Immigration Updates from June and July 2026: What Changed for Green Card Applicants
The past several weeks brought some of the most consequential immigration developments of the fiscal year. Here is what happened in June and July 2026, in plain English, with sources you can check yourself.
1. The July bulletin made India EB-2 and India EB-5 (unreserved) Unavailable
The State Department's July 2026 Visa Bulletin marked India EB-2 and India EB-5 unreserved as "U" (Unavailable) on the Final Action Dates chart. Unavailable is the opposite of Current: it means the annual per-country limit for fiscal year 2026 has been reached, so no green card numbers can be issued in those categories until the new fiscal year begins around October 1, 2026. It does not mean your case was denied or your place in line was lost. Priority dates and pending cases are unaffected; the counter simply ran out for the year.
Other July movements: India EB-1 retrogressed to October 2022, India EB-3 advanced about two weeks to January 2014, China EB-1 moved to June 2023, China EB-3 to December 2021, and China EB-2 held flat. On the Dates for Filing chart, India EB-2 held at January 2015, and India EB-5 unreserved shows May 2024.
2. EB-5 set-asides stayed current for every country, including India and China
While the old EB-5 unreserved queue froze for India, the three set-aside categories created by the 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (rural at 20 percent, high unemployment at 10 percent, and infrastructure at 2 percent) remained Current on both charts for every country in the July bulletin. Since the law also allows concurrent filing, an eligible investor in a set-aside project can generally file the immigrant petition and the I-485 together rather than waiting years for a cutoff date to arrive.
Related: on July 2 the Federal Register published an EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act rule addressing automatic revocation of petitions for immigrant classification, part of the ongoing implementation of the 2022 law. If you are in the EB-5 world, it is worth reading the source text or asking your attorney how it applies to you.
We now track all four EB-5 rows (unreserved plus the three set-asides) on our visa bulletin page, alongside EB-1 through EB-3, with month-over-month movement.
3. A federal court vacated the USCIS adjudication pause
On June 5, a federal court vacated the USCIS pause on benefit adjudications that had affected applicants from 39 countries. The practical effect is that domestic adjudications for affected nationals can proceed again. Consular operations in several affected regions remain constrained by separate travel bans and post closures, so outcomes still vary by country and case posture.
4. Citizenship and naturalization fee increases were proposed
DHS published naturalization application fee adjustment notices in the Federal Register in late June and again in early July, alongside a broader proposed citizenship fee increase. These are proposals and notices, not final rules taking effect today, but if you are eligible to naturalize and have been putting it off, filing before a fee rule finalizes has historically saved applicants money.
5. Two Supreme Court decisions touched immigration
In late June the Supreme Court allowed the administration to block asylum seekers at the border while litigation continues, and separately held that border officers do not need heightened proof to treat returning green card holders with certain criminal issues as seeking admission. The second decision matters for lawful permanent residents with any criminal history who travel internationally: speak with an attorney before leaving the country if that could apply to you.
6. PERM processing kept getting slower
From the Department of Labor's own disclosure data, PERM applications certified in the first quarter of 2026 took a median of about 16.5 months from filing to certification, up from roughly 15 months for cases decided in late 2024. For anyone starting the green card process today, the PERM stage alone is now approaching a year and a half, which pushes the whole employment-based timeline back accordingly.
What to watch next
The October 2026 bulletin (usually published in mid-September) opens fiscal year 2027, resets the annual limits, and re-announces cutoff dates for the categories that went Unavailable. Where those dates land, and which chart USCIS designates for filing, will set the tone for the year. We will cover it the day it drops.
Data sources: travel.state.gov (Visa Bulletin), the Federal Register, USCIS published data, and DOL OFLC disclosure files. This post is informational only and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation.