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. F1 all other chargeability areas, China, and India · Final actionF1, all other chargeability areas, China, and India, final action: advanced 6 months▲ 6mLargest advance since 2019
  2. F2B all other chargeability areas, China, and India · Final actionF2B, all other chargeability areas, China, and India, final action: advanced 6 months▲ 6mRecord advance
  3. F4 the Philippines · Final actionF4, the Philippines, final action: advanced 5 months▲ 5m
  4. F4 all other chargeability areas and China · Final actionF4, all other chargeability areas and China, final action: advanced 5 months▲ 5m
  5. F3 the Philippines · Final actionF3, the Philippines, final action: advanced 4 months▲ 4m
  6. F2B the Philippines · Final actionF2B, the Philippines, final action: advanced 4 months▲ 4m
  7. F3 all other chargeability areas, China, and India · Final actionF3, all other chargeability areas, China, and India, final action: advanced 3 months▲ 3m
  8. F1 the Philippines · Final actionF1, the Philippines, final action: advanced 2 months▲ 2m
  9. F1 Mexico · Final actionF1, Mexico, final action: advanced 8 weeks▲ 2m
  10. F2A all countries · Dates for filingF2A, all countries, dates for filing: became Current● Current
  11. F1 all other chargeability areas, China, and India · Dates for filingF1, all other chargeability areas, China, and India, dates for filing: advanced 6 months▲ 6m
  12. F2B all other chargeability areas, China, and India · Dates for filingF2B, all other chargeability areas, China, and India, dates for filing: advanced 5 months▲ 5m
  13. F1 Mexico · Dates for filingF1, Mexico, dates for filing: advanced 4 months▲ 4m
  14. F3 all other chargeability areas, China, and India · Dates for filingF3, all other chargeability areas, China, and India, dates for filing: advanced 4 months▲ 4m
  15. F2B Mexico · Dates for filingF2B, Mexico, dates for filing: advanced 3 months▲ 3m
  16. F4 all other chargeability areas and China · Dates for filingF4, all other chargeability areas and China, dates for filing: advanced 2 months▲ 2m
  17. F4 the Philippines · Dates for filingF4, the Philippines, dates for filing: advanced 2 months▲ 2m
  18. F3 the Philippines · Dates for filingF3, the Philippines, dates for filing: advanced 6 weeks▲ 1m

Held on final action: F2A.

April 2026 bulletin · both chartsFull April 2026 bulletin

The family picture

The family story was a synchronized six-month jump at the top: F1 advanced advanced 6 months to May 1, 2017Largest advance since 2019 — and F2B matched it at advanced 6 months to May 22, 2017, a record for that line in this archive. F4 moved advanced 5 months and F3 advanced 3 months for the all-countries columns.

The Philippines had an unusually good month by its standards — F4 advanced 5 months, F3 advanced 4 months, F2B advanced 4 months — while Mexico's preference lines mostly held again, F1 advanced 8 weeks being the exception.

F2A's final-action date held at February 1, 2024 — but the quieter headline sat on the other chart: F2A became Current for all countries on the Dates for Filing chart, opening filing to everyone in the category regardless of priority date.

  • F1 · All Chargeability Areasadvanced 6 months · May 1, 2017 Largest advance since 2019
  • F2B · All Chargeability Areasadvanced 6 months · May 22, 2017 Record advance
  • F4 · Philippinesadvanced 5 months · February 1, 2007
Evidence: The family pictureVerify 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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