The September 2026 Visa Bulletin delivered some of the largest single-month jumps family-based green card applicants have seen in years, with some priority date cutoffs advancing by more than two years in one update. The catch, according to the immigration attorneys tracking it, is that this surge is a use-it-or-lose-it move by the State Department rather than a sign of a permanently faster system.
How far the dates moved
Per analysis from Wolfsdorf Rosenthal, the F4 category — siblings of adult US citizens — saw its worldwide and China final action date jump from September 1, 2009 to October 22, 2011, a movement of more than two years, in the largest shift among family categories. F3 (married sons and daughters of US citizens) advanced roughly 29 months for most countries, from May 15, 2012 to October 22, 2014. F2B (unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents) moved nearly 20 months, from January 1, 2018 to August 22, 2019, for most countries. F1 (unmarried adult sons and daughters of US citizens) advanced over 13 months, from December 15, 2018 to January 22, 2020. Mexico and the Philippines, which have separate and typically slower-moving date columns due to higher demand, saw far smaller or no movement across most categories. On the employment-based side, only EB-4 advanced, and only by two months.
Why the State Department is doing this now
The State Department’s own explanation, cited in the Wolfsdorf analysis, points to reduced visa issuance for nationals of certain countries “because of Administration” actions — meaning fewer visas than expected have actually been issued against this fiscal year’s allotment. Advancing dates sharply is the department’s mechanism for pulling more applicants into the pipeline so unused FY2026 visa numbers don’t simply expire when the fiscal year ends on September 30.
The retrogression warning attached to the good news
The bulletin itself carries a caution that applicants should not treat this month’s movement as the new normal. Once demand catches up to the advanced dates, or if underlying issuance policy shifts again, “retrogression may become necessary” — meaning some or all of these dates could move backward in a future bulletin, a pattern that has played out before when the State Department front-loads visa number usage near a fiscal year-end.
Why this bulletin behaves differently from a normal month
Visa bulletins typically move in small, predictable increments, a few weeks or a couple of months at a time, as the State Department balances demand against the fixed annual visa caps Congress sets for each category. A jump of more than two years in a single update, as happened with F4 this month, is a signal that the department is actively managing toward a specific numeric target rather than simply tracking organic demand, which is exactly what officials confirmed when they tied the move to unused FY2026 visa numbers. That distinction matters for anyone trying to predict where their own category will sit next month: normal bulletins can be read as trend lines, but a fiscal year-end catch-up bulletin like this one is closer to a one-time adjustment that resets once the new fiscal year begins.
What to watch in October
Applicants whose priority dates newly became current should move quickly to file or complete their cases while the window is open, since a reversal in October or later bulletins is explicitly flagged as a possibility rather than a remote risk. Anyone unsure whether their specific category and country combination is now current should check the State Department’s bulletin directly rather than relying on last month’s chart, given how much movement occurred in a single update.
Bulletin FAQs
Which family-based category advanced the most in the September 2026 Visa Bulletin?
F4 (siblings of adult US citizens) advanced the most, moving more than two years for worldwide and China applicants.
Why did the State Department advance so many dates at once?
Fewer visas than expected have been issued to nationals of certain countries this fiscal year, and the State Department is advancing dates to use remaining FY2026 visa numbers before the fiscal year ends September 30.
Will these advanced dates hold in future bulletins?
Not necessarily. The bulletin itself warns that retrogression, meaning dates moving backward, may become necessary once demand catches up.
Did Mexico and the Philippines see the same movement?
No, Mexico and the Philippines generally saw much smaller or no movement, since their higher-demand date columns move separately from the worldwide chart.
Did any employment-based categories move this month?
Only EB-4 advanced, and only by two months; most employment-based categories were unchanged.
For more on how priority dates and processing rules are shifting, see why your green card priority date could freeze in the next 10 days and USCIS’s crackdown on paperwork with missed dates.
