August 2026 U.S. Visa Bulletin

What changed

The U.S. Department of State's August 2026 Visa Bulletin (Number 17, Volume XI, dated July 15, 2026) sets out the cut-off dates that determine which family-sponsored and employment-based green card applicants can move forward this month. On the Final Action Dates chart, the F2A category (spouses and unmarried children under 21 of U.S. permanent residents) advanced sharply to July 22, 2026, for applicants from nearly every country, with only Mexico held slightly behind at July 22, 2025. Other family categories also carry specific cut-offs: F1 (unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens) sits at December 15, 2018, for most countries; F2B (unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents) at January 1, 2018; F3 (married sons and daughters of citizens) at May 15, 2012; and F4 (siblings of adult citizens) at September 1, 2009, for most countries, with Mexico, the Philippines, and India each sitting on their own, generally earlier, dates.

For employment-based categories, the State Department specifically flags that continued high demand in the Employment First Preference (EB-1) category for India, and increased number use across the EB-2 category more broadly, may force those cut-off dates to retrogress (move backward) before the government's fiscal year ends on September 30, 2026.

The bulletin also sets the Diversity Visa (DV) rank cut-offs. For August, numbers are available to DV-2026 selectees with case numbers below specific regional thresholds — for example, 60,000 for Africa generally (with lower, separate thresholds for Algeria and Egypt), 40,000 for Asia, and 29,000 for Europe. Looking ahead to September, the final month of the DV-2026 program year, the bulletin previews substantially higher cut-offs, including a jump to roughly 101,250 for Africa generally and 47,500 for Europe, reflecting that DV-2026 numbers must be used by September 30, 2026, or they are forfeited entirely.

Why it matters

The Visa Bulletin decides, month by month, whether someone in the U.S. family or employment immigration queue can file an adjustment of status application or move forward with an immigrant visa interview abroad. A jump forward in a cut-off date — like the roughly 18-month advance seen in F2A this month — can suddenly make many long-waiting spouses and children of green card holders eligible to file, while a warning about possible retrogression means people currently eligible in categories like EB-1 India could see that door close again within weeks if demand keeps climbing.

Because our office frequently works with clients whose families are split across the Canada–U.S. border, movement in family-sponsored categories such as F2A, F3, and F4 is often the difference between a client's spouse or adult child qualifying to apply now versus waiting for a future bulletin. The DV cut-offs matter for the same reason: DV-2026 selectees who do not receive their immigrant number before the fiscal year closes lose their selection entirely, with no carryover into future years.

What this means for your application

If you are waiting in a family-sponsored category, the specific date that applies to you depends on your priority date (the date your original petition was filed) and your country of chargeability, so the general dates above are a starting point, not a substitute for checking exactly where your priority date falls on the current chart. The same caution applies to employment-based applicants: a cut-off date can look favourable one month and retrogress the next, so timing a filing needs to account for the government's own warnings about future movement, not just the current month's chart.

If you are a DV-2026 selectee, the September cut-offs are effectively your last window for this program year — if your case number is not current before September 30, 2026, the selection cannot be revived later. Given how much these numbers can shift from one monthly bulletin to the next, anyone with a pending priority date, a DV selection, or a case touched by the EB-1 India or EB-2 retrogression warnings should confirm their specific position on the current chart and discuss filing timing with a qualified professional rather than assuming next month's bulletin will move in the same direction.