Late on March 27 the U.S. Department of State (DOS) published the April 2026 Visa Bulletin, providing the cut-off dates that determine when foreign nationals in the employment- and family-based preference categories can file for adjustment of status or receive immigrant visas. While most categories remain static, two notable movements will interest corporate mobility managers: EB-2 India advances six weeks to 15 July 2014 and EB-3 China progresses two months to 15 June 2021. EB-1 worldwide remains "current," but EB-1 India and China hold at 1 April 2023. Although the gains are incremental, they allow a new cohort of Indian IT managers and Chinese engineers—many of whom have lived and worked in the United States for a decade on temporary visas—to proceed with the final step of the green-card process. That in turn enables dependent spouses to apply for unrestricted employment authorization and gives employers flexibility to place assignees on long-term domestic projects without repeated visa extensions. The bulletin also reconfirms that the family-based F-2A category (spouses and children of permanent residents) is "current" for the Dates-for-Filing chart, meaning applicants can submit documentation immediately even if final-action numbers are not yet available. Multinational companies that rely on L-1 or E-2 transferees often use family-based avenues to secure permanent residence for dependents; the current status therefore shortens planning timelines. USCIS is expected to announce within days whether it will accept employment-based adjustment filings based on the bulletin’s Dates-for-Filing chart or the stricter Final-Action chart. Attorneys advise employers to gather medical examinations and refreshed support letters now so they can file in the short window that often opens at the start of a new fiscal quarter. Practically, HR teams should update immigration dashboards and communicate eligibility changes to affected employees. Given that premium-processing upgrades do not accelerate visa-number availability, organizations may wish to redirect budget toward retention bonuses or green-card legal fees for priority workers whose dates remain retrogressed.
Source: U.S. Department of State
