Articles Posted in DOS

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October 1 can change everything for green card applicants stuck in the immigrant visa backlog. With the start of the new fiscal year, a fresh supply of immigrant visa numbers becomes available—and applicants who are ready can move fast when their priority dates become current. If your case is close, the time to prepare is before October 1, not after.

If you are from India, China, the Philippines, or Mexico, you may already be familiar with the effects of high demand and limited immigrant visa availability. For example, the EB-2 category for India has been unavailable for final action since July 2026 because of heavy demand. On the family-sponsored side, countries such as India and Mexico have also faced significant backlogs as visa demand has outpaced the number of available visas.

While demand from these countries is expected to remain high, the October 1 fiscal-year reset brings a new annual supply of immigrant visa numbers, which can allow more applicants to move forward with interviews and final visa issuance.

In this video, we break down what you need to know—and what you should do now—to put yourself in the strongest position before October 1.

What Is the End-of-Year Fiscal Reset?

The U.S. government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30, and many employment- and family-based immigrant visa categories are subject to annual numerical limits set by Congress.

Except for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, applicants generally must wait until an immigrant visa number becomes available based on their priority date and country of nationality before they can be scheduled for an interview and ultimately receive an immigrant visa.

When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, those annual visa limits reset, allowing the government to begin using a new supply of immigrant visa numbers.

For applicants stuck in backlogged categories like EB-2 India and F2A Mexico, this reset is especially important because the allocation of new visa numbers creates new opportunities for eligible applicants to move forward in the green card process.

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We are pleased to report that the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has published the August 2026 Visa Bulletin.

In this blog post, we breakdown the movement of the employment-based and family-sponsored categories in the coming month.

Adjustment of Status Chart

For adjustment of status filings to permanent residence in the month of August, USCIS will continue using the Dates for Filing Chart for family-sponsored categories only.

For employment-based categories, USCIS will also continue using the Final Action Dates Chart.

Highlights of the August 2026 Visa Bulletin

At a Glance

What can we expect to see in the month of August?

Employment-Based Categories

Final Action Advancements

EB-1 Aliens of extraordinary ability, Outstanding Professors and Researchers, and Certain Multinational Managers or Executives

  • EB-1 China will advance 1 month to July 1, 2023
  • Except for India, all other countries will remain current

EB-1 India Visa Bulletin Note: High demand and number use by those chargeable to India in the EB-1 visa category may require making the category unavailable in the coming weeks

EB-2 Members of the Professions and Aliens of Exceptional Ability

  • EB-2 India remains unavailable
  • Except for China, all other countries will remain current

EB-2 Visa Bulletin Note: Sufficient demand and increased number use in the EB-2 visa category may make it necessary to retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable in the coming months

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers

  • EB-3 China will advance 10 days to January 1, 2022
  • Worldwide and Mexico will advance 1 month to September 1, 2024

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The U.S. Department of State has launched a temporary program that allows certain business visitors and tourist visa applicants to pay an additional $750 for a faster U.S. visa interview appointment at select Embassies and Consulates.

The program began on July 1, 2026, and is scheduled to remain in effect through December 31, 2026.

Who Can Use the Program?

The expedited option is limited to applicants seeking:

  • B-1 visas for temporary business travel;
  • B-2 visas for tourism or personal visits; or
  • Combined B-1/B-2 visas.

It is available only at selected U.S. embassies and consulates and only when expedited appointments are available.

What Does the $750 Fee Provide?

Applicants who use the service may schedule an interview within 10 business days after paying the expedited appointment fee.

However, the $750 is charged in addition to the standard $185 visitor visa application fee, bringing the total cost to $935.

To request the faster appointment, an applicant must first:

  • Submit Form DS-160 Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application
  • Pay the standard visa application fee
  • Schedule a regular interview appointment and
  • Select and pay for an available expedited appointment.

Unlike traditional emergency appointment requests, applicants do not need to provide a written explanation showing urgent travel.

Does Paying $750 Guarantee a Visa?

No. The fee only provides access to an earlier B-1/B-2 visa interview appointment.

Applicants must still complete the regular interview, security checks, and eligibility review. The service does not speed up administrative processing and does not guarantee that a visa will be approved.

Expedited appointments are limited, so paying applicants are not guaranteed that an appointment will be available. Applicants who cancel or fail to attend the expedited interview will lose the $750 fee.

The Bottom Line

The new program does not allow applicants to pay for visa approval. It allows eligible B-1 and B-2 applicants at participating Consulates to pay $750 for a chance to obtain an interview within 10 business days. Travelers should confirm that the service is available at their selected embassy or consulate before relying on it for urgent travel.

For more information please contact your Embassy or Consulate directly.

Contact Us. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please text 619-483-4549 or call 619-819-9204.

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Is your case stuck at the National Visa Center with no interview in sight? You are not alone. Thousands of applicants are waiting months—or even years—for their visa interviews to be scheduled. The good news is that you may have options. In this video, we discuss three proven strategies that could help push your NVC case forward.

Why are so many cases stuck at the National Visa Center for months—or even years?

The problem is a perfect storm of overwhelming case volume, limited availability of interview appointments, staffing shortages, and delays at U.S. consulates worldwide.

Even after a case is documentarily complete and ready to move forward, it can remain at the NVC for months—or longer—until the appropriate embassy has an available interview slot.

Sweeping visa restrictions have made the backlogs even worse. The Trump administration has fully or partially restricted entry and visa issuance for nationals of 39 countries, while immigrant visa issuance has been separately paused for nationals of 75 countries.

Although U.S. embassies may remain open and continue scheduling some interviews, affected visas generally cannot be issued while these restrictions remain in place.

The result is thousands of applicants left in limbo, with no clear timeline and little information about when their cases will finally move forward.

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Are you applying for an immigrant visa and want to know when your priority date will become current? Then you won’t want to miss our analysis of the July 2026 Visa Bulletin.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains what you can expect to see in terms of the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories next month.

Adjustment of Status Chart

For adjustment of status filings to permanent residence in the month of July, USCIS will continue using the Dates for Filing Chart for family-sponsored categories only.

For employment-based categories, USCIS will also continue using the Final Action Dates Chart.

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that it will lift holds on the adjudication of green cards and other immigration-benefit requests for a select group of individuals.

As part of these exemptions, USCIS has lifted holds on some family petitions filed by U.S. citizens, intercountry adoptions, rescheduled naturalization oath ceremonies, asylum applications from lower-risk countries, work authorization requests, special immigrant visas, refugee registrations for South African nationals, applications associated with medical physicians, and cases that completed enhanced security vetting through Operation PARRIS.

This means that nationals who were previously subject to the “75-country pause” are no longer affected by the suspension and may resume normal processing of their immigration applications if they fall within one of the above categories.

Unfortunately, if you do not fall within one of the exempted categories, the adjudication of your green card and immigrant visa application will remain on hold.

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The Republican-backed Senate has just introduced a $72 billion immigration enforcement bill— a massive federal spending package focused on expanding immigration enforcement across the United States.

Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process, allowing the bill to pass with a simple majority vote and avoid a Democratic filibuster. However, the legislation has encountered procedural obstacles after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that parts of the proposal violated Senate reconciliation rules.

The key provisions of the spending proposal include:

  • Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE): Over $38 billion for ICE operations, expanded detention capacity, deportation flights, and artificial intelligence capabilities.
  • Customs & Border Protection (CBP): $26 billion for border security and patrol operations.
  • Department of Homeland Security (DHS): $5 billion designated to remove individuals who do not qualify for benefits.
  • Department of Justice (DOJ): $1.5 billion to hire more judges and increase prosecutions.
  • White House Upgrades: An additional $1 billion set aside for the Secret Service to make security upgrades for the President and his cabinet

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USCIS may not be denying your green card case — but it may be quietly putting it on hold.

As of December 2, 2025, USCIS and the State Department began a new “hold and review” process for certain immigration applications filed by individuals from 39 countries – suspending the issuance of visas and green cards for all applicants for an uncertain period of time. Under this policy, officers are expected to pause final decisions while enhanced security vetting processes are established by the government.

For applicants, that means one thing: more delays and uncertainty.

If your case was moving forward, your fingerprints were already taken, or you were expecting an interview soon, this sudden pause could explain why everything has gone silent.

In this update, we break down what USCIS’s “hold and review” policy means, who may be affected, whether you need to take action, and what applicants should watch for next.

Why is there a “hold and review” policy?

In June and December 2025, the President issued various executive orders, imposing immigration restrictions affecting individuals from 39 countries. The ban affects their ability to enter the United States, receive U.S. visas, and obtain immigration benefits through agencies like USCIS and the Department of State via Consular processing.

The affected countries include Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and individuals holding Palestinian-Authority-issued travel documents.

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Are you applying for an immigrant visa and want to know when your priority date will become current? Then you won’t want to miss our analysis of the May 2026 Visa Bulletin.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains what you can expect to see in terms of the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories next month.

            Highlights of the May 2026 Visa Bulletin

At a Glance

What can we expect to see in the month of May?

Employment-Based Categories

Final Action Advancements

EB-3 Other Workers

  • Worldwide and Mexico will advance 3 months to February 1, 2022

EB-5 Unreserved Categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5)

  • EB-5 China will advance 3 weeks to September 22, 2016

Dates for Filing Advancements

EB-5 Unreserved Categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5) 

  • EB-5 China will advance 4 months to March 1, 2017

Family-Sponsored Categories

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Are you applying for an immigrant visa and want to know when your priority date will become current? Then you won’t want to miss our analysis of the April 2026 Visa Bulletin.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains what you can expect to see in terms of the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories next month.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For adjustment of status filings to permanent residence in the month of April, USCIS will continue using the Dates for Filing Chart for the employment-based and family-sponsored categories.

Highlights of the April 2026 Visa Bulletin

At a Glance

What can we expect to see in the month of April?

Employment-Based Categories

Final Action Advancements

EB-1 Aliens of extraordinary ability, Outstanding Professors and Researchers, and Certain Multinational Managers or Executives

  • EB-1 India and China will advance one month to April 1, 2023
  • All other countries will remain current

EB-2 Members of the Professions and Aliens of Exceptional Ability

  • EB-2 India will advance 10 months to July 15, 2014
  • Except China, all other countries (Worldwide, Mexico, Philippines) will become current

*Note, there is an immigrant visa freeze for all countries subject to the 75-country ban on immigrant visa issuance. Lawsuits opposing the freeze are currently pending. 

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