India EB-1 and EB-2 Retrogress in June 2026 Visa Bulletin

The June 2026 Visa Bulletin delivered a significant setback for India-chargeable employment-based applicants.

State expressly announced India EB-2 retrogression in 2026 alongside EB-1 retrogression, saying high demand and number use made backward movement necessary to keep visa issuance within fiscal-year limits.

What were the June Final Action Dates?

For India, the June employment-based Final Action Dates were:

EB-1: December 15, 2022

EB-2: September 1, 2013

EB-3: December 15, 2013

EB-5 unreserved: May 1, 2022.

The Dates for Filing chart was more advanced: India EB-1 was December 1, 2023; EB-2 and EB-3 were January 15, 2015; EB-5 unreserved was May 1, 2024.

Those two charts serve different purposes and should not be interchanged.

Why did dates move backward?

State said high demand and number use by applicants chargeable to India in EB-1 and EB-2 required retrogression to keep number use within FY2026 limits.

The department further warned that additional retrogression—or making the categories unavailable—could become necessary if India’s prorated limits were reached before the end of the fiscal year.

That warning was not theoretical for EB-2. On May 22, State separately announced that all FY2026 EB-2 numbers available for India-chargeable applicants had been used.

What does retrogression mean?

Retrogression means a Visa Bulletin cutoff date moves backward. An applicant whose priority date had previously fallen before the Final Action Date may no longer be eligible for final approval once the new cutoff applies. That does not automatically revoke the underlying immigrant petition.

For applicants with pending adjustment-of-status cases, the case can remain pending while awaiting renewed visa availability, depending on individual circumstances.

Final Action versus Dates for Filing

This is one of the most common sources of confusion.

The Final Action Dates chart determines when a visa number may be available for final approval.

The Dates for Filing chart can permit earlier document filing when the relevant agency authorizes use of that chart.

USCIS separately identifies which chart adjustment applicants may use each month.

A reader therefore should not conclude that a January 2015 Dates for Filing cutoff means an India EB-2 green card can be approved for a January 2015 priority date when the Final Action Date is September 2013.

Why India is treated differently

The June bulletin identifies India as one of the oversubscribed chargeability areas. Employment preference numbers are distributed under worldwide category limits and country-allocation provisions. This is why an India EB-2 cutoff can sit years behind a category that is current for many other chargeability areas.

Hypothetical example

An Indian-born professional has a November 2013 EB-2 priority date.

If the previous month’s final-action cutoff had covered that date but June’s cutoff moved back to September 1, 2013, the case would no longer be eligible for final action in June solely based on that priority date. The underlying petition does not disappear; visa availability changed.

What applicants should monitor

The Visa Bulletin is updated monthly and can advance, stall, retrogress or show a category as unavailable. Applicants should review both the State Department bulletin and USCIS’s monthly adjustment-of-status chart guidance. They should also distinguish an estimated future movement from a published cutoff. State’s own June warning is a useful reminder that visa-number demand can change quickly near the end of a fiscal year.

FAQ

Does retrogression cancel an I-140? Not by itself.

Can Dates for Filing be used for approval? No; Final Action Dates govern final visa availability.

Did State warn EB-2 could become unavailable? Yes, and it later announced FY2026 India EB-2 exhaustion.

June’s India EB-1 and EB-2 retrogression reflected intense visa-number demand and foreshadowed the later FY2026 India EB-2 exhaustion.