EB I-485 Inventory, Q1 FY2026, and the April 2026 Visa Bulletin: What Happened Next
Newer data: the latest USCIS I-485 inventory analysis.
Updated October 25, 2026. We published this analysis in March 2026 and revised it for the April 2026 Visa Bulletin. Its outlook for India EB-2 did not hold, and the post now says what happened.
- It projected about 20,000 to 22,000 India EB-2 numbers for April to September 2026. We estimate India EB-2 used about 5,950 numbers in all of FY2026: more than its pro-rated share of about 3,700, because numbers other countries did not use can go to oversubscribed countries under INA 202(a)(5), but far less than projected. The July 2026 bulletin said India's pro-rated EB-2 limit was reached, and the category was Unavailable in the July, August and September bulletins. The scenario table built on that projection is removed.
- Its FY2027 outlook was an employment-based limit of 200,000 to 211,000 and 15,000 to 20,000 or more India EB-2 numbers. Our base case as of today is a limit of about 215,000 and about 7,200 India EB-2 numbers.
- A section that treated about 26,320 as one per-country budget for all employment categories is removed. That figure was 7 percent of combined family and employment limits; the State Department's FY2026 per-country limit is 28,862.
- India EB-2 final action dates for October to December 2025 are corrected to April 1, 2013 and May 15, 2013 (not January 1, 2013), so the FY2026 advance through April is 15.5 months, not 18.5.
- The inventory tables now cover EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 only. The earlier totals also included Other Workers, EB-4 and EB-5, which made them about 43,000 to 44,000 higher. USCIS prints "D" in place of counts too small to disclose; the earlier tables counted each "D" as 2 and these count it as 5, which moves individual figures by up to a few hundred.
- FY2026 uses the official limit of 186,317. We also removed advice on when to file and wording about government policy, and folded the April and May update notes into the text.
Not legal advice.
Data sourced from USCIS employment-based I-485 pending inventory reports (October 2025 to January 2026), Department of State visa bulletins (October 2025 to November 2026) and the State Department's Report of the Visa Office. This is not legal advice.
Pending EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 I-485s: October 2025 to January 2026
Pending employment-based I-485s in EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 grew from 124,322 in the October 2025 USCIS report to 164,522 in the January 2026 report, an increase of 40,200 or 32.3 percent in three months. "Available" means the priority date was before the final action date that month; it does not mean a visa number was reserved. Each dependent files a separate I-485, so these counts are people, not families.
| USCIS report | Total pending | Available | Awaiting a visa |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | 124,322 | 71,535 (57.5%) | 52,787 (42.5%) |
| November 2025 | 141,818 | 72,574 (51.2%) | 69,244 (48.8%) |
| December 2025 | 159,343 | 83,757 (52.6%) | 75,586 (47.4%) |
| January 2026 | 164,522 | 107,110 (65.1%) | 57,412 (34.9%) |
Available applications rose by 23,353 between the December and January reports. India EB-1 accounts for 13,394 of that rise: its final action date moved from March 15, 2022 in the December 2025 bulletin to February 1, 2023 in January 2026.
EB-3 here is the skilled worker and professional category; Other Workers, EB-4 and EB-5 are not included in these tables. USCIS prints "D" in place of counts too small to disclose. These tables count each "D" as 5 (about 600 cells in each report), so totals are approximate: the January 2026 total would be about 162,000 if every "D" were 1 and about 167,000 if every one were 9.
Country Breakdown (January 2026 Report)
| Country | EB-1 | EB-2 | EB-3 | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of World | 31,964 | 33,061 | 9,767 | 74,792 | 45.5% |
| India | 21,904 | 27,701 | 17,086 | 66,691 | 40.5% |
| China | 4,308 | 6,228 | 5,719 | 16,255 | 9.9% |
| Mexico | 1,997 | 1,683 | 1,109 | 4,789 | 2.9% |
| Philippines | 370 | 567 | 1,058 | 1,995 | 1.2% |
| Total | 60,543 | 69,240 | 34,739 | 164,522 | 100% |
Rest of World held the largest share of pending EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 applications in January, led by EB-2. India's share fell from 47.5 percent in the October report to 40.5 percent in January as other countries' pending counts grew faster.
Key Category Movements (October 2025 to January 2026 Reports)
| Country | Category | October 2025 | January 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | EB-1 | 15,432 | 21,904 | up 41.9% |
| India | EB-2 | 28,365 | 27,701 | down 2.3% |
| India | EB-3 | 15,295 | 17,086 | up 11.7% |
| China | EB-2 | 2,398 | 6,228 | up 159.7% |
| Rest of World | EB-2 | 16,387 | 33,061 | up 101.8% |
A rising pending count means more I-485s were filed in, or transferred into, that category than were approved or otherwise completed. USCIS accepted employment-based filings under the Dates for Filing chart in every bulletin from October 2025 to April 2026. India EB-2 was the only one of the 15 country and category combinations above (five countries, three categories) whose pending count fell over the quarter.
April 2026 Visa Bulletin
| Category | March 2026 FAD | April 2026 FAD | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of World EB-2 | Oct 15, 2024 | Current | to Current |
| India EB-2 | Sep 15, 2013 | Jul 15, 2014 | 10 months |
| Mexico EB-2 | Oct 15, 2024 | Current | to Current |
| Philippines EB-2 | Oct 15, 2024 | Current | to Current |
| Rest of World EB-3 | Oct 1, 2023 | Jun 1, 2024 | 8 months |
| India EB-1 | Mar 1, 2023 | Apr 1, 2023 | 1 month |
| China EB-2 | Sep 1, 2021 | Sep 1, 2021 | Unchanged |
| India EB-3 | Nov 15, 2013 | Nov 15, 2013 | Unchanged |
The 10-month India EB-2 advance was its largest one-month advance since the October 2023 bulletin.
India EB-2 Final Action Dates, FY2026
| Bulletin | India EB-2 FAD |
|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | Apr 1, 2013 |
| Nov 2025 | Apr 1, 2013 |
| Dec 2025 | May 15, 2013 |
| Jan 2026 | Jul 15, 2013 |
| Feb 2026 | Jul 15, 2013 |
| Mar 2026 | Sep 15, 2013 |
| Apr 2026 | Jul 15, 2014 |
| May 2026 | Jul 15, 2014 |
| Jun 2026 | Sep 1, 2013 |
| Jul 2026 | Unavailable |
| Aug 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 2026 | Unavailable |
From October 2025 to April 2026 the date advanced 15.5 months, from April 1, 2013 to July 15, 2014. The June bulletin retrogressed it to September 1, 2013, and the category was Unavailable in the July, August and September bulletins after India's pro-rated EB-2 limit was reached.
How INA 202(a)(5)(A) Works
Each country's preference total is capped at 7 percent of the combined family and employment limits (INA 202(a)(2)). For a country whose demand exceeds that cap, such as India, the cap is pro-rated across categories (INA 202(e)), which works out to about 7 percent of each employment-based category. For India EB-2 in FY2026, that was about 3,700 numbers.
INA Section 202(a)(5)(A) provides an exception: if the visas available in an employment-based category for a calendar quarter exceed the number of qualified applicants who may otherwise be issued them, the remaining visas for that quarter are issued without regard to the per-country limitation. Numbers that applicants from other countries cannot use in a quarter can go to applicants from oversubscribed countries, in priority date order.
This happened on a large scale in FY2021 and FY2022, when family-to-employment spillover raised the employment-based limits and other countries left numbers unused. India EB-2 used 28,246 numbers in FY2021 and 59,431 in FY2022, against 2,599 in FY2020 and 4,301 in FY2023 (State Department Report of the Visa Office, Table V).
What Happened After April 2026
This post's March outlook assumed numbers from other countries would keep flowing to India EB-2 for the rest of FY2026 at a much larger scale than they did. The April 2026 bulletin itself said that "retrogression may be necessary later in the fiscal year to keep issuances within annual limits."
- May and June: India EB-2 held at July 15, 2014 in May. The June bulletin retrogressed it to September 1, 2013, citing "high demand and number use" in India EB-1 and EB-2.
- July to September: The category was Unavailable. The July 2026 bulletin stated that "India's pro-rated EB-2 limit was reached and the category is unavailable for the remainder of FY 2026."
- Numbers used: We estimate India EB-2 used about 5,950 numbers in FY2026, from USCIS pending inventory and State Department consular data. That is above its roughly 3,700 per-country share, so some numbers did reach India EB-2 under INA 202(a)(5), but far fewer than the 20,000 to 22,000 this post projected for April to September.
- October 2026: With FY2027 numbers, India EB-2 returned at November 1, 2013, and the November 2026 bulletin kept it there. The July bulletin had said October would likely reach at least the May date of July 15, 2014, depending on demand and the FY2027 employment-based limit.
FY2021 to FY2027 Limits
| Fiscal Year | Employment-based limit | Family-to-employment spillover | India EB-2 numbers used |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | about 262,000 | about 122,000 | 28,246 |
| FY2022 | 281,507 | 141,507 | 59,431 |
| FY2023 | about 197,000 | about 57,000 | 4,301 |
| FY2024 | about 161,000 | about 21,000 | 3,916 |
| FY2025 | 150,037 | 10,037 | awaiting the FY2025 Report of the Visa Office |
| FY2026 | 186,317 | 46,317 | about 5,950 (our estimate) |
| FY2027 | not yet set (our base case about 215,000) | our base case about 75,000 | our base case about 7,200 |
The FY2026 limit is the State Department's determination in the September 2026 Visa Bulletin. The November 2026 bulletin still states only that the employment-based level is "at least 140,000," so the FY2027 row is our estimate as of October 25, 2026. It assumes about 151,000 of the 226,000 FY2026 family-sponsored numbers were used, from State Department family issuance data through February 2026, so it may change. Our FY2027 spillover range is about 44,000 to 105,000. The FY2026 and FY2027 visa number analysis covers how that estimate has moved and what would settle it.
For Applicants
- A visa number is used only at final approval. A pending I-485 does not reserve a number, and a final action date can retrogress, as India EB-2's did in June 2026.
- 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. The attorney directory can help you find one.
- 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.
- The Visa Bulletin page tracks final action dates and dates for filing each month, and the free email after each new visa bulletin is on the home page.
- 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
USCIS employment-based I-485 pending inventory reports (October, November and December 2025 and January 2026). Department of State Visa Bulletins (October 2025 to November 2026). State Department Report of the Visa Office, Table V (FY2020 to FY2024). Immigration and Nationality Act sections 202(a)(2), 202(a)(5)(A) and 202(e).
This article provides general information based on publicly available USCIS and State Department data and statutory provisions. Estimates are based on historical trends and may differ from actual outcomes. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your own case. Not legal advice.