October 2026 Visa Bulletin: What Changed for Family and Employment Green Cards

The State Department’s October 2026 Visa Bulletin — the first of a new fiscal year — tells family-sponsored and employment-based green card applicants to use the “Dates for Filing” chart this month, and it brings forward movement for some categories alongside pullbacks in others. The bulletin, covering filings submitted from October 1 through October 31, 2026, was released by the State Department around September 29, 2026. Below is what changed and what didn’t, pulled directly from the government’s own published tables.

What is the Visa Bulletin, and why does the October 2026 edition matter?

The Visa Bulletin is the State Department’s monthly schedule of which pending family and employment green card applicants can move forward, and October’s edition resets the clock for a brand-new fiscal year. Fiscal year 2027 began October 1, 2026, which means the annual and per-country limits on family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visas started fresh. That reset is why some categories jumped forward this month while others pulled back — both are described in the bulletin’s own text as necessary consequences of managing a new year’s numbers.

Which chart should applicants actually use to file in October 2026?

For October 2026, USCIS has directed applicants to use the “Dates for Filing” chart — not the “Final Action Dates” chart — for both family-sponsored and employment-based adjustment-of-status applications. The Dates for Filing chart shows when someone can submit their green card paperwork; the Final Action Dates chart shows when a case can actually be approved. USCIS posts this monthly designation on its own site and can change which chart applies from month to month, so it’s worth confirming before submitting anything.

What changed for family-sponsored green card categories?

Mexico and the Philippines show some of the more favorable family-sponsored filing dates this month, while F2A is current for every country. Here is the October 2026 Dates for Filing chart for family categories:

India’s F4 filing date is earlier than most countries, at Feb 1, 2007; every other family category for India matches the “Most Countries” column above. F2A being current means spouses and minor children of green-card holders can file without waiting on a priority date at all.

What changed for employment-based green card categories?

China and India saw several employment categories advance to new, more current dates with the start of fiscal year 2027, while EB-1 stayed current for most other countries. The October 2026 Dates for Filing chart for employment categories:

Mexico and the Philippines generally track the “Most Countries” column this month, with one exception: the Philippines’ regular EB-3 filing date is Jan 1, 2024, earlier than the Aug 1, 2024 date used for most other countries. Separately, the bulletin notes that legislation signed September 2, 2026 extended the EB-4 Certain Religious Workers category, which otherwise would have expired, keeping it on the same Jan 1, 2025 filing date as the rest of EB-4.

Why did some categories move backward instead of forward?

A handful of employment-based categories for applicants chargeable to “all other countries” — meaning not China, India, Mexico, or the Philippines — got later cutoff dates this month, and the bulletin says that’s intentional. According to the document itself, holding those categories fully current would have exceeded fiscal year 2027’s statutory annual and quarterly limits on visa issuance, so the department pulled the dates back. It’s a mechanical consequence of managing a fixed yearly supply against demand, not a sign that any particular applicant did anything wrong.

Why are two different EB-2 dates being reported for the same category?

If you’ve seen two different EB-2 cutoff dates this month for the same country, it’s because there are two separate charts, not a reporting error. For applicants chargeable to “all other countries,” the EB-2 Final Action Dates chart shows Jan 1, 2025, while the Dates for Filing chart shows Mar 15, 2026. For India, EB-2 Final Action Dates shows Nov 1, 2013, while its Dates for Filing shows Jan 15, 2015. Since USCIS says to use Dates for Filing in October 2026, the later date in each pair is the one that governs actual filings this month.

How long do these dates stay accurate?

These specific cutoff dates apply only to applications filed during October 2026. The State Department typically publishes each month’s bulletin roughly three to four weeks before the covered month begins, so a November 2026 edition — with its own, different dates — is expected in mid-to-late October 2026. Anything circulating elsewhere about what that November bulletin might say is a third party’s guess, not confirmed data, and isn’t repeated here. Before filing, check the current month’s bulletin directly rather than relying on any single month’s snapshot.

The bottom line for October 2026: the new fiscal year brought forward movement for several family and employment categories, pullbacks for a handful of “all other countries” employment categories, and a Dates-for-Filing designation that governs both family and employment filings this month. Applicants with a pending priority date should confirm exactly where their category and country stand against the tables above, or with an immigration attorney, before submitting anything this month.