Visa Bulletin, August 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 132.5 months, in F1: 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 139.5 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, 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 5 months and the narrowest 7 days.

Where this issue sits in the archive

This is issue 35 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: 28 later in September 2026 and 21 on the identical date, with none earlier. The middle difference across them is 1 month, and the largest is 29.2 months, in F3 for All areas, China and India. 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, 36 advanced, 0 moved backwards and 39 stood still. On the Dates for Filing chart, 13 advanced and 0 moved backwards.

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

The largest advances

• F2A for Mexico advanced 18.7 months, from 01JAN24 to 22JUL25. Over the three issues to August 2026 it advanced 23.7 months, and over the twelve it advanced 41.6 months.
• F2A for All areas, China, India and Philippines advanced 18.6 months, from 01JAN25 to 22JUL26. Over the three issues to August 2026 it advanced 23.7 months, and over the twelve it advanced 46.7 months.
• F1 for All areas, China and India advanced 10.4 months, from 01FEB18 to 15DEC18. Over the three issues to August 2026 it advanced 15.4 months, and over the twelve it advanced 29 months.
• F4 for All areas and China advanced 8 months, from 01JAN09 to 01SEP09. Over the three issues to August 2026 it advanced 11.5 months, and over the twelve it advanced 20 months.
• F2B for All areas, China and India advanced 1.3 months, from 22NOV17 to 01JAN18. Over the three issues to August 2026 it advanced 7.4 months, and over the twelve it advanced 14.6 months.
• EB-3 for All areas and Mexico advanced 1 month, from 01AUG24 to 01SEP24. Over the three issues to August 2026 it advanced 3 months, and over the twelve it advanced 17.1 months.

Where the cut-off fell back

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

Standing still

A cut-off that has not moved for a year is a fact about this issue too, and it is the one a reader waiting in that queue is looking for.

• F4 for India had not moved for 12 months as of this issue.

By country of chargeability

• All areas: 9 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 31 days.
• China: 10 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 30 days.
• India: 6 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 40 days.
• Mexico: 7 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 30 days.
• Philippines: 4 of 15 country columns advanced, median advance 30 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.