46,000 Extra EB Green Cards in FY2026: How Spillover Works

What Happened

The Department of State’s FY2026 Annual Numerical Limits document — published in May 2026 — set the worldwide employment-based immigrant visa level at approximately 186,000. That is roughly 46,000 above the 140,000 baseline that Congress established in the Immigration Act of 1990. The additional numbers entered the EB pool through a mechanism known as “spillover”: unused family-preference visa numbers from FY2025 automatically rolling into the employment-based categories.

The figure carries an important caveat. The DOS document notes the total is “estimated, pending official determination.” But the number has already shaped FY2026 visa bulletin movements, and immigration analysts at [Manifest Law](https://manifestlaw.com/blog/immigration/news/additional-employment-based-green-cards-fy2026-06-01-2026/) confirmed the figure in a June 1, 2026 analysis. The enlarged pool explains this year’s unusual pattern of aggressive early priority-date advances followed by sudden, sharp retrogression.

How Family-to-EB Spillover Works

The statutory formula is at INA §201(d)(2)(C). In plain terms: the employment-based visa level for any fiscal year equals 140,000 plus the gap between the maximum family-sponsored visas allowed and the number actually issued the prior year. When family categories underperform — whether from processing backlogs, consular closures, or visa issuance restrictions — the unused numbers flow into the EB pool the following October.

For FY2026, the spillover stemmed from FY2025 family-preference underutilization. Contributing factors included broad visa issuance restrictions imposed during 2025 and persistent consular processing backlogs that prevented the State Department from issuing the full family-preference allocation. The result: approximately 46,000 numbers that would have gone to family-sponsored immigrants instead augmented the employment-based pool.

The extra numbers distribute proportionally across EB preference categories. Under INA §203(b), EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 each receive 28.6% of the worldwide EB level. Against a 186,000 total, that translates to roughly 53,000 per category — compared to approximately 40,000 in a standard year. Unused numbers from higher categories also fall to lower ones, further amplifying EB-3 availability when EB-1 and EB-2 have surplus.

Who Benefits — and Who Doesn’t

For applicants born outside high-demand countries — essentially anyone other than India and China — the spillover has been transformative. EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 remain “Current” for most nationalities in the [June 2026 Visa Bulletin](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-june-2026.html), meaning eligible applicants can file or receive approval without waiting for a priority date to become current.

For India and China, the picture is more complicated. Per-country limits under INA §202(a)(2) cap any single country at 7% of the total immigrant visa pool. Even with the enlarged EB allocation, India’s massive backlog dwarfs its per-country share. India EB-2 exhausted its per-country allocation on [May 22, 2026](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news.html), consuming approximately 9,300 visas for the fiscal year before hitting its ceiling, as reported by [GreenCardClock](https://greencardclock.com/blog/revising-fy2027-fb-spillover-may-2026-bulletin). No further India EB-2 approvals will occur until FY2027 begins on October 1, 2026.

• EB-1 All Chargeability (except China and India): Current — no backlog
• EB-2 All Chargeability (except China and India): Current
• EB-2 India: Final Action Date retrogressed to September 1, 2013 — per-country limit reached for FY2026
• EB-2 China: Final Action Date at September 1, 2021 — DOS has issued retrogression warnings
• EB-3 India: Final Action Date at December 15, 2013 — modest advances but retrogression risk remains
• EB-3 China: Final Action Date at August 1, 2021 — retrogression warnings also apply

The Retrogression Paradox

Spillover creates a counterintuitive pattern that has played out across FY2026: priority dates advance early in the fiscal year as the enlarged pool opens visa numbers, then retrogress sharply as those numbers are consumed faster than expected.

The [June 2026 Visa Bulletin](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-june-2026.html) illustrates this clearly. EB-2 India retrogressed over 10 months in a single bulletin — from a cutoff date of July 15, 2014 to September 1, 2013. EB-1 India moved back 3.5 months. USCIS simultaneously [switched to the more restrictive Final Action Dates chart](https://www.fragomen.com/insights/united-states-june-2026-visa-bulletin-significant-retrogression-for-eb-2-india-moderate-retrogression-for-eb-1-india-and-modest-advancement-for-eb-3-india-and-eb-3-china.html) for determining I-485 filing eligibility, closing a brief window that had been open under the Dates for Filing chart.

The State Department has warned that further retrogression — or categories going “Unavailable” — is possible before the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2026. As [WR Immigration noted](https://wolfsdorf.com/june-2026-visa-bulletin-sharp-retrogression-for-india-eb-1-and-eb-2-signals-mounting-pressure-on-employment-based-visa-numbers/), the sharp mid-year correction signals that the enlarged pool is being consumed at an unsustainable pace.

What Attorneys Should Know

The spillover mechanism is automatic under INA §201(d)(2)(C) — it does not require congressional action or USCIS rulemaking. But the annual estimate published by DOS is precisely that: an estimate. The final determination of visa availability happens through monthly visa bulletin adjustments, not through the annual limits document. Attorneys should not treat the 186,000 figure as a guarantee that specific categories will remain current through September.

The interaction between spillover and per-country limits creates an important tactical consideration for Indian and Chinese nationals. While total EB numbers are elevated, the per-country ceiling means these applicants compete for a fixed slice of a larger pie. Attorneys with India-born clients in EB-2 should evaluate whether a category change to EB-3 — which currently has a more recent India cutoff of December 15, 2013, versus EB-2’s September 1, 2013 — or an upgrade to EB-1A would better serve the client’s timeline.

The USCIS determination to use Final Action Dates rather than Dates for Filing is not permanent. USCIS has toggled between charts in prior years, and practitioners should monitor the [USCIS Visa Bulletin Information page](https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates) monthly for any mid-quarter switches that could reopen filing windows.

What Applicants Should Do

Whether you benefit from the spillover depends on your country of birth, EB category, and priority date. Here are concrete steps based on your situation.

• If your category is “Current”: File I-485 immediately if you have not already. Spillover-driven currency windows can close without warning as numbers exhaust.
• If you are India EB-2 with a priority date after September 1, 2013: Your category is effectively frozen until October 1, 2026. Maintain your nonimmigrant status, renew EAD and Advance Parole documents early, and discuss EB-3 downgrade or EB-1A upgrade options with your attorney.
• If you are China EB-2: Monitor the monthly visa bulletin closely. DOS has warned of potential further retrogression. If your priority date is near the September 1, 2021 cutoff, prioritize any pending filing steps now.
• If you filed I-485 during an earlier current window this year: Your application remains pending even if your category retrogresses. Continue attending biometrics and interview appointments. Do not withdraw your application.
• If you are considering consular processing: Factor in the additional costs — including the $100,000 fee for consular-processed H-1B petitions introduced by the September 2025 Presidential Proclamation — and any visa issuance restrictions that may affect your country.

FY2027 Outlook: An Even Larger Spillover?

The same dynamics that created FY2026’s 46,000-visa boost are intensifying. Broad immigrant visa restrictions imposed in January 2026 are expected to suppress family-preference issuance throughout the fiscal year, which would translate into an even larger EB spillover for FY2027.

[GreenCardClock](https://greencardclock.com/blog/revising-fy2027-fb-spillover-may-2026-bulletin) initially projected the FY2027 spillover at approximately 55,000 numbers in April 2026. By May, they revised the estimate upward to approximately 81,000 — which would push the FY2027 EB pool to roughly 221,000 visas. If realized, that would be one of the largest EB allocations in recent history, comparable to the pandemic-era spillovers of FY2021 and FY2022.

However, a larger pool does not solve the structural problem for India and China. Per-country limits will continue to constrain how many visas these high-demand countries can access in any single year. Without legislative reform — such as the repeatedly proposed but never enacted elimination of per-country caps — the backlog for India EB-2 and EB-3 will persist regardless of total spillover volumes. The spillover buys time; it does not fix the pipeline.