Family-based Green Card becomes smoother for Indian applicants
Quick Look
The U.S. State Department's September visa bulletin shows progress for family-sponsored Green Card applicants, specifically in F1 and F2A categories, while employment-based categories for Indian applicants remain largely stagnant or unavailable.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The September visa bulletin is the final one for the fiscal year ending September 30, with Green Card numbers resetting on October 1.
September visa bulletin is always the last bulletin of a financial year that ends on September 30 and the Green Card numbers are reset on October 1 as a new financial year begins. This month, the State Department took time to publish its much-awaited visa bulletin, which is generally published around the middle of the month. There is no good news for employment-based Green Card applicants as there has been no movement. But for family-sponsored Green Card applicants, there has been real development. The Final Action Date for the F1 Green Card moved to January 22, 2020 from December 15, 2018. F1 is for unmarried sons and daughters of age 21 or older of US citizens. F2A, which is meant for spouses and unmarried minor children (under age 21), also moved.
Final Action Dates for employment-based categories for Indians
EB1: October 15, 2022 EB2: Unavailable EB3: January 1, 2014 EB-5: Unavailable
State Department's warning
EB-1: The State Department repeated its regular warning that this category may become unavailable in the coming weeks if India's pro-rated limit is reached before the end of the fiscal year.EB-2 and EB-5 These warnings are not specific to India. The department said the EB-2 category might see retrogression in the Final Action Date before the end of the fiscal year to hold the number within the maximum allowed under the FY2026 annual limit. The same warning was issued for EB-5 as well. Both categories are already unavailable for India.
Takeaways from the last visa bulletin of FY 2026
The final bulletin of FY 2026 showed forward movement in many family-sponsored categories and almost no movement in employment-based categories.
For India, EB-2 remains unavailable for the third consecutive month as the annual limit was already exhausted. EB-5 is also unavailable.
EB-3, the category that most of the H-1B visa holders take to get a Green Card, is stuck in 2014.
The October bulletin will come up with fresh numbers for EB-2 and EB-5 for Indians
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
October bulletin will provide fresh numbers for EB-2 and EB-5 categories for Indian applicants.
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What will the specific numbers be for EB-2 and EB-5 in the October bulletin?
