Archive briefing

The April 2026 Bulletin, Briefed

FamilyEmploymentEverything

At a glance

April was the spring's big bulletin: 66 of 150 cutoff entries changed against March — 55 advances, ten status changes, one retrogression — with movement across both family and employment categories. Two categories set archive records: F2B advanced 6 months Record advance and EB4 advanced 1 year Record advance. The Department's own notes that month tied part of the advancement to the pause in immigrant-visa processing for certain nationalities, and cautioned that retrogression later in the fiscal year could prove necessary to stay within annual limits — a warning worth remembering when reading the months that followed.

Generated from the bulletin

What moved

  1. EB2 all other chargeability areas, Mexico, and the Philippines · Final actionEB2, all other chargeability areas, Mexico, and the Philippines, final action: became Current● Current
  2. EB4 all countries · Final actionEB4, all countries, final action: advanced 1 year▲ 1yRecord advance
  3. EB4 Religious Workers all countries · Final actionEB4 Religious Workers, all countries, final action: advanced 1 year▲ 1yExceptional advance
  4. EB2 India · Final actionEB2, India, final action: advanced 10 months▲ 10mLargest advance since 2023
  5. EB3 all other chargeability areas and Mexico · Final actionEB3, all other chargeability areas and Mexico, final action: advanced 8 months▲ 8m
  6. EB3 Other Workers China · Final actionEB3 Other Workers, China, final action: advanced 8 weeks▲ 2m
  7. EB3 China · Final actionEB3, China, final action: advanced 6 weeks▲ 1m
  8. EB1 China and India · Final actionEB1, China and India, final action: advanced 4 weeks▲ 1m
  9. EB5 China · Final actionEB5, China, final action: advanced 2 weeks▲ 2w
  10. EB3 all other chargeability areas and Mexico · Dates for filingEB3, all other chargeability areas and Mexico, dates for filing: became Current● Current
  11. EB3 India · Dates for filingEB3, India, dates for filing: advanced 5 months▲ 5m
  12. EB3 Other Workers India · Dates for filingEB3 Other Workers, India, dates for filing: advanced 5 months▲ 5m
  13. EB2 India · Dates for filingEB2, India, dates for filing: advanced 2 months▲ 2m
  14. EB3 Other Workers all other chargeability areas, Mexico, and the Philippines · Dates for filingEB3 Other Workers, all other chargeability areas, Mexico, and the Philippines, dates for filing: advanced 6 weeks▲ 1m
  15. EB3 the Philippines · Dates for filingEB3, the Philippines, dates for filing: retrogressed 2 weeks▼ 2w

Held on final action: EB5 Rural, EB5 High-Unemployment, EB5 Infrastructure.

April 2026 bulletin · both chartsFull April 2026 bulletin

Employment-based, briefly

A genuinely large EB month: EB2 became Current for all other areas, Mexico, and the Philippines; EB4 advanced advanced 1 year across every country — Record advance — with Religious Workers matching; EB2 India moved advanced 10 months to July 15, 2014, its largest advance since 2023; EB3 for all areas and Mexico advanced advanced 8 months and went Current on the filing chart.

  • EB2 · All Chargeability Areasbecame Current
  • EB4 · All Chargeability Areasadvanced 1 year · July 15, 2022 Record advance
  • EB4 Religious Workers · All Chargeability Areasadvanced 1 year · July 15, 2022 Exceptional advance
Evidence: Employment-based, brieflyVerify on the bulletin →

Against the archive

How records and stamps are judged →

For EB4 (all countries), this is the largest single-bulletin EB4 advance in our archive (since Oct 2015). For F2B (all other chargeability areas, China, and India), this is the largest single-bulletin F2B advance in our archive (since Oct 2015). For F1 (all other chargeability areas, China, and India), this is the largest single-bulletin F1 advance since 2019.

Primary source

From the Department’s notes for April 2026

3 sections, reproduced verbatim from the U.S. Department of State’s April 2026 Visa Bulletin. The Department’s words, not ours.

C. THE DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN MAY

For May , immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2026 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:

Region

All DV Chargeability Areas Except

Those Listed Separately

AFRICA

55,000

Except: Algeria 37,000

Egypt 30,000

ASIA

35,000

Except: Nepal 10,000

EUROPE

20,000

NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)

50

OCEANIA

1,500

SOUTH AMERICA,

and the CARIBBEAN

3,000

D. AVAILABILITY OF FAMILY-SPONSORED AND EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISASImmigrant visa issuance rates for aliens from certain countries have decreased in light of various actions the…

Immigrant visa issuance rates for aliens from certain countries have decreased in light of various actions the administration has taken to protect national security and public safety, and to otherwise advance the interests of the United States (e.g. Presidential Proclamation 10949 , Presidential Proclamation 10998 , Immigrant Visa Processing Updates ). Consequently, to make visas available in accordance with sections 201-203 of the INA to prospective immigrants from other countries to use immigrant visa numbers that are available in FY-2026, dates for filing and final action dates have been advanced across various immigrant visa categories. Note that as additional immigrant visa demand materializes, or administration actions are amended, retrogression may be necessary later in the fiscal year to keep issuances within annual limits. This situation is being continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.

E. U.S. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISAS (SIVs)

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024, signed into law on December 22, 2023, may affect certain current and former employees of the U.S. Government abroad, as well as certain surviving spouses and children of deceased employees of the U.S. government abroad, applying for SIVs or adjustment of status, as described in section 101(a)(27)(D) of the INA. This does not affect certain Iraqis and Afghans applying for SQ and SI SIVs. Applicants should contact the consular section at which they filed their Form DS‑1884 for further information on the impact of that law on their case.

What happened next

April's warning about possible retrogression did not, for the family categories, come true — the opposite did. Between April and September, F2B's cutoff traveled from May 22, 2017 to August 22, 2019, F1 from May 1, 2017 to January 22, 2020, and F3 from December 22, 2011 to October 22, 2014 — each closing the fiscal year with the record September advance. F2A went from filing-chart Current in April to a final-action date within weeks of the bulletin itself by September. April, in hindsight, was the first loud month of a surge that kept building.

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