Visa Bulletin, January 2026

What this issue did

The state of this issue

Counted inside this issue alone, before it is compared with anything published before it.

• Final Action Dates: 54 of 75 country columns carry a cut-off and 21 are current; every column has numbers. The furthest-back cut-off is 08APR01, in F4 for Mexico. The widest gap between two countries inside one category is 128.6 months, in EB-2: India against All areas, Mexico and Philippines, with 1 country somewhere between the two. Current in every column: EB-5 Rural, EB-5 High Unemployment and EB-5 Infrastructure. Current in 6 country columns of EB-1 and EB-5 Unreserved, though not in their other columns.
• Dates for Filing: 54 of 75 country columns carry a cut-off and 21 are current; every column has numbers. The furthest-back cut-off is 30APR01, in F4 for Mexico. The widest gap between two countries inside one category is 132.7 months, in F3: Mexico against All areas, China and India, with 1 country somewhere between the two. Current in every column: EB-5 Rural, EB-5 High Unemployment and EB-5 Infrastructure. Current in 6 country columns of EB-1 and EB-5 Unreserved, though not in their other columns.

How far the filing chart runs ahead

Of the 54 country columns where both charts carry a date in this issue, Dates for Filing runs ahead of Final Action Dates in 54 of them. The widest lead is 34.7 months, in F2A for Mexico. The middle lead is 6.5 months and the narrowest 7 days.

Where this issue sits in the archive

This is issue 28 of 36 published here, in a record running from October 2023 to September 2026.

Of the 75 country columns on the Final Action Dates chart, a cut-off appears both here and in September 2026, the newest issue published here, in 49 of them. Of those: 45 later in September 2026, 1 earlier, and 3 on the identical date. The middle difference across them is 23.4 months, and the largest is 45.4 months, in F4 for All areas and China. That compares two ends and nothing in between: it says where these columns stand in each of the two issues, not that the queue only ever moved one way. A column can finish later than it began and still have fallen back on the way, and the category pages count the backward steps an endpoint comparison cannot see.

Of the 75 country columns on the Final Action Dates chart in this issue, 35 advanced, 0 moved backwards and 40 stood still. On the Dates for Filing chart, 31 advanced and 0 moved backwards.

Everything below is measured against December 2025, the issue immediately before this one.

The largest advances

• EB-3 Other Workers for China advanced 12 months, from 08DEC17 to 08DEC18. Over the three issues to January 2026 it advanced 12.2 months, and over the twelve it advanced 23.2 months.
• EB-1 for India advanced 10.6 months, from 15MAR22 to 01FEB23. Over the three issues to January 2026 it advanced 11.5 months, and over the twelve it advanced 12 months.
• EB-5 Unreserved for India advanced 10 months, from 01JUL21 to 01MAY22. Over the three issues to January 2026 it advanced 14.9 months, and over the twelve it advanced 3.9 months. Backward steps inside that twelve-month window: 2.
• F1 for Mexico advanced 6 months, from 01MAR06 to 01SEP06. Over the three issues to January 2026 it advanced 9.3 months, and over the twelve it advanced 21.3 months.
• F2B for Mexico advanced 6 months, from 15MAY08 to 15NOV08. Over the three issues to January 2026 it advanced 11 months, and over the twelve it advanced 40.5 months.
• EB-4 for All areas, China, India, Mexico and Philippines advanced 4 months, from 01SEP20 to 01JAN21. Over the three issues to January 2026 it advanced 6 months. Backward steps inside that twelve-month window: 1.

Where the cut-off fell back

No cut-off on the Final Action Dates chart moved backwards in this issue.

By country of chargeability

• All areas: 5 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 60 days.
• China: 7 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 92 days.
• India: 7 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 122 days.
• Mexico: 7 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 122 days.
• Philippines: 9 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 60 days.

Which chart applies for filing

Consular cases are approved against Final Action Dates. Which chart USCIS accepted for adjustment of status that month is published separately by USCIS and has not been transcribed here. How USCIS chooses the filing chart.

Every figure in this section is arithmetic on the transcribed tables: differences between two issues, runs of unchanged months, spreads between two countries in the same issue. The bulletin publishes no reasons, and none are supplied here.