United States | January 2026 Visa Bulletin: Most EB visa categories show movement with no regressions, plus Diversity Visa updates

The U.S. State Department has released the January 2026 Visa Bulletin. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced filings for employment-based visa preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart in the January Bulletin, which shows advancement across most EB visa categories with no regressions. China’s Dates for Filing for EB-2 visas advance by over a year, and India’s Dates for Filing for EB-5 visas advance by over two years.

The Dates for Filing chart indicates who is eligible to submit their application and supporting documents for further processing, even if the green card itself is not available. Review BAL’s employer’s guide to reading the Visa Bulletin to better understand this monthly report.

Dates for Filing chart category movement:

EB-1 visa

• China EB-1 visa Dates for Filing advance two-and-a-half months, with a cutoff date of Aug. 1, 2023.
• India EB-1 visa Dates for Filing advance three-and-a-half months, with a cutoff date of Aug. 1, 2023.
• For all other countries under the EB-1 visa category, including Mexico and the Philippines, Dates for Filing remain current.

EB-2 visa

• China EB-2 visa Dates for Filing advance 13 months, with a cutoff date of Jan. 1, 2022.
• India EB-2 visa Dates for Filing remain the same, with a cutoff date of Dec. 1, 2013.
• For all other countries under the EB-2 visa category, including Mexico and the Philippines, Dates for Filing advance three months, with a cutoff date of Oct. 15, 2024.

EB-3 visa

• China EB-3 visa Dates for Filing remain the same, with a cutoff date of Jan. 1, 2022.
• India EB-3 visa Dates for Filing remain the same, with a cutoff date of Aug. 15, 2014.
• For all other countries under the EB-3 visa category, including Mexico and the Philippines, Dates for Filing remain the same, with a cutoff date of July 1, 2023.

EB-5 visa (unreserved)

• China EB-5 visa Dates for Filing advance one month, with a cutoff date of Aug. 22, 2016.
• India EB-5 visa Dates for Filing advance two years and one month, with a cutoff date of May 1, 2024.
• For all other countries under the EB-5 unreserved visa category, including Mexico and the Philippines, Dates for Filing remain current.

Dates for Filing Chart for Employment-Based Visa Applications

Additional Information: Final Action Dates also advance across employment-based categories. EB-1 and EB-5 Final Action Dates will each advance by almost a year. Cutoff dates for issuance of an immigrant visa or approval of an adjustment of status application for the January Visa Bulletin can be found here.

Diversity Visa Lottery 2026 (DV-2026) and 2027 updates: The January Visa Bulletin provides DV-2026 program allocated cutoff numbers per region for January and February. It reports that certain regulatory amendments will “further reduce the DV-2026 annual limit to approximately 52,000. DVs are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can receive more than 7% of the available diversity visas in any one year.”

According to the Bulletin, “Entitlement to immigrant status in the DV category lasts only through the end of the fiscal (visa) year for which the applicant is selected in the lottery. The year of entitlement for all applicants registered for the DV-2026 program ends as of Sept. 30, 2026.” DV-2026 entrants are encouraged to keep their confirmation number until at least Sept. 30, 2026.

Prior Bulletins have stated that “Dates for the DV-2027 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2027 program should check the Department of State’s Diversity Visa web page in the coming months.”

For January, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2026 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows:

For February, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2026 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows:

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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