Important disclaimer
Haven provides general information only. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and it should not be treated as a substitute for advice from a qualified immigration lawyer or accredited legal representative. Immigration outcomes depend on the specific facts of your case. If you need case-specific guidance, consult a lawyer before making decisions or filing.
What the September 2026 Bulletin Actually Says
The 2026 fiscal year ends September 30, and with it one of the most congested final-action charts in recent memory. The [September 2026 Visa Bulletin](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-september-2026.html) — the last of FY2026 — closed the year with hard warnings for employment-based applicants: **EB-2 India "Unavailable"** for the remainder of the month, and **EB-1 India pinned at October 15, 2022**.
I verified the final-action and dates-for-filing charts directly from the State Department's published bulletin. The end-of-year numbers for the categories Haven readers ask about most:
- **EB-1 India** — final action October 15, 2022; dates for filing April 1, 2024
- **EB-2 India** — final action **Unavailable**; dates for filing May 15, 2015
- **EB-2 Worldwide (All Chargeability Areas)** — final action July 15, 2024; dates for filing December 1, 2024
- **EB-3 India** — final action July 15, 2013; dates for filing December 22, 2014
- **EB-5 India (unreserved)** — final action January 8, 2022; dates for filing April 8, 2025
The end-of-year pattern is the familiar squeeze: annual limits exhausted, categories held or made unavailable to prevent oversubscription. None of these September cutoffs say anything about October — they are a bookkeeping artifact of the fiscal calendar, not a policy change.
What Resets on October 1
When FY2027 visa numbers become available on October 1, 2026:
- **EB-2 India recovers from "Unavailable."** The category did not die; it ran out of numbers for FY2026. The October bulletin is expected to restore its cutoff around the **mid-July 2014** territory its dates-for-filing chart has been tracking, though the State Department will set the actual date
- **EB-1 India moves forward** from the October 15, 2022 final-action hold
- **EB-5 unreserved India** reopens as well
- Worldwide categories generally hold steady or advance modestly in the first month of a fiscal year
A note on reading expectations responsibly: the State Department sets the October dates in mid-September, and the exact cutoffs are not knowable before publication. What is knowable — and what applicants in the queue should act on — is the reset mechanics themselves.
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Why the First Chart of the Fiscal Year Matters Most
The October bulletin is the single most consequential chart of the year for green-card applicants:
- **It sets the filing-year clock.** For applicants with current dates, October's chart governs when I-485s can be filed in FY2027 — and with them, EAD and advance-parole applications
- **It signals State's demand model.** A conservative October cutoff for EB-2 India tells applicants how much of the queue State believes it can clear in FY2027; an aggressive one signals confidence that spillover from EB-1 and EB-5 will again cushion the India backlog
- **It anchors the backlog math.** Haven's tracking of the employment-based backlog — now past 1.26 million for India-born applicants alone — treats October as the baseline month. Cutoff movement from October to September of the next year is the real signal, not intra-month noise
What Haven Readers Should Do Now
What to do while the October chart is finalized:
- **Do not file on the September chart.** A "U" (unavailable) final-action date means no new filings this month for that category; check the October chart when it drops
- **Check your priority date against both charts.** If your date is current under Dates for Filing and USCIS honors that chart for filing, October 1 could make you filing-eligible immediately, even if your final-action date (which governs approval) lags months behind
- **Prepare documents now.** Employment-verification letters, medical exams, birth/marriage certificates, I-94 records — when a category recovers, appointment availability backlogs fast
- **Dependents file with the principal.** H-4 and other derivative applicants derive status from the principal's priority date — a recovering EB-2 India date moves an entire family's filing window together
- **Watch for the mid-September bulletin drop.** The October 2026 Visa Bulletin is published at travel.state.gov in mid-September, typically the second or third week — and the FY2027 charts land with it
The Backlog Reality Check
The reset is good news only in the narrow sense. The employment-based backlog for India remains structural: at FY2026 consumption rates, EB-2 India priority dates advance a few months per year against a queue measured in decades. The October chart will not change that arithmetic.
What it changes is the *within-year* filing and approval window — which is why the first chart of the fiscal year deserves close attention, and why Haven will cover the actual October 2026 cutoffs the moment the State Department publishes them.
Sources
Frequently asked
Does 'Unavailable' in September mean my EB-2 India case is denied?
No. It means no new numbers were available in that category for the rest of FY2026. Approved petitions remain valid; the category recovers when FY2027 numbers arrive on October 1.
When exactly is the October 2026 Visa Bulletin published?
Mid-September 2026, at travel.state.gov. Watch for "Visa Bulletin for October 2026" under the 2026 archive.
What date will EB-2 India recover to in October?
Not knowable before publication — the mid-July 2014 territory is the consensus expectation based on the filing chart, but only the published chart is authoritative. Haven will cover it the day it drops.
Does the fiscal-year reset affect H-1B?
No. H-1B petitions are not visa-number-limited; the reset affects I-485 adjustment filings and immigrant-visa applications, not H-1B adjudication.
Do I file I-485 on the final-action chart or the dates-for-filing chart?
Whichever chart USCIS designates for adjustment filing that month — announced on uscis.gov/visa when the bulletin posts. Check it every month your date is close.