Visa Bulletin, July 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: 49 of 75 country columns carry a cut-off, 24 are current and 2 have no numbers at all. The furthest-back cut-off is 08APR01, in F4 for Mexico. The widest gap between two countries inside one category is 130.5 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. Without numbers in 2 country columns of 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 136.8 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 42 country columns where both charts carry a date in this issue, Dates for Filing runs ahead of Final Action Dates in 42 of them. The widest lead is 23.7 months, in F1 for Philippines. The middle lead is 6 months and the narrowest 10 days.

Where this issue sits in the archive

This is issue 34 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: 37 later in September 2026 and 12 on the identical date, with none earlier. The middle difference across them is 3 months, and the largest is 33.6 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, 1 moved backwards and 37 stood still. On the Dates for Filing chart, 8 advanced and 0 moved backwards. The remaining 2 country columns changed between a date, current and unavailable rather than moving.

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

The largest advances

• F1 for All areas, China and India advanced 5 months, from 01SEP17 to 01FEB18. Over the three issues to July 2026 it advanced 9.1 months, and over the twelve it advanced 18.6 months.
• EB-3 for China advanced 4.7 months, from 01AUG21 to 22DEC21. Over the three issues to July 2026 it advanced 6.2 months, and over the twelve it advanced 12.7 months.
• F3 for Philippines advanced 3 months, from 22NOV05 to 22FEB06. Over the three issues to July 2026 it advanced 7.8 months, and over the twelve it advanced 26.7 months.
• EB-5 Unreserved for China advanced 2.3 months, from 22SEP16 to 01DEC16. Over the three issues to July 2026 it advanced 3 months, and over the twelve it advanced 34.3 months.
• EB-4 for All areas, China, India, Mexico and Philippines advanced 2 months, from 15JUL22 to 15SEP22. Over the three issues to July 2026 it advanced 2 months.
• EB-4 Religious Workers for All areas, China, India, Mexico and Philippines advanced 2 months, from 15JUL22 to 15SEP22. Over the three issues to July 2026 it advanced 2 months.

Where the cut-off fell back

• EB-1 for India fell back 2 months, from 15DEC22 to 15OCT22. Over the three issues to July 2026 it fell back 5.5 months, and over the twelve it advanced 8 months. Backward steps inside that twelve-month window: 2.

Categories that opened or closed

• EB-2 became unavailable for India. The category has no numbers left, so nothing in it can be approved while it stays that way.
• EB-5 Unreserved became unavailable for India. The category has no numbers left, so nothing in it can be approved while it stays that way.

By country of chargeability

• All areas: 8 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 61 days.
• China: 9 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 62 days.
• India: 7 of 15 country columns advanced and 1 fell back; median advance 61 days.
• Mexico: 5 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 61 days.
• Philippines: 6 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 62 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.