July 2026 Visa Bulletin: EB-2 India Unavailable, EB-1 Retrogresses to October 2022

The June 2026 bulletin analysis on this blog closed with a specific warning: the State Department had flagged India EB-2 for possible unavailability before September 30. That scenario materialized one month later. The July bulletin did not just move EB-2 India backward. It removed the date entirely.

That distinction matters. It is not the same as retrogression.

What Changed from June to July

The July bulletin produced the sharpest single-month shift of FY2026. Below is the direct before-and-after comparison for every affected employment-based category.

Category	June 2026	July 2026	Change
EB-1 India	December 15, 2022	October 15, 2022	Retrogressed 2 months
EB-2 India	September 1, 2013	Unavailable	All filings blocked
EB-5 India Unreserved	September 22, 2016	Unavailable	All filings blocked
EB-5 Rural Set-Aside	Current	Current	No change
EB-5 High-Unemployment Set-Aside	Current	Current	No change
EB-5 Infrastructure Set-Aside	Current	Current	No change
EB-1 Worldwide	Current	Current	No change
EB-2 Worldwide	Current	Current	No change

The context from June makes the EB-2 move less surprising in hindsight. September 1, 2013 was already a date covering cases with a 13-year-old priority date. The practical pool of India EB-2 applicants who could have filed with a September 2013 cut-off was enormous. Demand at that date presumably consumed the remaining FY2026 numbers almost immediately after the June bulletin published.

Fragomen's July bulletin alert confirmed that USCIS will honor Final Action Dates for employment-based AOS, not Dates for Filing. This is consequential: it means the more permissive Dates for Filing chart (which sometimes allows early I-485 filings before the final action date is current) provides no benefit for July. The Final Action Date is the operative filing test.

What "Unavailable" Actually Means

Retrogression moves a date backward. Unavailability removes the date entirely.

When a category is retrogressed to, say, September 1, 2013, applicants with priority dates before September 1, 2013 can still file. When a category is "unavailable," no India-born applicant can file an I-485 or an immigrant visa application under EB-2, regardless of how old their priority date is. A petitioner with a 2008 priority date faces the same block as one with a 2013 date.

This distinction trips up clients who have been waiting years and assume that their old priority date protects them. It does not. The "unavailable" designation is a category-level shutdown, not a date threshold.

What unavailability does NOT affect:

• Form I-140 petitions. The immigrant petition itself has no visa bulletin dependency. An India-born NIW applicant can file I-140 today, get it approved, and lock in a priority date for FY2027.
• Pending I-485 applications. If an I-485 was filed when the category was current, it stays pending. The unavailability does not terminate or reject already-filed adjustments.
• AC21 portability. An approved I-140 held for 180 days continues to support portability regardless of the visa bulletin date.
• Nonimmigrant status maintenance. H-1B, L-1, O-1 status is unaffected by the employment-based final action date.

Impact on Pending I-485 Applications

The July retrogression and unavailability create two distinct client populations, and they require different handling.

Clients who filed I-485 before July 2026 when their date was current: Nothing changes for them. An I-485 properly filed when the category was current remains pending regardless of subsequent retrogression or unavailability. USCIS does not reject or terminate pending I-485s due to date changes after filing. Newland Chase's July bulletin briefing confirmed this point explicitly. These clients should continue to receive EAD and advance parole renewals, attend biometrics if scheduled, and respond to any RFEs without concern about the current bulletin date.

Clients who had not yet filed I-485 and were planning to file in July: They cannot file. Full stop. Clients in this group who are currently on H-1B or other nonimmigrant status need to focus on maintaining that status while waiting for FY2027 numbers. Clients who were relying on an I-485 filing to secure EAD-based work authorization will need to extend their nonimmigrant work authorization instead.

Clients whose I-140 is approved but I-485 has never been filed: The I-140 approval is unaffected. The priority date is preserved. These clients are in a holding pattern until October, which is uncomfortable but not dangerous provided their nonimmigrant status does not lapse.

Clients mid-RFE response for a pending I-140: Visa bulletin dates have no bearing on I-140 adjudication. Respond to the RFE as planned.

One situation worth flagging to clients directly: anyone who received an interview notice at a US consulate abroad for an immigrant visa appointment under EB-2 India should contact the consulate to confirm scheduling. Consulates generally will not conduct immigrant visa interviews when the category is unavailable.

The NIW Case for Filing I-140 Anyway

India-born NIW petitioners are frequently confused about whether they should bother filing I-140 when the category is unavailable. The answer is yes, and the reasoning is specific.

Form I-140 is an immigrant petition. It is not an adjustment application. Its filing and adjudication are not dependent on visa bulletin dates. USCIS processes I-140 petitions based on whether the petitioner qualifies. Full stop. Filing an I-140 today accomplishes three things that cannot be accomplished by waiting.

First, it locks in the priority date. The priority date is set at I-140 receipt, not at I-485 filing. Every month of delay in filing I-140 is a month added to the wait for the FY2027 filing window and every subsequent year's wait. The FY2027 reset on October 1, 2026 will likely bring EB-2 India dates forward to somewhere in the 2013-2015 range based on historical patterns. A petitioner who files I-140 in July 2026 enters FY2027 with a July 2026 priority date. That date will not be current in October 2026, but the I-140 approval preserves it for whenever it does become current, potentially years from now.

Second, an approved I-140 held for 180 days enables AC21 portability under INA 204(j). If the petitioner's employer situation changes before adjustment, portability allows them to move to a similar occupation without losing their priority date. Without an approved I-140, there is nothing to port.

Third, for clients in H-1B status: an approved I-140 extends H-1B renewals beyond the standard six-year cap in one-year increments. This is not a minor benefit for clients who may be waiting several years for EB-2 India dates to reach their priority date.

The NIW vs EB-1A comparison on this blog covers the trade-offs between the two paths in detail. For India-born petitioners specifically, the current visa bulletin situation creates a practical argument for pursuing EB-1A alongside NIW: if EB-1A approval is achievable and the priority date falls before October 15, 2022, the client has a filing window today that NIW does not offer.

The DOS Warning on EB-1 India

The State Department did not just move the India EB-1 date in July. It published a direct warning about August and September.

The July 2026 bulletin states: "Further retrogression or making the category unavailable may be necessary in the coming months if India's pro-rated limit in the EB-1 category is reached before the end of FY2026."

Read that carefully. It is not boilerplate hedging. The State Department uses this specific language when it has concrete number-use projections showing a category is at risk of exhaustion. The June 2026 bulletin included similar language about EB-2 India, and EB-2 went unavailable one month later.

What this means for attorneys with India-born EB-1A clients in practice:

Clients with priority dates before October 15, 2022: Currently within the filing window. These clients can file I-485 (or an immigrant visa application) in July. Do not delay. Given the DOS warning, the August bulletin may retrogress this date further. An I-485 filed in July when the date is current stays pending even if August retrogresses the date below the client's priority date.

Clients with priority dates between October 15, 2022 and December 15, 2022: Lost the filing window in July. Two months of retrogression cut them out. Their I-140 remains approved and valid. The October reset is the next viable window, assuming FY2027 numbers open the date sufficiently.

Clients with priority dates after December 15, 2022: Not directly affected by July's two-month retrogression beyond the general India EB-1 wait they were already experiencing. The DOS warning suggests August could retrogress further, but they were not in the filing window before July either.

Wolfsdorf's July bulletin analysis and Ogletree's commentary both treat the DOS warning as a near-certainty, not a possibility. Plan for August retrogression.

EB-5 India: Set-Asides vs Unreserved

The EB-5 picture for India-born investors requires clarification because two separate tracks are operating simultaneously, and clients frequently conflate them.

EB-5 Unreserved (formerly "regular" EB-5): Unavailable through September 30, 2026. This track covers the majority of EB-5 filings made before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 created the set-aside structure. India-born investors in the unreserved category cannot file I-485 or proceed with immigrant visa applications through FY2026.

EB-5 Set-Aside categories: All three remain current: rural projects, projects in targeted employment areas with high unemployment, and infrastructure projects. The set-aside structure carves out a percentage of annual EB-5 numbers specifically for these project types, with no per-country cap on the set-aside allotment for the first five years after a petitioner files. India-born investors in a qualifying set-aside project are not affected by the unreserved unavailability.

Wolfsdorf's analysis specifically called out the set-aside distinction, noting it as a meaningful carve-out for India-born EB-5 investors who have access to rural or high-unemployment projects. The practical question for clients: confirm which track their petition was filed under before drawing any conclusions about their filing ability.

Attorneys advising EB-5 investors should pull the Form I-526 or I-526E approval notice and identify the project category. If the notice reflects a set-aside project, the unreserved unavailability is irrelevant to that client. If the notice does not specify, contact the regional center or project manager to confirm.

What to Expect in October 2026

October 1 begins FY2027. New country-specific visa numbers renew annually. The October bulletin is the most important one for India-born employment-based clients, and the historical record offers a reliable baseline for what to expect.

In FY2024, EB-2 India went unavailable in August 2023 and reopened in October 2023 at a date of February 1, 2012. In FY2025, a similar pattern played out with a late-FY retrogression followed by an October advancement. LHSC Immigration's July bulletin analysis described the FY2026 trajectory as consistent with these prior cycles.

The October 2026 bulletin will almost certainly show a EB-2 India date in the 2012-2015 range, based on the volume of I-140 approvals waiting in the queue and the FY2027 number allocation. Whether that date reaches any specific client's priority date depends on the total demand at each date. A client with a 2009 priority date has a stronger probability of being current in October than a client with a 2013 date.

EB-1 India is less predictable. If the DOS warning materializes and EB-1 India goes unavailable before September 30, the October reset will bring it back, though from a further-retrogressed starting point. If EB-1 India holds through FY2026 without going unavailable, October may show only modest advancement.

The one thing attorneys can bank on: October 2026 will show forward movement from wherever July, August, and September leave these dates. Plan I-485 filings for October. Prepare the complete I-485 package now, including medicals, civil documents, and the I-864 Affidavit of Support, so the filing can go out within days of the October bulletin publishing.

Action Checklist for Attorneys

Specific steps organized by client situation. Work through this list before the August bulletin publishes.

India-born EB-1A/EB-1B/EB-1C clients with priority dates before October 15, 2022:

1. Confirm the current priority date from the I-140 approval notice.
2. Confirm the client is within the July Final Action Date cut-off (before October 15, 2022).
3. File I-485 in July. Do not wait for August. The DOS warning makes August movement a concrete risk.
4. Include complete civil documents, medical (Form I-693), I-864, and any derivative I-485 packages for dependents.
5. Request biometrics appointments and flag the filing to the client immediately.

India-born EB-1A/EB-1B clients with priority dates between October 15, 2022 and December 15, 2022:

1. Communicate that the two-month retrogression cut their window.
2. Confirm I-140 is approved. The petition is valid; only the filing window is closed.
3. Begin assembling I-485 package for October 2026. Do not wait until September to start.
4. Verify the client's nonimmigrant status (H-1B, L-1, O-1) extends through October and beyond.
5. Set a calendar alert for the August bulletin release (typically published around July 15) and re-evaluate dates.

India-born EB-2 or NIW clients without an approved I-140:

1. File Form I-140 now. Visa bulletin dates do not affect I-140 filing or adjudication.
2. Use premium processing if the client's situation is time-sensitive (for example, H-1B cap-gap approaching, or employer change being considered).
3. Explain to the client that the I-140 filing today locks in a priority date that will be relevant in FY2027 and future years.
4. If the client's employer situation is uncertain, flag that an approved I-140 held 180 days enables AC21 portability.

India-born EB-2 clients with an approved I-140 but no pending I-485:

1. Confirm the client's nonimmigrant status is maintained and extended. No I-485 means no EAD fallback.
2. Begin assembling I-485 package for October 2026.
3. Confirm the I-140 priority date and identify which FY2027 EB-2 India date range would make the client current.
4. Set the client's expectation that October is the next viable window, with no guarantee of a specific date.

India-born EB-2 clients with a pending I-485:

1. Confirm the I-485 receipt notice reflects a filing date when the category was current.
2. Communicate clearly: the July unavailability does not affect a properly filed pending I-485.
3. Continue normal case management: respond to RFEs, attend biometrics, renew EAD/AP as needed.
4. Do not request withdrawal or transfer.

India-born EB-5 investors:

1. Pull the I-526 or I-526E approval notice and confirm the project category.
2. If set-aside (rural, high-unemployment, infrastructure): the unreserved unavailability does not apply. Confirm filing timeline with the regional center.
3. If unreserved: filing window closed through September 30. Plan for October.

All India-born clients considering employer changes:

1. Verify whether their approved I-140 has been held 180 days. If yes, AC21 portability is available.
2. Do not assume a job change before I-485 filing forfeits the priority date if an I-140 is already approved and the new position is in a similar occupation.
3. Review the EB-1A petition guide to assess whether EB-1A is a viable parallel path that could offer a current priority date window under the October reset.

---

Immigration Copilot helps attorneys build EB-1A and O-1 petitions with structured evidence mapping and AI-assisted drafting. Start a free project to see how evidence-to-criteria alignment works for your next India-born EB-1A client.