US Visa Bulletin November 2026: India EB-3 Dates Move, Family Cutoffs Jump a Year

The November 2026 U.S. Visa Bulletin pushes several employment-based and family-sponsored cutoff dates forward, with Indian applicants seeing movement only in the EB-3 categories. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is allowing use of Chart B, the Dates for Filing chart, for adjustment-of-status applications.

Key facts

• The November 2026 bulletin was published on 22 October 2026 and compares against the October 2026 bulletin.
• India's EB-3 Skilled Workers and Professionals and EB-3 Other Workers both move from 1 January 2014 to 22 January 2014, an advance of 21 days.
• EB-2 for all chargeability areas except China and India (ROW), Mexico and the Philippines advances three months, to 1 April 2025.
• EB-3 Other Workers for ROW and Mexico advances five months, to 1 June 2022 — the largest employment-based Final Action Date move this month.
• Family categories F1, F2B and F3 for ROW, China and India each advance by one year; F4 for ROW and China also advances one year.
• USCIS is accepting Chart B (Dates for Filing) for adjustment-of-status applications.

What is changing for India applicants?

On the Final Action Dates chart, India's EB-3 Skilled Workers and Professionals and EB-3 Other Workers both advance 21 days, from 1 January 2014 to 22 January 2014. These are the only employment-based entries that move for India this month.

All other India employment dates stay put: EB-1 remains at 1 February 2023, EB-2 at 1 November 2013 and EB-5 Unreserved at 1 December 2023. EB-4 and Certain Religious Workers remain at 15 December 2022 for all countries, and the EB-5 set-asides — rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure — stay current for all countries.

Which other employment categories move?

EB-2 for ROW, Mexico and the Philippines advances three months to 1 April 2025. EB-1 for mainland-born China moves one month to 1 August 2023, and EB-3 Skilled Workers and Professionals advance one month for ROW and Mexico (to 15 June 2024) and 14 days for China (to 22 January 2022). EB-3 Other Workers for ROW and Mexico advances five months to 1 June 2022.

Unchanged entries include EB-1 for ROW, Mexico and the Philippines, which stays current; EB-2 for China at 1 October 2021; EB-3 Skilled Workers and Professionals for the Philippines at 15 August 2023; and EB-3 Other Workers for China at 1 October 2019 and the Philippines at 1 January 2022.

On the Dates for Filing chart, only EB-3 Other Workers for ROW and Mexico moves, by one month to 1 July 2022. Every other employment filing date is unchanged, so most of this month's employment movement concerns eligibility for final action rather than a wider filing window. The five-month Other Workers advance does not represent a five-month cut in processing time or signal the pace of future movement.

Which family categories advance?

Final Action Dates for F1 (unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens), F2B (unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents) and F3 (married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens) each advance one year for ROW, China and India. F4 (siblings of adult U.S. citizens) gains one year for ROW and China. Mexico moves more slowly: F1 to 22 September 2008 and F3 to 15 July 2001, both 14-day advances.

F2A spouses and children of permanent residents advance one month across all chargeability areas — to 22 October 2026 for ROW, China, India and the Philippines, and 22 April 2026 for Mexico. On the Dates for Filing chart, F1, F2B, F3 and F4 each advance one year for the same areas, while F2A remains current for all countries.

How do the cutoff dates work?

An applicant's priority date must be earlier than the applicable cutoff — a priority date equal to the listed date does not qualify. A "current" designation means there is no priority-date cutoff on that chart, but all other eligibility requirements still apply.

Filing advances may allow extra applicants to begin National Visa Center document processing once they receive the required instructions.

What this means for travellers

Applicants whose dates become eligible should gather the necessary documents and review their filing or adjudication position with counsel. The bulletin notes that the advances expand the group potentially eligible for final action but do not guarantee immediate adjudication or visa issuance.

The November text omits October's discussion of FY 2027 visa availability and its separate religious-worker extension notice. Those omissions do not, by themselves, establish a change in statutory authorization, and the religious-worker chart dates remain unchanged.