The September 2026 Visa Bulletin Is Two Weeks Out. Here Is What the August Warning Numbers Actually Mean.

When DOS publishes and what the September bulletin governs

The Department of State typically releases the September visa bulletin in the second week of August — around August 8 to 15 in prior years. The September 2026 bulletin will be the last bulletin of fiscal year 2026, covering visa availability through September 30. On October 1, the federal fiscal year resets and a new annual supply of immigrant visa numbers goes live across all employment-based and family-sponsored categories.

That matters more this year than most. The August 2026 bulletin embedded specific warning language in its Notes section — explicit signals about categories under pressure heading into the final six weeks of FY2026. Those warnings are not generic caution. They are DOS telling applicants what it sees in the demand data and inviting people to take that seriously.

The EB-1 India warning: what DOS actually said

The August 2026 bulletin stated that high demand and number use in the EB-1 India category may necessitate making the category unavailable in the coming weeks if India's pro-rated limit in EB-1 is reached before the fiscal year ends. This is the strongest language DOS uses before a category goes Unavailable. It is not that the date may retrogress. It is that the category may go unavailable.

The distinction matters. A retrogression moves the Final Action Date backward — say, from October 15, 2022 to June 2022. That shrinks who can file but does not eliminate the category. Unavailability is a harder stop: no I-485 filings are accepted under that category regardless of priority date. An unavailable category is not current for anyone. The EB-1 India Final Action Date has sat at October 15, 2022 since June 2026, unchanged across three bulletins.

EB-1 covers extraordinary ability (EB-1A), outstanding researchers and professors (EB-1B), and multinational executives and managers (EB-1C). For India-born workers, EB-1 has been the only open employment-based window for months — EB-2 India went Unavailable in May and has stayed there. If EB-1 India also closes, India-born workers have no active employment-based Final Action Date at all through September 30.

What unavailability means if it happens in September

If the September 2026 bulletin marks EB-1 India as Unavailable, two groups need to understand exactly what that means. For those with a pending I-485 already filed: nothing changes about your existing case. USCIS continues processing pending applications even when a category goes Unavailable, as long as a visa number is available at the time of final adjudication. Your filed case is protected.

For those who have not yet filed an I-485 under EB-1 India: an Unavailable classification means no new filings are possible until the category reopens — and the earliest that can happen is October 1, 2026, when FY2027 resets the supply. Even then, whether EB-1 India opens in the October bulletin and at what date is not predetermined.

This is not hypothetical planning. People with EB-1 India priority dates before October 15, 2022 who have not filed I-485 should assess right now whether their materials are ready: an approved I-140, civil documents, a completed Form I-693 medical exam, and employer sponsor documentation. The medical exam in particular takes time to schedule and obtain. A category going Unavailable in two weeks does not give you two weeks to prepare — it gives you whatever time you have right now.

EB-2 India: still unavailable, and what October 1 really means

EB-2 India has been Unavailable since the May 2026 bulletin and remained so through August. There is no mechanism by which EB-2 India becomes available before October 1. The FY2026 per-country allocation for India in EB-2 has been exhausted. The remaining weeks of FY2026 will not change that.

October 1 resets the annual immigrant visa numbers across all categories. Whether EB-2 India opens — and at what date — depends on the October 2026 visa bulletin, which DOS will publish in mid-September. That bulletin will reflect DOS's model of FY2027 demand against the freshly reset annual supply. The October bulletin could assign any date, or it could keep the category Unavailable if the model shows that even the earliest available date would immediately exhaust the new annual allocation.

A common forum assumption is that October 1 means EB-2 India automatically returns to its last cutoff date, or becomes Current. That is not how it works. Every October 1 bulletin is a fresh assessment. People waiting for EB-2 India to reopen should watch the October 2026 bulletin when it lands in mid-September — not assume any specific date on October 1.

China: EB-2 retrogression warning, EB-3 advancing

The August 2026 bulletin carried a retrogression warning for EB-2 China alongside the EB-1 India warning. EB-2 China currently sits at September 1, 2021. DOS's warning language indicates the date could move backward in September if demand continues to outpace the remaining FY2026 supply.

A retrogression would narrow the pool of China-born EB-2 applicants who can file — and would temporarily stall pending cases with priority dates that fall below the retrogressed date. China-born EB-2 applicants with priority dates close to September 1, 2021 should not treat that date as a guaranteed floor for September.

EB-3 China is the more stable picture. The Final Action Date advanced from December 22, 2021 to January 1, 2022 in August — a small forward move. EB-3 China has generally continued advancing even in months when EB-2 China has been constrained, because the demand profiles for the two categories differ. EB-1 China moved to July 1, 2023 in August, a one-month advance, and has not triggered the same warning language as EB-1 India.

Chart B is still absent — and what that tells you about demand

USCIS has declined to activate the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based I-485 applications since April 2026. Four consecutive months without Chart B is not a coincidence. It reflects a deliberate agency decision to limit new filings to people who have Final Action Dates that are actually current.

The reason is straightforward: when Chart B is active, it allows filings before a Final Action Date arrives, locking in a queue position and triggering EAD and Advance Parole eligibility. In a year where EB-2 India is Unavailable, EB-1 India is under a warning, and EB-2 China faces retrogression, USCIS cannot absorb a surge of early-filer I-485 applications that cannot be approved before September 30. The absence of Chart B is partly a function of available supply and partly a function of processing capacity.

Check the USCIS When to File page when the September bulletin drops. USCIS typically posts its chart decision within a day or two of DOS publishing the bulletin. If Chart B returns for any category in September — possible but not expected for the most-watched categories — it would represent a meaningful change in filing eligibility.

What DOS typically does in the last month of a fiscal year

End-of-fiscal-year bulletin behavior follows a recognizable pattern. DOS tries to use as much of the annual visa allocation as possible before September 30 — unused numbers are not carried over and represent wasted supply. In some years, this produces large forward jumps in categories that have demand but have not used their full allocation. In other years, it produces retrogression or unavailability in categories that consumed their share faster than projected.

The August 2026 bulletin showed exactly this dynamic: F2A jumped 19 months in a single bulletin because DOS identified unused family-sponsored visa numbers that could be absorbed before September 30. Something similar can happen in employment-based rows where DOS has available supply and can attract demand by pushing the date forward.

The categories under warning — EB-1 India and EB-2 China — are on the other side of that dynamic. They have used their allocations, not underused them. The September bulletin could in theory advance dates in undersubscribed rows while simultaneously marking EB-1 India unavailable and retracting EB-2 China. Those are separate adjustments for separate demand profiles.

What to do before September 30

If your EB-1 India priority date is before October 15, 2022 and you have not filed I-485: the August warning is a specific signal to assess your readiness now. Confirm your I-140 is approved and in good standing. Schedule your I-693 medical exam immediately — availability varies by civil surgeon, and results are typically valid for two years from the examination date. Gather civil documents and your employer's support materials. These steps take days to weeks, not hours. The goal is to be ready to file in August if the September bulletin holds or merely retracts the date rather than going Unavailable.

If your I-485 under EB-1 India is already pending: your case is protected from an unavailability determination. What is time-sensitive right now is your Employment Authorization Document and Advance Parole. If either expires within the next six months, file the renewal now. USCIS EAD processing times vary, and a gap in work authorization while a green card case is pending can disrupt employment in ways that create downstream immigration complications.

If you are waiting on EB-2 India: no new filings are possible before October 1 at the earliest. Keep your documentation current. If you have a pending I-485 from a prior filing window, verify your EAD and AP are current and that any pending RFEs or interview notices have been addressed. The October 2026 bulletin, published in mid-September, is the earliest you will know whether EB-2 India opens at any date.

Watch travel.state.gov on or around August 12 for the September bulletin. The USCIS When to File page updates within 24 to 48 hours. Those two publications together tell you exactly what is active and what is not. This article is informational only and does not constitute legal advice. Priority date assessments, I-485 timing decisions, and portability strategies depend on facts specific to each case. Consult a licensed immigration attorney before acting on any information here.