May 2026 Visa Bulletin: Official Cutoff Dates & USCIS Chart

Every employment-based and family-based category page plus a monthly archive of each Visa Bulletin: official cutoffs, Chart A vs Chart B, movement history, and DOS and USCIS source links.

EB-1 India Visa Bulletin cutoffs, Chart A / Chart B comparison, movement history, and official sources.

EB-1 China Visa Bulletin cutoffs, Chart A / Chart B comparison, movement history, and official sources.

EB-1 Worldwide Visa Bulletin cutoffs, Chart A / Chart B comparison, movement history, and official sources.

EB-2 India Visa Bulletin cutoffs, Chart A / Chart B comparison, movement history, and official sources.

The May 21 USCIS discretion memo reframes consular processing as the default path for most green card applicants. For employment-based applicants who have spent years inside the US, 'going to the consulate' means the NVC pipeline, an immigrant visa interview abroad, extended separation from US employment, and a set of risks that adjustment of status does not carry. Here is what the path actually looks like.

Two policy changes landed in May 2026 that every employment-based I-485 applicant needs to understand. USCIS tightened interview waiver criteria, so more people in the EB-1 through EB-3 pipeline are being called in for field office interviews. And effective May 18, if your attorney isn't physically in the room, they aren't at the interview at all.

On May 21, 2026, USCIS issued policy memorandum PM-602-0199 reminding officers that adjustment of status under INA 245 is "a matter of discretion and administrative grace" and an "extraordinary relief" that is not designed to supersede the ordinary consular visa process. The memo doesn't change the statute. It changes how every I-485 — pending or not yet filed — will be adjudicated going forward. Here is what the memo actually says, why dual intent alone is no longer enough, and what to do if you have an AOS case in the pipeline.