The EB-3 Visa Bulletin is the monthly Department of State chart that tells third-preference employment-based green card applicants — skilled workers, professionals, and other workers — whether a visa number is available for their case. Your place in line is set by your priority date and your country of birth, and once the bulletin’s cutoff moves past your priority date, you can file the final step of your green card application. For the June 2026 bulletin, the Final Action Date is June 1, 2024 for most countries and December 15, 2013 for India, a gap that shapes almost every strategic decision an EB-3 applicant makes.
June 2026 EB-3 Cutoff Dates
Final Action Dates for June 2026:
- All Chargeability Areas (most countries): June 1, 2024
- China (mainland born): August 1, 2021
- India: December 15, 2013
- Mexico: June 1, 2024
- Philippines: August 1, 2023
Dates for Filing for June 2026:
- All Chargeability Areas: Current
- China (mainland born): January 1, 2022
- India: January 15, 2015
- Mexico: Current
- Philippines: January 1, 2024
These dates shift every month. They can jump forward, sit still, or slide backward, so check the current bulletin before making any filing decision. Two letters show up regularly in the charts: “C” means current, with no backlog for that country and category, and “U” means unauthorized, with no numbers being issued at all.
How to Read the Two Charts
Every monthly bulletin contains two separate charts for employment-based cases. The Final Action Dates chart tells you when a visa number is actually available and your green card can be approved. If your priority date is earlier than the date listed for your country, your case can be decided.
The Dates for Filing chart is more generous. It lets you submit the green card application (or supporting documents) earlier than your visa number is fully available, so your paperwork is already in the queue when your turn comes.
You don’t get to choose which chart applies. Each month, USCIS decides whether adjustment-of-status applicants inside the United States can use the Dates for Filing chart or must use the Final Action Dates chart, and posts that decision on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page. If USCIS determines there are more visa numbers available than pending applicants, it opens up the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, Final Action Dates governs.
Finding Your Priority Date and Country of Chargeability
Your priority date is your place in line. For most EB-3 applicants, it’s the date the Department of Labor accepted your employer’s PERM labor certification application for processing. If no labor certification was required, it’s the day the I-140 petition was filed with USCIS. You can find the date on the Form I-797, Notice of Action, that USCIS issued when your I-140 was approved.
The country column you use is your country of chargeability, which is typically your country of birth, not citizenship. Someone born in India who later became a Canadian citizen still uses the India column. Naturalization elsewhere doesn’t move you into a shorter line. The one common exception is cross-chargeability: if your spouse was born in a country with a more favorable cutoff, you may be able to use that country instead.
Which EB-3 Subcategory Applies to You
EB-3 covers three groups of workers, and the subcategory affects your cutoff date:
- Skilled Workers, for jobs requiring at least two years of training or work experience that is not temporary or seasonal.
- Professionals, for jobs requiring at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent, where the applicant is a member of the professions.
- Other Workers, for jobs requiring less than two years of training or experience, again not temporary or seasonal. This subcategory has a separate statutory cap of 10,000 visas per fiscal year and often carries a less favorable cutoff.
Skilled Workers and Professionals share the same cutoff dates on the bulletin. Other Workers frequently do not.
Filing Your Green Card Application When Your Date Is Current
Once your priority date is current under the chart USCIS has designated for the month, you can file the final step. The path depends on where you are.
Adjustment of Status Inside the U.S.
If you’re in the United States on a valid status, you file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The filing fee for most adult applicants is $1,440, which includes biometrics. You must also submit Form I-693, the medical examination report completed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon, with the I-485; USCIS may reject the entire package if the medical form is missing. The medical exam typically costs between $150 and $500.
If your priority date is current when the I-140 is filed, you may be able to file the I-140 and I-485 concurrently. Concurrent filing requires that a visa number be immediately available at the time of filing, and it starts the clock on interim benefits and AC21 portability sooner.
After filing, you’ll get a Form I-797C receipt notice. A biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center follows. USCIS may waive the in-person interview for employment-based cases on a case-by-case basis, though interviews can still be required if there are identity questions, criminal inadmissibility concerns, fraud flags, or unresolved issues about your entry.
Consular Processing Outside the U.S.
If you’re abroad, your case routes through the National Visa Center and then to the U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country. You complete the DS-260, Immigrant Visa Electronic Application, through the Consular Electronic Application Center. Fees include a $345 immigrant visa application processing fee and a $120 Affidavit of Support review fee.
Why Filing the I-485 Early Matters
A pending I-485 unlocks two benefits that make an enormous practical difference during the wait for final approval. Once your adjustment application is pending, you can apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) that lets you work for any U.S. employer, not just your sponsoring employer. You can also obtain Advance Parole, which allows you to travel abroad and re-enter without abandoning the pending application. USCIS often issues these together as a combo card, typically valid for one to two years and renewable while the I-485 remains pending.
These interim benefits matter most for applicants from backlogged countries. Someone from India with a 2013 priority date who filed their I-485 during a period of visa availability keeps EAD and Advance Parole rights even if dates later retrogress and the final green card approval is still years away.
What Happens If Dates Retrogress
Retrogression, when the bulletin’s cutoff dates move to an earlier date, is a regular occurrence in EB-3, especially toward the end of each fiscal year. If you haven’t filed the I-485 yet and dates retrogress past your priority date, you wait until dates advance again.
If your I-485 is already pending, USCIS does not deny it. The agency holds the case in abeyance until your priority date becomes current again. During that period, your EAD and Advance Parole remain renewable, and USCIS can still process requests for evidence and other administrative steps. The one thing the agency cannot do is issue final approval until a visa number is available again. That is why practitioners push clients to file the I-485 the moment the Dates for Filing chart allows it.
Changing Employers Under AC21
The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act gives you an exit from your sponsoring employer without losing your place. Under INA Section 204(j), you can change employers and keep your pending green card application if all of the following are true:
- Your I-485 has been pending for at least 180 days.
- The I-140 filed for you has been approved, or was approvable when filed.
- Your new position is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the one in your original petition.
- You file Form I-485 Supplement J confirming the new job offer.
USCIS evaluates “same or similar” using a totality-of-the-circumstances approach. Officers compare job duties, required skills and education, SOC codes, and wages. Two jobs with the same SOC code don’t guarantee approval, and two jobs with different codes don’t guarantee denial. The substance of the work carries more weight than the code.
Even if your original employer withdraws the I-140 or goes out of business after your I-485 has been pending for 180 days, portability still protects you. File Supplement J proactively when you change jobs rather than waiting for USCIS to ask.
Priority Date Retention and the EB-2 to EB-3 Downgrade
If you have an approved I-140 in any employment-based category, you can retain that priority date for any future petition, even if you switch employers, change categories, or file a new PERM. The earlier date carries over unless USCIS revoked the original approval for fraud, the Department of Labor revoked the underlying labor certification, or USCIS finds the approval was based on a material error.
This is what makes the EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade possible. When the EB-3 cutoff is more current than the EB-2 cutoff for your country — a situation that has recurred for India — an applicant with an approved EB-2 petition can file a new I-140 under EB-3 and bring the original EB-2 priority date with them. The tradeoff is that you need a new PERM labor certification for the EB-3 position, and the new job must actually qualify under EB-3 requirements. When the date math works, the downgrade can move a green card forward by years.
The reverse works too. If you filed under EB-3 and later qualify for EB-2, for example by earning a master’s degree or qualifying for a National Interest Waiver, a new EB-2 petition can retain your original EB-3 priority date.
Protecting Children Who May Age Out
Long EB-3 waits create a real risk that a child will turn 21 and lose eligibility as a derivative before your green card is approved. The Child Status Protection Act adjusts how a child’s age is calculated for this purpose.
The formula: the child’s age when a visa becomes available, minus the number of days the I-140 was pending, equals the CSPA age. If the CSPA age is under 21 and the child is unmarried, they stay eligible.
An example. If your child was 20 years and 8 months old when your Final Action Date became current, and your I-140 was pending for 14 months, the calculation subtracts those 14 months and brings the adjusted age to about 19 years and 6 months. The child qualifies.
One detail that matters: USCIS uses the Final Action Dates chart, not the Dates for Filing chart, to determine when a visa becomes available for CSPA purposes. This policy applies to requests filed on or after August 15, 2025. The child must also “seek to acquire” permanent residence promptly once a visa is available, which generally means filing the I-485 or DS-260 within one year. For families with children approaching 21, run the CSPA math well in advance. Once a child ages out, the typical option is a separate petition from scratch, which can add a decade or more to their wait.