EB-2 India Is Frozen Through September. EB-3 India Has a Window Right Now.

The date printed on EB-2 India doesn't matter right now

The July 2026 visa bulletin is expected around June 20. When it drops, people will pull up the EB-2 India row in the Final Action Dates chart and find one letter: U. Not a priority date cutoff. Not a month and year. Just U, which means unavailable.

This was already true in June. On May 22, 2026, the Department of State and USCIS announced jointly that every EB-2 immigrant visa available to India-born applicants for fiscal year 2026 had been issued. The June 2026 bulletin showed September 1, 2013 as the EB-2 India Final Action Date — that 10.5-month retrogression from July 15, 2014 was DOS trying to slow the pace of approvals in a category burning through numbers too fast. It didn't work. The in-flight approvals had already committed most of the remaining numbers before the new cutoff date took full effect.

The July bulletin will show U for EB-2 India. The August bulletin will show U. The September bulletin will show U. The fiscal year ends September 30. What gets printed in the bulletin between now and then is bookkeeping, not opportunity. The EB-2 India category does not functionally reopen until October 1, 2026, when FY2027 numbers reset.

EB-1 India: the warning in the fine print

The June 2026 bulletin didn't just hurt EB-2 India. EB-1 India retrogressed by approximately 3.5 months — and more unusually, the bulletin included language the State Department almost never uses for premium employment categories: further retrogression, or an unavailable designation, may be necessary before September 30.

EB-1 covers three priority-worker categories: extraordinary ability (EB-1A), outstanding professors and researchers (EB-1B), and multinational executives and managers (EB-1C). These categories are supposed to move faster than EB-2, and historically they have. The fact that EB-1 India hit a 3.5-month retrogression in a single bulletin and DOS added a formal warning means the category is consuming its FY2026 per-country allocation at a pace that caught the State Department's attention.

Whether July shows more retrogression or a U for EB-1 India is genuinely uncertain. If you have an EB-1C or EB-1B case close to final adjudication, talk to your attorney before assuming the July bulletin won't affect your situation.

The one India category that is actually moving

EB-3 India is not unavailable. The June 2026 bulletin advanced EB-3 India one month, from November 15, 2013 to December 15, 2013. Small movement, but it is forward movement — no retrogression, and no risk of going unavailable the way EB-2 did.

The reason EB-3 India is behaving differently comes down to backlog size. Estimates put the number of pre-2014 EB-2 India priority date holders at roughly 27,300 cases. For EB-3 India in the same date range, the figure is approximately 16,700. Fewer cases consuming visa numbers each month means the category has more room to advance without burning through its FY2026 allocation.

July prediction: another modest advance, likely somewhere in the range of two to four weeks. That would put EB-3 India at approximately late December 2013 or very early January 2014. Not dramatic movement. But for applicants with priority dates between September 2, 2013 and December 15, 2013, this small advance creates the most actionable filing window currently open in the employment-based India queue.

Why the gap between EB-2 and EB-3 dates opened a window

EB-2 India Final Action Date as of June 2026: September 1, 2013. EB-3 India Final Action Date: December 15, 2013. That inversion — the lower-preference EB-3 category sitting more than three months ahead of the higher-preference EB-2 — is a product of different backlog sizes and the fact that EB-2 India is now fully unavailable while EB-3 continues advancing.

If your priority date falls between September 2, 2013 and December 15, 2013, you are currently eligible to file an I-485 adjustment of status using the EB-3 Final Action Date. You are not eligible under EB-2 Final Action — the EB-2 date is behind yours, and the category is unavailable regardless.

The mechanism to use this window is called an EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade. Despite the name, you do not give up your EB-2 petition. What you do is file a second I-140 in the EB-3 category with the same employer. You can reuse the existing certified PERM labor certification — the ETA Form 9089 — from the original EB-2 filing, as long as you remain with the same sponsor in the same or a substantially similar position. You do not restart the PERM process.

When the EB-3 I-140 is approved, you can file I-485 using the priority date from the original EB-2 petition. USCIS permits priority date retention — the earlier date carries to the new petition. Both I-140 petitions coexist. If EB-3 gets you into the filing window sooner, you get your EAD and Advance Parole sooner, which carries practical value regardless of when the final green card approval comes through.

China: different situation, different math

EB-2 China sat at September 1, 2021 in the June 2026 bulletin. EB-3 China advanced 1.5 months to August 1, 2021 from June 15, 2021. Neither category faces the end-of-fiscal-year pressure hitting India. China's per-country employment-based demand runs at a lower volume relative to its allocation — it is not burning through numbers at a pace that risks going unavailable before September 30.

July prediction for China: EB-2 China likely flat or a modest advance of a few weeks. EB-3 China possibly one to two months forward. No retrogression expected. For Chinese-born applicants in the multi-year EB-2 and EB-3 queues, the constraint is backlog depth, not fiscal-year-end volatility.

Rest of world — the All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed row — remains current for EB-2 and EB-3. If you were not born in India, China, Mexico, or the Philippines, the employment-based Final Action Dates chart does not restrict you. You can file I-485 now if your I-140 is approved.

Chart B is not coming back before October

Employment-based Chart B — the Dates for Filing chart that lets applicants with priority dates not yet at the Final Action Date file an I-485 and get their EAD and Advance Parole — has been gone from the employment-based sections since May 2026. It will not appear in the July bulletin.

USCIS decides whether to use Chart B, and the decision reflects processing capacity, filing volume, and the agency's current policy posture. The May 21 AOS discretion memo raised the bar on every I-485, and a backlog of frozen India EB-2 cases is waiting for October numbers to reset. There is no visible reason for USCIS to open a Chart B window before the fiscal year ends. July will have only Final Action Dates for employment-based categories.

The October 2026 bulletin is where this potentially changes. New fiscal year, new numbers, new calculus. Whether Chart B returns in FY2027 depends on how aggressively USCIS wants to open filing windows when the India EB-2 queue reactivates. Watch the first FY2027 bulletin on this specific question.

October is the actual inflection point

The July, August, and September bulletins are mostly noise for India-born EB-2 applicants. EB-2 India will show U. EB-1 India may show further retrogression or U. EB-3 India will show a date in late 2013 or very early 2014. None of that changes the fundamental dynamic: the FY2026 employment-based India allocation is consumed, and the reset comes October 1.

On October 1, 2026, the FY2027 annual allocation of 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas begins. India's per-country share — the base allocation plus spillover from countries with lower demand — flows in fresh. EB-2 India comes off unavailable status. The October cutoff date for EB-2 India will advance from where it stood when visas ran out.

In prior years when EB-2 India went unavailable mid-year and reset in October, the first FY bulletin showed meaningful date advancement — not a decade-long jump, but enough movement to let cases in the queue resume toward final adjudication. The late-September bulletin — released in mid-September, showing October cutoff dates — is the publication that actually matters for planning. That is when DOS shows its hand on FY2027 opening dates.

What to do between now and then

If your EB-2 India priority date is pre-September 1, 2013 and your I-485 is already filed: your case is not moving backward. USCIS cannot approve the green card while the category is unavailable, but it continues processing — background checks run, security vetting continues. Your EAD and Advance Parole remain valid and renewable tied to the pending I-485. Check your EAD expiration date now. If it runs out in the next four months, file I-765 renewal immediately — processing times have been running two to four months at most offices.

If your EB-2 India priority date is between September 2, 2013 and December 15, 2013: this is the downgrade window. Talk to your employer's immigration counsel this week, not after the July bulletin. The EB-3 I-140 needs time to be filed and approved, and the window won't stay open indefinitely — as EB-3 India advances, the gap between EB-2 and EB-3 dates will eventually close.

If your EB-1 India case is close to final adjudication: pay close attention to the July bulletin when it drops around June 20. A retrogression or U designation could directly affect your timeline.

If you have international travel planned and your Advance Parole is expiring: file I-131 renewal now. A gap in AP coverage at exactly the moment October numbers start flowing would be poorly timed.

This article is informational only and does not constitute legal advice. Priority date strategy depends on individual facts: category, country of birth, employer relationship, current status, and pending applications. Consult a licensed immigration attorney before making decisions about downgrade filings, I-485 timing, or travel planning.