Will Green Card Numbers Go Unused in FY2026 and FY2027?
Updated October 25, 2026. We first published this post in March 2026 and have revised it now that FY2026 has ended. FY2026 now uses the State Department's official limit of 186,317. Our FY2027 family-to-employment estimate is now about 75,000, for a limit of about 215,000, up from about 73,000 and 213,000 when this post was last updated; two references to a 235,000 pool, left from our March estimate, are removed. For FY2021 we now give the Department of Homeland Security count, about 69,000 below that year's limit, in place of an unsourced figure of about 65,000 unused numbers. We removed a section on federal staffing reports, a section on litigation, and a line that read as advice on when to file. The April and May update notes are now part of the text. Not legal advice.
A question that comes up every year in the employment-based (EB) green card community: will all of the year's visa numbers be used before the fiscal year ends on September 30? Numbers the employment-based categories leave unused do not stay in the employment-based pool for the next year.
This analysis uses public data from the U.S. Department of State (DOS), USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is not legal advice.
How Visa Numbers Go Unused
- A visa number is used at the moment of final I-485 approval by USCIS, or immigrant visa issuance at a consulate. Filing, an interview or an RFE response does not use a number.
- Each month, consular officers report documentarily qualified applicants to DOS and USCIS reports adjustment of status applicants, as the visa bulletin describes. DOS allocates numbers against that reported demand.
- Employment-based numbers not used by September 30 do not roll into the next year's employment-based limit. By law (INA 201(c)) they are added to the next year's family-sponsored calculation instead. In FY2025 and FY2026 the family-sponsored limit stayed at its 226,000 minimum.
- Unused family-sponsored numbers move the other way: they are added to the next year's employment-based limit (INA 201(d)). This is the family-to-employment spillover discussed below.
- Numbers left unused in past years can only be recaptured by an act of Congress.
What Past Years Show
| Fiscal Year | Employment-based limit | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | about 156,000 | DHS counted about 149,000 employment-based green cards. Pandemic consulate closures left about 122,000 family numbers unused, which raised the FY2021 employment-based limit. |
| FY2021 | about 262,000 | DHS counted about 193,000, roughly 69,000 below the limit. |
| FY2022 | 281,507 | DHS counted about 270,000. |
| FY2023 | about 197,000 | DHS counted about 197,000. |
FY2021 is the clearest example of a large pool going partly unused: about 262,000 employment-based numbers were available after the family spillover, and DHS counted roughly 69,000 fewer employment-based green cards than that. The next year, with an even larger limit of 281,507, DHS counted about 270,000.
DHS counts people who became permanent residents in employment-based categories (Yearbook of Immigration Statistics and Annual Flow Reports). It closely tracks, but is not identical to, the State Department's count of visa numbers used.
FY2026: What We Know Now That the Year Has Ended
- Limit: The September 2026 Visa Bulletin set the FY2026 employment-based limit at 186,317: the 140,000 minimum plus 46,317 family-sponsored numbers left unused in FY2025. FY2025's limit was 150,037. When this post was first written in March, we expected FY2025 family numbers to be largely used, so the FY2026 pool turned out larger than this post first assumed.
- Per-country limits: India EB-2 was "Unavailable" in the July, August and September 2026 bulletins. The July 2026 bulletin stated that India's pro-rated EB-2 limit for FY2026 had been reached. A single country reaching its own limit does not by itself mean the worldwide limit was used.
- Final use: DOS has not yet published how many FY2026 employment-based numbers were used. That figure appears in the State Department's annual Report of the Visa Office.
- Where any FY2026 shortfall goes: Unused FY2026 employment-based numbers go to the FY2027 family-sponsored calculation, not to FY2027 employment-based applicants. Unused FY2026 family numbers are what raise the FY2027 employment-based limit.
FY2027: The Employment-Based Limit Is Not Set Yet
The November 2026 Visa Bulletin, published October 22, 2026, still states only the statutory minimum: "The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000." The October 2026 bulletin noted that some Rest of World employment-based categories retrogressed, which it said was necessary to keep issuance within FY2027 quarterly and annual limits. The FY2027 limit will be 140,000 plus the family-sponsored numbers left unused in FY2026, once DOS determines that figure. Until it has the USCIS data that determination needs, the September 2026 bulletin explains, DOS bases allocations on reasonable estimates of the numbers available. For FY2026, USCIS provided that data on July 24, 2026 and the official limit appeared in the September 2026 bulletin, so the first bulletins of FY2027, including October's retrogressions, were set before the FY2027 limit was determined.
Our estimate, as of October 25, 2026:
- Family-to-employment spillover: about 75,000 in our base case, within a range of about 44,000 to 105,000.
- FY2027 employment-based limit: about 215,000 in our base case, within a range of about 184,000 to 245,000.
- The assumption behind it: about 151,000 of the 226,000 FY2026 family-sponsored numbers used. Most family-sponsored numbers are used at consulates abroad, and the State Department family issuance data our estimate uses runs through February 2026, so this is the input most likely to move.
This estimate has moved several times: about 95,000 in March 2026, about 55,000 in April, about 81,000 in late May as consular issuance slowed further, about 73,000 in September after we corrected our model, and about 75,000 since September 28, 2026, when we added a September 2025 State Department issuance figure that had been missing from our data. Our revision write-up covers the spring changes.
For EB applicants, our base case means more numbers than FY2026: about 29,000 more than FY2026's 186,317, though the low end of the range is slightly below it. A larger worldwide limit also raises the 7 percent per-country limit, which is set on the combined family and employment limits. A pool of about 215,000 would still be smaller than FY2021's (about 262,000) and FY2022's (281,507). Past throughput has been both above and below that level: DHS counted about 270,000 employment-based green cards in FY2022 and about 193,000 in FY2021. Whether FY2027's numbers are all used may depend on how many approvable cases are ready and how quickly they are adjudicated.
What would settle the spillover question: the FY2027 employment-based limit, once DOS publishes it. That limit minus 140,000 is the actual family-to-employment spillover, and it will confirm or replace the range above.
Dates for Filing and Final Action Dates
- Final Action Dates show when a visa number can be issued and a case approved.
- Dates for Filing show when applicants may submit an I-485, in months when USCIS designates that chart. USCIS designated Dates for Filing for employment-based cases for October and November 2026, after using Final Action Dates from May through September 2026.
- When Dates for Filing runs ahead of Final Action Dates, more applications are pending before numbers are available, which gives USCIS a larger set of cases it can approve once numbers are available.
For Applicants
- A visa number is used only at final approval. A pending I-485 does not reserve a number.
- If your priority date is before the cutoff on the chart USCIS designates for the month, you may be eligible to file an I-485. Whether and when to file depends on your case, so discuss it with an immigration attorney.
- While an I-485 is pending, you may be able to apply for a work permit (EAD) and a travel document (advance parole). Eligibility depends on your case.
- Check the Visa Bulletin each month for date movements.
- The Priority Date Estimator gives an estimate based on your priority date and the latest bulletin. For a date not yet current on the Final Action chart, the three scenario dates need a $0.99 24-hour pass (up to 3 priority dates), the Day Pass or Pro.
Data Sources
U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletins for September 2025 and for July, September, October and November 2026; FY2026 Annual Numerical Limits; monthly immigrant visa issuance statistics. USCIS: visa bulletin chart designations. Department of Homeland Security: Yearbook of Immigration Statistics and Annual Flow Reports (employment-based green cards, FY2020 to FY2023). Immigration and Nationality Act sections 201 and 202.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only, based on publicly available data. Estimates are based on historical trends and may differ from actual outcomes. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your own case. Not legal advice.