The September Visa Bulletin has arrived with the immigration system’s favorite party trick: showing applicants two dates and allowing them to discover, often after several readings, that the dates perform different jobs.
For India-born employment applicants, the Final Action Dates chart lists EB-1 at October 15, 2022, EB-2 as unavailable, EB-3 at January 1, 2014, and unreserved EB-5 as unavailable. This chart concerns when a visa number can support final approval. The separate Dates for Filing chart is more generous: EB-1 India is December 1, 2023; EB-2 and EB-3 India are January 15, 2015; and unreserved EB-5 India is May 1, 2024.
A filing date is not an approval date wearing better clothes. Adjustment applicants must still check which chart USCIS authorizes for September. Petition approval, permission to file, employment authorization, travel permission, and final green-card approval are separate milestones. Immigration paperwork maintains a complicated relationship with the word “final.”
The practical step is to confirm the category, country of chargeability, priority date, USCIS chart selection, and case-specific risks before filing, changing jobs, or traveling. October 1 brings a new annual allocation; it does not erase the queue or guarantee movement.
Official source: U.S. Department of State, September 2026 Visa Bulletin.
General information, not legal advice.
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