On June 16 the law firm Chugh LLP released an analysis of the State Department’s newly published July 2026 Visa Bulletin. The bulletin requires employment-based applicants to use the Final-Action chart, meaning adjustment-of-status filings must fall at or before the listed cutoff dates.
![July 2026 Visa Bulletin Brings Fresh Retrogression for EB-1 India, Advances for China]()
Amid these shifting timelines, VisaHQ’s online platform can help employers and foreign nationals track the latest priority dates, compile supporting documents, and coordinate consular or adjustment filings with ease; learn more at https://www.visahq.com/united-states/
Headlining the changes, the EB-1 (priority-workers) category for India retrogresses another two months to 15 October 2022, while EB-1 China advances to 1 June 2023. The heavily backlogged EB-2 India category remains “unavailable,” signaling that no green-card numbers are left this fiscal year. EB-3 India edges forward to 1 January 2014, and EB-3 China climbs to 22 December 2021. For employers, the bulletin’s mid-year squeeze complicates workforce planning: candidates who miss filing windows may need H-1B extensions or L-1 renewals, triggering cost and compliance hurdles. Multinationals should accelerate immigrant-visa sponsorship where priority dates are close and remind traveling employees to carry Advance Parole to avoid abandoning pending I-485s. The Department of State warns that “further retrogression or unavailability may occur” before fiscal-year close on September 30 if demand continues to outstrip annual numerical limits. Companies with large India- or China-born talent pools should prepare messaging to reassure staff and may explore Canada work permits or U.S. E-2 investor visas as stopgaps. Family-sponsored categories see only modest movement, but the bulletin confirms that USCIS will continue using the Final-Action chart for employment-based filings in July, eliminating the more generous Dates-for-Filing option that sometimes opens earlier priority dates.
Amid these shifting timelines, VisaHQ’s online platform can help employers and foreign nationals track the latest priority dates, compile supporting documents, and coordinate consular or adjustment filings with ease; learn more at https://www.visahq.com/united-states/
Headlining the changes, the EB-1 (priority-workers) category for India retrogresses another two months to 15 October 2022, while EB-1 China advances to 1 June 2023. The heavily backlogged EB-2 India category remains “unavailable,” signaling that no green-card numbers are left this fiscal year. EB-3 India edges forward to 1 January 2014, and EB-3 China climbs to 22 December 2021. For employers, the bulletin’s mid-year squeeze complicates workforce planning: candidates who miss filing windows may need H-1B extensions or L-1 renewals, triggering cost and compliance hurdles. Multinationals should accelerate immigrant-visa sponsorship where priority dates are close and remind traveling employees to carry Advance Parole to avoid abandoning pending I-485s. The Department of State warns that “further retrogression or unavailability may occur” before fiscal-year close on September 30 if demand continues to outstrip annual numerical limits. Companies with large India- or China-born talent pools should prepare messaging to reassure staff and may explore Canada work permits or U.S. E-2 investor visas as stopgaps. Family-sponsored categories see only modest movement, but the bulletin confirms that USCIS will continue using the Final-Action chart for employment-based filings in July, eliminating the more generous Dates-for-Filing option that sometimes opens earlier priority dates.
