USCIS Visa Bulletin April 2026: March vs April Comparison + Analysis

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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Official Visa Bulletin

Visa Bulletin — April 2026

Employment-Based & Family-Sponsored Priority Dates · Published by U.S. Dept. of State

The U.S. Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for April 2026, containing official Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing for all preference immigrant visa categories. Charts below are sourced directly from travel.state.gov.

⚠️
Important: Visit uscis.gov/visabulletininfo to confirm whether USCIS has authorized use of the Dates for Filing chart this month for adjustment of status applications. "C" = Current (no backlog).

๐Ÿ“Š Employment-Based — Final Action Dates

Employment-Based All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed		 CHINA
mainland born		 INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st C 01APR23 01APR23 C C
2nd C 01SEP21 15JUL14 C C
3rd 01JUN24 15JUN21 15NOV13 01JUN24 01AUG23
Other Workers 01NOV21 01FEB19 15NOV13 01NOV21 01NOV21
4th 15JUL22 15JUL22 15JUL22 15JUL22 15JUL22
Certain Religious Workers 15JUL22 15JUL22 15JUL22 15JUL22 15JUL22
5th Unreserved (C5, T5, I5, R5, NU, RU) C 01SEP16 01MAY22 C C
5th Set Aside: Rural (20%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%) C C C C C

๐Ÿ“Š Employment-Based — Dates for Filing

Employment-Based All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed		 CHINA
mainland born		 INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st C 01DEC23 01DEC23 C C
2nd C 01JAN22 15JAN15 C C
3rd C 01JAN22 15JAN15 C 01JAN24
Other Workers 01AUG22 01OCT19 15JAN15 01AUG22 01AUG22
4th 01JAN23 01JAN23 01JAN23 01JAN23 01JAN23
Certain Religious Workers 01JAN23 01JAN23 01JAN23 01JAN23 01JAN23
5th Unreserved (C5, T5, I5, R5) C 01OCT16 01MAY24 C C
5th Set Aside: Rural (20%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%) C C C C C
5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%) C C C C C

๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿ‘ง Family-Sponsored — Final Action Dates

Family-Sponsored All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed		 CHINA
mainland born		 INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
F1 01MAY17 01MAY17 01MAY17 15FEB07 01MAY13
F2A 01FEB24 01FEB24 01FEB24 01FEB23 01FEB24
F2B 22MAY17 22MAY17 22MAY17 15FEB09 08APR13
F3 22DEC11 22DEC11 22DEC11 01MAY01 01JUL05
F4 08JUN08 08JUN08 01NOV06 08APR01 01FEB07

๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿ‘ง Family-Sponsored — Dates for Filing

Family-Sponsored All Chargeability
Areas Except
Those Listed		 CHINA
mainland born		 INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
F1 01MAR18 01MAR18 01MAR18 15APR08 22APR15
F2A C C C C C
F2B 08AUG17 08AUG17 08AUG17 15MAY10 01OCT13
F3 22NOV12 22NOV12 22NOV12 01JUL01 15JUL06
F4 15MAY09 15MAY09 15DEC06 30APR01 22MAR08

๐ŸŒ Diversity Visa (DV) Category

Region All DV Chargeability Areas Except
AFRICA 55,000 Algeria 37,000 · Egypt 30,000
ASIA 35,000 Nepal 10,000
EUROPE 20,000 —
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) 50 —
OCEANIA 1,500 —
SOUTH AMERICA & CARIBBEAN 3,000 —

๐Ÿ“ˆ March → April 2026: What Changed (Employment-Based)

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Final Action Dates for the key employment-based categories. This is where the real story is this month.

Category Country March 2026 April 2026 Change
EB-1 China/India 01MAR23 01APR23 +1 month
EB-2 All Except 15OCT24 C ✅ ๐Ÿš€ CURRENT!
EB-2 China 01SEP21 01SEP21 No change
EB-2 India 15SEP13 15JUL14 +10 months
EB-3 All Except 01OCT23 01JUN24 +8 months
EB-3 India 15NOV13 15NOV13 No change
EB-4 All 15JUL21 15JUL22 +12 months

๐Ÿ” My Analysis: What This Means for You

๐ŸŽ‰ Biggest Win: EB-2 Goes CURRENT for All Chargeability

This is the headline of the month. EB-2 Final Action Dates for "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed" (which includes South Korea, most of Europe, Latin America, etc.) jumped from 15OCT24 to CURRENT. If you're in this category and your I-140 is approved, you can file your I-485 right now regardless of your priority date. This is huge — last month you needed a priority date before October 2024, and now there's no backlog at all.

๐Ÿ“Š EB-3 Advances 8 Months

EB-3 for All Chargeability moved from 01OCT23 to 01JUN24 — an 8-month jump in a single bulletin. Even better, the Dates for Filing chart shows EB-3 is now CURRENT for filing purposes. If you're EB-3 and not from India or China, this is great news for getting your application in the door.

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India EB-2: Significant Movement

India EB-2 jumped 10 months — from 15SEP13 to 15JUL14. While still a 12-year backlog, this is one of the largest single-month advances we've seen for India EB-2 in recent memory. India EB-3 remains stuck at 15NOV13 with no movement.

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China EB-2: No Movement

China EB-2 remains frozen at 01SEP21 for the second consecutive month. China EB-3 saw a small advance from 01MAY21 to 15JUN21 (+1.5 months). If you're China-born and EB-2, the wait continues.

๐Ÿ“Œ EB-4: Full Year Jump

EB-4 (Special Immigrants) advanced a full 12 months across all countries — from 15JUL21 to 15JUL22. This is a significant leap for religious workers and other EB-4 applicants.

✅ Action Items This Month

EB-2 (All Except China/India): If your I-140 is approved, file I-485 immediately. Current means no waiting — take advantage before dates potentially retrogress.

EB-3 (All Except China/India): Check if USCIS is honoring Dates for Filing this month at uscis.gov/visabulletininfo. If yes, you can file regardless of priority date.

India EB-2: If your priority date is before July 15, 2014, you're now eligible. Contact your attorney to prepare your I-485 package.

Everyone: Bookmark the Visa Bulletin page and check back next month. Dates can retrogress (move backward) at any time, especially near the end of the fiscal year (September).

Source: U.S. Department of State — Visa Bulletin for April 2026
This post contains official data from the U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for April 2026, with analysis and commentary by vibecheck. Always consult the official bulletin and a licensed immigration attorney for legal advice. Last updated: April 24, 2026.

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