EB-2 Priority Date Movement: Reading the Visa Bulletin for India and China

The Visa Bulletin is published monthly by the Department of State. For most applicants from India and China, it is the single most consequential document in their immigration journey — and also the most misread.

Understanding how priority dates actually move, what causes retrogression, and what the 2026 dates mean for realistic wait times is not a passive exercise. It directly affects when you can file your I-485, whether you can change jobs, and how to manage your immigration strategy over a multi-year horizon.

How the Visa Bulletin Works

The Visa Bulletin publishes two charts for each employment-based category:

Final Action Dates: The date your I-485 can be approved and your green card issued. Your priority date must be earlier than (or equal to) this date before you can be approved.

Dates for Filing: The date you can submit your I-485, allowing you to access interim benefits — Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and Advance Parole — while waiting for your final action date to become current. USCIS announces each month whether the Dates for Filing chart can be used; in some months (like May 2026), USCIS restricts applicants to the Final Action Dates chart only.

Your priority date is set when your PERM is accepted by the DOL (for employer-sponsored cases) or when your I-140 is received by USCIS (for NIW self-petitions). This date does not change unless you file a new petition.

Where the Dates Stand in 2026

As of the May 2026 Visa Bulletin, Final Action Dates for EB-2:

• India: July 15, 2014
• China (Mainland Born): September 1, 2021
• Rest of World: Current (no wait)
• Mexico: Current
• Philippines: Current

For Dates for Filing (when USCIS allows it):

• India: January 15, 2015
• China: October 1, 2022
• Rest of World: Current

An Indian applicant with a priority date of August 2014 cannot yet get their green card approved, because the Final Action Date (July 15, 2014) has not reached their date. Their priority date is not yet "current."

What Makes Dates Move

Priority dates generally advance over time, but the pace is highly variable and affected by:

Visa number consumption. The State Department allocates a set number of visa numbers per fiscal year (October to September). When a category is heavily subscribed, dates advance slowly. When visa numbers are underutilized — for example, during years when fewer I-485 interviews were scheduled due to pandemic backlogs — dates can surge forward quickly.

Retrogression. When too many applicants file I-485s in response to date advances, the State Department retracts dates (moves them backward) in subsequent months to prevent exceeding the annual cap. This is retrogression, and it is a regular feature of the Visa Bulletin for India EB-2. Applicants whose I-485 was not adjudicated before retrogression simply wait again.

Spillover from EB-1. If EB-1 visas go unused, they spill into the EB-2 allocation, adding numbers and potentially accelerating date movement. This is unpredictable and varies year to year.

Annual cap reset. The employment-based fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30. At the start of each new fiscal year, fresh annual allocations become available, sometimes causing rapid date movements in October and November.

EB-2 China Wait Time in 2026

For Chinese nationals (mainland born), the EB-2 Final Action Date is September 1, 2021. An applicant who filed an I-140 in late 2021 or early 2022 is now within a few months of becoming current — or may already be waiting on interview scheduling.

However, this does not mean the process is fast. Chinese nationals with a 2023 or 2024 priority date are looking at an estimated four to six years before their date becomes current, assuming consistent forward movement and no retrogression. And the Dates for Filing for China (October 1, 2022) are more recent, meaning applicants with a 2023 or later date cannot yet file I-485 even to access interim benefits.

This is materially better than the India backlog, but still a significant wait compared to Rest of World applicants who can complete the entire process in two to three years.

Reading the Bulletin in Practice

Step one: find your priority date on your I-797 approval notice or on the receipt for your PERM filing.

Step two: go to the current Visa Bulletin and locate your preference category (EB-2) and your country of chargeability (usually your country of birth, unless you are using cross-chargeability with a spouse from a different country).

Step three: compare your priority date to the Final Action Date. If your date is earlier than the Final Action Date, your date is current and you can be approved for the green card. If not, you are waiting.

Step four: check the Dates for Filing. If your priority date is earlier than the Dates for Filing cutoff and USCIS has announced that chart can be used for the current month, you can submit an I-485 now — even though the actual green card will not be issued until the Final Action Date catches up.

Strategy During the Wait

An approved I-140 protects your priority date. If your employer or your circumstances change during a long backlog, you do not lose your place in line simply because you change jobs — as long as you invoke AC21 portability correctly (I-485 pending for 180 days or more, new role in the same or similar occupational classification).

Some backlogged applicants simultaneously pursue EB-1A petitions, aiming to port their earlier priority date to a category with better dates. Others file concurrent EB-3 petitions to capture whichever category advances faster in any given year.

The complete EB-2 Green Card Guide covers Visa Bulletin strategy, priority date porting, EB-2 to EB-3 concurrent filing, cross-chargeability for married couples, and how to maintain valid nonimmigrant status through multi-year waits in detail.