Visa Bulletin Monthly Update Tracker: How to Follow EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 India Dates

When is the visa bulletin published?

• Publication date: Usually the second week; recent releases have slipped to the third week (the October 2026 bulletin published in September 2026 — see the FY2027 reset analysis)
• Effective month: The following month (bulletin published in June is for July)
• Where: travel.state.gov → visa bulletin section

What to check every month

1. Table A — Final Action Dates for India

Check three rows:

• EB-1 India: Relevant if your I-140 is approved and you are waiting for approval
• EB-2 India: Relevant for most Indian H1B workers with advanced degrees
• EB-3 India: Relevant if you pursued EB-3 or did an EB-2 downgrade

Note both the date AND whether it moved forward, stayed the same, or retrogressed.

2. Table B — Dates for Filing for India

Check the same three rows. If your priority date falls in the Table B range (but not Table A), you may be able to file I-485 this month — if USCIS authorizes Table B use.

3. USCIS Visa Bulletin Acceptance memo

Check uscis.gov/visabulletininfo for the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Chart announcement. This is published after the State Department bulletin. It announces whether Table B (Dates for Filing) can be used for I-485 that month.

How to track changes month over month

Keep a simple log of the India EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 dates each month:

This makes retrogression and forward movement immediately visible — note EB-1 India's June→July retrogression (Dec 15 → Oct 15, 2022), the flat stretch through August and September, then the FY 2027 reset in October 2026: EB-1 India advanced about 3.5 months to February 1, 2023 and EB-2 India returned from Unavailable at November 1, 2013. October is also the first month in this log where USCIS accepts the Dates for Filing chart.

Setting up alerts

• Email alerts from State Department: Visit travel.state.gov and sign up for visa bulletin email notifications
• USCIS email updates: Subscribe at public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSUSCIS
• Immigration attorney: Ask your employer's attorney to send you a summary after each bulletin is published

What to do when you see your date become current

If your priority date becomes current under Table A:

1. Contact your employer's immigration attorney immediately
2. Begin assembling the I-485 package if not already prepared
3. Schedule a civil surgeon for I-693 medical exam
4. File I-485 as quickly as possible — do not wait until the end of the month

If your priority date becomes current under Table B (and USCIS authorizes it):

1. Same steps as above
2. Understand you are filing for work/travel authorization (EAD/AP) and a pending case — final approval waits for Table A

Frequently asked questions

The new bulletin is published the 8th but I see it earlier online. Is it official?

The bulletin is sometimes leaked or pre-published on unofficial sites. Use the official travel.state.gov publication as the authoritative source.

I missed the filing window — the dates retrogressed before I could file. What now?

Wait for your date to become current again. You cannot file I-485 while your priority date is not current (unless Table B is authorized and your date qualifies). Keep your I-140 approved and your H1B extended.

How far in advance should I prepare the I-485 package?

Begin preparing 2–3 months before you expect your date to become current. Civil surgeon appointments fill up, and USCIS forms require gathering documents from your employer, birth country, and civil records. Do not wait until your date is current to start preparing.

When is the visa bulletin released each month?

The Department of State normally publishes the next month's bulletin in the second week of the preceding month — so the October bulletin appears around the second week of September. There is no fixed date and it slips, so treat "around the 8th to the 15th" as the window rather than a schedule. USCIS then separately announces which chart it will accept for adjustment-of-status filings that month, and that announcement can come days after the bulletin itself. A month page appears here once the bulletin is actually published; nothing is posted in advance of it.

Why does each month get its own page here?

Because the question "what happened in this month's bulletin" is a different question from "what is the EB-2 India backlog", and answering both on one page serves neither. A month page states what moved and by how much, for every category and country, against the previous month. The category pages carry the standing explanation of what a category means and how its queue behaves. The month pages link into them rather than repeating them.

What is the difference between the Final Action chart and the Dates for Filing chart?

Final Action dates control when a green card can actually be approved and issued. Dates for Filing control when you may submit the application — and they are usually further forward, sometimes by months. The trap is that the Dates for Filing chart is only usable for adjustment of status if USCIS says so for that month; USCIS makes that call separately, each month, and can pick either chart. Every month page here states which chart USCIS accepted and for what.

Do cut-off dates only move forward?

No. A category can retrogress — the cut-off moves backwards — and it happens most often late in a fiscal year when demand has consumed the annual supply, and at the start of a fiscal year when the numbers reset and the queue is re-measured. A date that became current can also go back to a date, or to unavailable. This is why a month page shows a change column: direction for one month is a fact, and direction for the next month is a forecast.