Visa Bulletin, April 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: 51 of 75 country columns carry a cut-off and 24 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 127.7 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 9 country columns of EB-1, EB-2 and EB-5 Unreserved, though not in their other columns.
• Dates for Filing: 44 of 75 country columns carry a cut-off and 31 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 136.7 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, EB-5 Infrastructure and F2A. Current in 11 country columns of EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and EB-5 Unreserved, though not in their other columns.

How far the filing chart runs ahead

Of the 44 country columns where both charts carry a date in this issue, Dates for Filing runs ahead of Final Action Dates in 44 of them. The widest lead is 24 months, in EB-5 Unreserved for India. The middle lead is 8 months and the narrowest 22 days.

Where this issue sits in the archive

This is issue 31 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: 42 later in September 2026, 1 earlier, and 6 on the identical date. The middle difference across them is 5 months, and the largest is 40.4 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, 34 advanced, 0 moved backwards and 38 stood still. On the Dates for Filing chart, 21 advanced and 0 moved backwards. The remaining 3 country columns changed between a date, current and unavailable rather than moving.

Everything below is measured against March 2026, the issue immediately before this one.

The largest advances

• EB-4 for All areas, China, India, Mexico and Philippines advanced 12 months, from 15JUL21 to 15JUL22. Over the three issues to April 2026 it advanced 18.4 months.
• EB-4 Religious Workers for All areas, China, India, Mexico and Philippines advanced 12 months, from 15JUL21 to 15JUL22. No longer window behind this issue is both complete and dated throughout, so there is nothing to set that against.
• EB-2 for India advanced 10 months, from 15SEP13 to 15JUL14. Over the three issues to April 2026 it advanced 12 months, and over the twelve it advanced 18.4 months.
• EB-3 for All areas and Mexico advanced 8 months, from 01OCT23 to 01JUN24. Over the three issues to April 2026 it advanced 13.3 months, and over the twelve it advanced 17 months.
• F1 for All areas, China and India advanced 5.7 months, from 08NOV16 to 01MAY17. Over the three issues to April 2026 it advanced 5.7 months, and over the twelve it advanced 13.5 months.
• F2B for All areas, China and India advanced 5.7 months, from 01DEC16 to 22MAY17. Over the three issues to April 2026 it advanced 5.7 months, and over the twelve it advanced 10 months.

Where the cut-off fell back

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

Categories that opened or closed

• EB-2 became current for All areas, Mexico and Philippines. The queue caught up and the cut-off was withdrawn entirely.

By country of chargeability

• All areas: 7 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 174 days.
• China: 10 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 152 days.
• India: 7 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 174 days.
• Mexico: 4 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 365 days.
• Philippines: 6 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 153 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.