier filing dates
This is one of the most important parts of the October bulletin.
USCIS has confirmed that employment-based adjustment-of-status applicants may use the Dates for Filing chart in October 2026.
For example, an Indian EB-2 applicant with a priority date earlier than January 15, 2015, may be eligible to file an I-485 in October, even though the EB-2 India Final Action Date is only November 1, 2013.
But filing is not the same as approval.
The applicant can get into the adjustment process when the priority date is eligible under the filing chart. Final approval still depends on visa availability under the Final Action Date chart.
That distinction is critical for anyone reading the October numbers as a sign that the green card backlog itself has suddenly caught up.
It has not.
Why did some countries move backward?
The October bulletin is not good news across every employment-based category.
For applicants from the Rest of World group, the EB-2 Dates for Filing date moved backward by about six and a half months.
EB-3 Dates for Filing also moved backward substantially for many countries.
The State Department says these retrogressions are needed to keep visa issuances within the fiscal year’s quarterly and annual limits.
India and China went in a different direction in several categories.
That is why two workers in the same employment-based category can see completely different priority-date movement depending on their country of chargeability.
What changed from September?
For Indian applicants, the biggest changes are easy to summarize:
EB-1: Final Action Date moved from October 15, 2022, to February 1, 2023.
EB-2: Final Action Date went from unavailable to November 1, 2013.
EB-3: Final Action Date for India stayed at January 1, 2014, while all other countries retrogressed to May 15, 2024.
EB-4: Final Action Date stayed at December 15, 2022, but the filing date jumped from January 1, 2023, to January 1, 2025.
EB-5: Final Action Date went from unavailable to December 1, 2023.
The October bulletin therefore contains a mixture of real movement and newly restored availability.
What should applicants do now?
Anyone whose priority date falls within the October Dates for Filing window should check the numbers carefully before assuming the opportunity applies.
For an employment-based adjustment applicant, the relevant questions are:
- What is the priority date?
- Which employment-based category is being used?
- Which country is the applicant chargeable to?
- Is the priority date earlier than the October Dates for Filing cutoff?
- Is the applicant otherwise eligible to file Form I-485?
For Indian EB-1 applicants, the July 1, 2024 filing date is particularly significant.
For Indian EB-2 and EB-3 applicants, the January 15, 2015 filing date remains the key October threshold.
And for EB-4 India, the January 1, 2025 filing date creates a much newer filing window than the Final Action Date.
Anyone close to one of these dates should confirm the filing strategy with an immigration attorney or the employer’s immigration team before sending an application.
The bigger picture
October’s bulletin gives Indian employment-based applicants something they had lost in September: movement and, in EB-2 and EB-5, restored availability.
But it would be a mistake to read the bulletin as the end of the Indian green card backlog.
EB-2 India is still at November 2013 for Final Action, while EB-3 India remains at January 2014.
The more immediate change is that some applicants can now move forward with filing under the more generous October Dates for Filing chart.
And those dates can change again.
The November Visa Bulletin could bring another advance, a pause or a retrogression depending on demand and visa-number availability.
For now, October gives some Indian applicants a filing opportunity that was not available just weeks ago.
