The Department of State's June 2026 Visa Bulletin has brought unwelcome news for Indian-born employment-based green card applicants, imposing steep retrogression in the EB-1 and EB-2 preference categories just as the fiscal year enters its final stretch. Making matters worse, USCIS has confirmed it will use the more restrictive Final Action Dates chart — not the Dates for Filing chart — for all employment-based adjustment of status applications in June.
The combined effect is a one-two punch that will freeze or delay thousands of pending and planned green card cases.
The Numbers: What Changed
In June, the Final Action Date for EB-2 India will retrogress by more than 10 months
,
moving to September 1, 2013
— a dramatic pullback from the May 2026 date of July 15, 2014.
The EB-1 India Final Action Date will retrogress by three and a half months
,
falling to December 15, 2022
.
On the positive side,
the Final Action Dates for EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers will advance by six weeks for China and by one month for India.
Specifically,
EB-3 India advances modestly to December 15, 2013
, and
EB-3 China advances to August 1, 2021
. Meanwhile,
EB-1 China remains at April 1, 2023, and EB-2 China remains at September 1, 2021.
For all other countries,
EB-1 continues to be current
, as does EB-2 — though those favorable numbers do little to console the Indian-born applicants who dominate the employment-based backlog.
USCIS Requires Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Filings
Adding to the frustration,
for all employment-based preference categories, applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for June 2026.
This is a critical shift.
Applicants who were eligible to file under the Dates for Filing chart but whose priority dates are not yet current under the Final Action Dates chart will be unable to file in June 2026.
The distinction matters enormously. Earlier this fiscal year, USCIS had been using the more permissive Dates for Filing chart for employment-based categories for months on end.
The April 2026 Visa Bulletin marked the sixth month in succession that USCIS had chosen to use the Dates for Filing chart for EB dates
,
reflecting the fact that USCIS was encouraging AOS filings as the volume of such filings had been less than anticipated.
That favorable window allowed many applicants, including India EB-2 applicants with priority dates into 2015, to file adjustment of status applications and gain access to benefits like employment authorization documents (EADs) and advance parole. The switch back to Final Action Dates now shuts that door.
A Spring of Hope, Now Reversed
The retrogression is all the more painful given the optimism of recent months.
In the April 2026 bulletin, EB-2 Final Action Dates for all countries except China and India went current, while EB-2 India jumped 10 months in a single bulletin cycle.
The March 2026 bulletin similarly brought significant advances:
the State Department's March Visa Bulletin showed advancement in almost all employment-based immigrant visa categories, with especially large advances in the EB-2 Dates for Filing category.
Those advances were driven by an unusual confluence of factors.
The April Visa Bulletin explained that recent forward movement in cutoff dates was due to reduced immigrant visa issuance at U.S. consulates, driven by Trump administration policies such as nationality-based travel bans and pauses in visa processing affecting dozens of countries.
With consular processing slowed for nationals of 75 countries affected by Presidential Proclamations, unused visa numbers were redirected to applicants from other countries — primarily India and China — who could process inside the United States.
Now, the predictable correction has arrived.
EB-2 India: Per-Country Limit Exhausted
In a separate but related development, the situation for EB-2 India grew even more dire after the bulletin's release.
The State Department, working in close collaboration with USCIS, has issued all available immigrant visas in the EB-2 category for applicants chargeable to India for FY 2026.
Embassies, consulates, and USCIS cannot issue or approve EB-2 India cases for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Annual visa limits will reset on October 1, 2026, at the start of FY 2027.
Critically,
pending adjustment of status applications are not denied; they remain pending until visa numbers become available.
But no approvals will be forthcoming for EB-2 India applicants until the new fiscal year begins.
More Retrogression Ahead?
The State Department is not done issuing warnings.
EB-1 and EB-2 India will retrogress in June, and the State Department warns that further retrogressions in these categories, or making the categories unavailable, may be necessary before the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2026.
Other categories are also at risk.
Sufficient demand and increased number use by aliens chargeable to China in the EB-2 visa category may make it necessary to retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable in the coming months.
Similar warnings were issued for
EB-3 Philippines and EB-5 Unreserved India
.
The June Bulletin also issues a general warning that some visa categories may become "unavailable" prior to the end of the fiscal year.
Practical Implications for Applicants and Employers
The June 2026 developments have several immediate practical consequences:
For Indian EB-2 applicants with priority dates between September 2013 and July 2014: Your priority date was current last month but is no longer. You cannot file a new I-485 in June, and if your case was already pending, it cannot be approved until visa numbers become available — which will not happen until October 1 at the earliest.
For employers with large India-born workforces:
For employers sponsoring high volumes of India-born employees in the EB-2 pipeline, assessing risk in light of the potential for further retrogression or unavailability before September 30, 2026
is essential. Workforce planning should account for the possibility that key employees may face extended waits for final green card approval.
For applicants considering alternatives:
Depending on your situation, you may be eligible to "downgrade" from EB-2 to EB-3 to capture a faster date, cross-charge to a spouse's country of birth, or explore concurrent filing options under EB-5 before the unreserved window closes.
EB-1A extraordinary ability petitions and EB-2 National Interest Waivers (NIWs) also remain pathways worth exploring with experienced counsel.
For pending I-485 holders:
USCIS can continue background checks, interviews, and adjudication of related benefits like employment and travel authorization. However, you cannot receive your actual Green Card until a visa number becomes available.
Ensure your EAD and advance parole documents are kept current.
Looking Ahead: The October Reset
The new fiscal year brings a fresh ~140,000 EB numbers and new per-country allocations. India and China applicants who were paused during summer retrogressions should see significant forward movement in the October 2026 bulletin.
Until then, the remaining summer months may bring further tightening.
EB-1 India could face further retrogression, potentially into mid-2022, and an "unavailable" designation in late summer is possible.
Applicants and their employers should work closely with immigration counsel to understand how these changes affect their specific cases, maintain all underlying nonimmigrant status and extensions, and remain prepared to act quickly when the new fiscal year numbers become available on October 1.
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ClinchLaw monitors visa bulletin developments monthly. For a case-specific assessment of how the June 2026 retrogression affects your green card timeline, contact our office for a consultation.