For the June 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-2 NIW current priority dates are as follows: applicants chargeable to any country other than China or India are current, meaning no wait once the I-140 is approved. Applicants born in mainland China have a Final Action Date of September 1, 2021. Applicants born in India have a Final Action Date of September 1, 2013. These cutoffs shift every month, sometimes forward and occasionally backward, so the bulletin is worth checking on the first of each month.1U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2026
June 2026 EB-2 Cutoffs at a Glance
The Visa Bulletin publishes two charts. Final Action Dates govern when a green card can actually be issued. Dates for Filing are usually slightly more advanced and, when USCIS authorizes their use, govern when you can submit Form I-485 inside the United States.
Final Action Dates for EB-2:
- All countries except China and India: Current
- China (mainland born): September 1, 2021
- India: September 1, 2013
Dates for Filing for EB-2:
- All countries except China and India: Current
- China (mainland born): January 1, 2022
- India: January 15, 2015
The gap is stark. An Indian-born applicant filing an NIW today faces a wait measured in years, while someone born in Brazil or Nigeria with the same qualifications faces no wait at all.1U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2026
Which Chart Applies to You
Reading the bulletin correctly matters, because the two charts do different work.
The Final Action Dates chart controls whether a green card can be granted. Your priority date must fall before the listed cutoff for USCIS or a consulate to approve permanent residency. If a country’s column shows “C” for current, there is no backlog. If a specific date appears, only applicants with priority dates earlier than that date can proceed.
The Dates for Filing chart lets you get your I-485 into the system before a visa number is technically ready, so background checks and paperwork can move in parallel with the wait. Once your I-485 is pending, you can request work authorization and advance parole.
USCIS decides each month which chart adjustment applicants inside the United States may use. When more visa numbers are expected to be available than there are known applicants, USCIS authorizes the more favorable Dates for Filing chart. When supply is tight, filings are restricted to Final Action Dates. That determination is posted on the USCIS website shortly after each bulletin appears.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin
How Your Priority Date Is Set
For an EB-2 NIW petition, the priority date is the day USCIS receives your properly filed Form I-140 with the required evidence and fee. The NIW does not require a Department of Labor labor certification, so the I-140 filing date itself controls, unlike employer-sponsored EB-2 cases where the priority date traces back to the labor certification.3eCFR. 8 CFR 204.5 – Petitions for Employment-Based Immigrants
After acceptance, USCIS issues Form I-797, which shows the priority date. That date stays attached to the petition permanently, whether adjudication takes four months or fourteen.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797 Types and Functions
Why China and India Wait So Much Longer
Federal law caps the number of employment-based immigrant visas going to natives of any single country at 7% of the annual total. With roughly 140,000 employment-based visas available each year (plus any spillover from unused family-based visas), no country can receive more than about 9,800 across all employment-based categories.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1152 – Numerical Limitations on Individual Foreign States
India and China produce far more qualified EB-2 applicants than the cap can absorb. When demand from a country exceeds supply, the Department of State applies earlier cutoff dates to keep usage within the statutory limit. Where demand falls below the cap, dates stay current.
Chargeability normally follows country of birth, not citizenship. If your spouse was born in a country with a shorter backlog, cross-chargeability may let you use that country’s dates. It’s worth raising with an immigration attorney if that describes your situation.
When Dates Move Backward
Retrogression happens when the Department of State moves a cutoff backward because visa demand is running ahead of supply for the remainder of the fiscal year, which runs October through September. Your priority date can be current one month and out of reach the next.
If your I-485 is already pending when retrogression hits, USCIS does not deny it. The case is held until your priority date becomes current again. You can still apply for and renew your Employment Authorization Document (Form I-765) and advance parole (Form I-131), and you remain authorized to stay in the United States based on the pending I-485.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Retrogression
If you have not yet filed the I-485 when retrogression occurs, you wait until dates advance again. That’s the practical reason many applicants file under the Dates for Filing chart as soon as it opens.
Carrying an Earlier Priority Date Forward
Priority date retention is one of the more valuable tools in the system. If you were the beneficiary of an earlier approved employment-based petition in EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3, you can carry that earlier date forward to a new petition. An employer’s approved 2018 EB-3, for example, can supply the priority date for a later self-filed EB-2 NIW.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 8 – Documentation and Evidence
You lose that right only if USCIS revoked the original petition for fraud or willful misrepresentation, the Department of Labor revoked the underlying labor certification, or USCIS determines the earlier approval rested on a material error. Otherwise the earlier date stays with you across employer changes and category switches.
Holding Status While You Wait
For Indian- and Chinese-born applicants, the wait between I-140 approval and an available green card can be long. Keeping valid nonimmigrant status during that time is essential. Employment-based adjustment applicants must have been lawfully admitted, must not have been out of status for more than 180 days total, and must not have worked without authorization since their last lawful admission.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1255 – Adjustment of Status of Nonimmigrant to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
H-1B Extensions Past Six Years
H-1B status is normally capped at six years. An approved I-140 combined with a priority date that is not current lets you extend H-1B in three-year increments beyond that cap. If your I-140 or labor certification has been on file for at least 365 days but is still pending, you can extend in one-year increments instead.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FAQs for Individuals in H-1B Nonimmigrant Status
These extensions can be renewed indefinitely as long as your priority date remains unavailable. That mechanism is what keeps many Indian-born EB-2 applicants in lawful status through waits that stretch past a decade.
After the I-485 Is Filed
Once the I-485 is pending, you can request an EAD and advance parole, which together let you work for any employer and travel internationally without disturbing the green card application. Some applicants stop renewing H-1B at that point; keeping H-1B alive as a backup is a common hedge in case the I-485 is denied.
CSPA and Children Approaching 21
A “child” derivative must be unmarried and under 21. Once a child turns 21, they age out unless the Child Status Protection Act preserves eligibility.
For employment-based cases, CSPA uses a formula rather than freezing the child’s age at filing. Take the child’s age on the date a visa becomes available under the Final Action Dates chart, then subtract the number of days the I-140 was pending before approval. If the resulting CSPA age is under 21 and the child remains unmarried, they still qualify.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
A concrete example: a child turns 22 on the date a visa number becomes available, but the I-140 was pending for 400 days. Subtracting roughly 1 year and 35 days from age 22 gives a CSPA age of about 20 years and 330 days. Under 21, so the child remains eligible. For families with young children now facing an Indian-born wait, tracking this math from the start is worth the effort. A child who ages out despite CSPA may need to look at independent petition options.