
2 min readNew DelhiAug 23, 2026 11:07 PM IST
The September 2026 visa bulletin by the US State Department highlighted a freeze in movement for the Employment-Based (EB-2) visa for Indians, while the family-sponsored Green Card applicants showed substantial advances under several categories. The difference is reportedly significant due to the two preference systems responding to separate patterns of demand.
The September visa bulletin doesn’t show a uniform upward trend, as employment-based immigration is largely stuck at the August levels. According to the State Department release, the EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, Other Workers, and EB-5 Unreserved Final Action Dates remain unchanged from the August release. In the case of EB-4 and certain Religious Workers categories, the final action dates have advanced by two months.
Final action dates for Employment-Based visa categories for August and September
| Employment-Based (EB) | August visa bulletin for India | September visa bulletin for India |
| EB-1 (Priority Workers) | 15 October, 2022 | 15 October, 2022 |
| EB-2 (Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability) | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| EB-3 (Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers) | 01 January, 2014 | 01 January, 2014 |
| EB-4 (Certain Special Immigrants) | 15 October, 2022 | 15 December, 2022 |
| EB-5 (Employment Creation) | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Certain Religious Workers | 15 October, 2022 | 15 December, 2022 |
| Other Workers | 01 January, 2014 | 01 January, 2014 |
Why family-sponsored category dates move so fast?
According to the US State Department, immigrant visa issuance rates for nationals of certain countries plunged following various administrative actions taken to protect national security and public safety and other US interests.
The department adds that, to make visas available to sufficient prospective immigrants from other countries to use immigrant visa numbers that are available in FY 2026, it has therefore advanced filing and Final Action Dates across several immigrant visa categories throughout recent months.
EB-2 visa category freeze
In the Employment-Based (EB-2) visa category, the State Department has said sufficient demand and increased number use “may make it necessary to retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable before the end of the fiscal year to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY 2026 annual limit.”
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