December 2026 Visa Bulletin: Predictions, Release Date & Live Updates

The December 2026 Visa Bulletin has not been released yet. This page tracks everything that could shape it, from the expected release date to forecasts and deadlines, and will carry the official dates the day the State Department publishes them. Bookmark it: we update it whenever there is real news.

Latest update (Nov. 8, 2026): The December bulletin is not out. The November 2026 bulletin stays in effect through Nov. 30, and USCIS has told all family and employment applicants to use its Dates for Filing chart this month. If you are mailing an I-485 to an old USCIS address, it must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 9; after that, use only the new address on USCIS’s Direct Filing Addresses page.

When will the December 2026 Visa Bulletin be released?

The State Department has not announced a date. It usually publishes each bulletin in the second or third week of the month before it takes effect, so the December edition is most likely to appear in mid-to-late November. The November bulletin came out on Oct. 22, later than usual, and one tracker that models past release dates puts December’s around Nov. 16. Treat any specific date as a guess until the bulletin is posted on the State Department’s site.

Remember that the bulletin is only half the answer for people in the United States. USCIS separately announces which chart, Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing, applies to adjustment of status applications, usually within about a week of the bulletin’s release. We will add that decision here as soon as it is posted.

Where the dates stand now: November 2026

December’s dates will be measured against these. The final action date decides when a green card can actually be approved; the date for filing decides when an application can be submitted early, if USCIS allows that chart. In both, your priority date must be earlier than the date shown. “Current” means no wait.

Employment category	All other countries	China	India
EB-1	Current	Aug. 1, 2023	Feb. 1, 2023
EB-2	April 1, 2025	Oct. 1, 2021	Nov. 1, 2013
EB-3	June 15, 2024	Jan. 22, 2022	Jan. 22, 2014
EB-3 Other Workers	June 1, 2022	Oct. 1, 2019	Jan. 22, 2014
EB-5 Unreserved	Current	Dec. 1, 2016	Dec. 1, 2023

November 2026 final action dates. Source: U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin for November 2026.

Employment category	All other countries	China	India
EB-1	Current	July 1, 2024	July 1, 2024
EB-2	March 15, 2026	Jan. 1, 2023	Jan. 15, 2015
EB-3	Aug. 1, 2024	April 1, 2024	Jan. 15, 2015
EB-3 Other Workers	July 1, 2022	Oct. 1, 2020	Jan. 15, 2015
EB-5 Unreserved	Current	March 1, 2021	May 1, 2024

November 2026 dates for filing, the chart USCIS is using for I-485s this month. Source: U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin for November 2026; USCIS.

Family category (all other countries)	Final action date	Date for filing
F1: Unmarried adult children of citizens	Jan. 22, 2021	Feb. 1, 2021
F2A: Spouses and minor children of green card holders	Oct. 22, 2026	Current
F2B: Unmarried adult children of green card holders	Aug. 22, 2020	Sept. 1, 2020
F3: Married children of citizens	Oct. 22, 2015	Nov. 1, 2015
F4: Siblings of adult citizens	Oct. 22, 2012	Nov. 1, 2012

November 2026 family dates for most countries. Mexico, the Philippines and India F4 have their own, earlier dates. Source: U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin for November 2026.

For the full breakdown of what moved in November, including the one-year family jump, see our November 2026 Visa Bulletin analysis.

What to watch in the December 2026 bulletin

Whether the family gains hold. After November moved F1, F2B, F3 and F4 forward a full year, most forecasters expect December to hold steady or move only by weeks; two law firm analyses published since the November bulletin both describe holds or modest steps as the likely outcome. Not everyone agrees: the Shusterman firm’s December forecast has worldwide F1 and F4 advancing four to five months. The State Department itself has given no guidance, so the honest answer is that nobody knows.

EB-2 India. The final action date has sat at Nov. 1, 2013 in both October and November. Forecasts for December range from no movement to a few weeks; one statistical model projects about two and a half weeks. Those are projections, not cutoffs, and EB-2 India forecasts have a poor track record.

Which chart USCIS picks. For applicants already in the U.S., this matters as much as the bulletin. USCIS has allowed the Dates for Filing chart for all categories in November. If it switches to Final Action Dates for December, far fewer people will be able to file.

Dec. 11: two deadlines on one day. The stopgap funding law Congress passed in September, H.R. 6500, keeps the government open only through Dec. 11, and it extended the EB-4 non-minister religious worker program only to the same date. If Congress does not extend the program, that category can become unavailable in the middle of the month, as it did when the program lapsed earlier this year. Ministers are not affected. We will report how the December bulletin handles this.

If you can file now, don’t wait for December

November’s window runs through Nov. 30. If your priority date is earlier than the November Dates for Filing date for your category, you can file your I-485 this month. December could hold, advance, or move backward, and USCIS could change charts. A window that is open today is not guaranteed next month.
Use the new USCIS address. USCIS changed I-485 mailing addresses on Oct. 7, 2026. Packages to an old address are accepted only if postmarked by Nov. 9. Copy the address from USCIS’s Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-485 page on the day you mail, not from a checklist or a forum post.
Use the current form edition. USCIS only accepts the 09/18/26 edition of Form I-485, revised for the new public charge rule, and gave no grace period for older editions. Check the edition date at the bottom of every page before you sign.
Plan for a heavier public charge file. Every I-485 filed on or after Sept. 18, 2026 is judged under the revived public charge standard, and most family and employment applicants are covered. Expect to document household income, assets and debts, credit history, health insurance, education and any public benefits history. Our guide, Public Charge Rule Will Impact 485 Applicants, lists what to gather and who is exempt.
Your filing date is when USCIS receives it, not when you mail it. Ship with tracking and leave time for a rejected package to be fixed and resent before the month ends.

Processing abroad? Check the interview pause and travel ban first

For family and other applicants who will interview at a U.S. consulate, a current priority date does not guarantee an interview. The worldwide pause on immigrant visa interviews that began Aug. 25 for public charge training was still delaying interviews at many consulates in early November, with only a few posts reported to have resumed. The Sept. 10 State Department cable that ended the separate 75-country pause did not end this one, as we explained in our September 30 post. The 39-country travel ban under Proclamation 10998 also remains in force, so nationals of those countries generally need an exception to receive an immigrant visa even when their date is current.

This also shapes the bulletin itself. Family numbers that consulates cannot use by the end of a fiscal year roll into the next year’s employment limit, so slow consular processing can mean bigger family date jumps now and more employment numbers later. If December keeps advancing family dates while interviews stay slow, that is a sign numbers are going unused. Our guide to the bans and pauses and our explainer on where unused visa numbers go walk through both. If you are waiting abroad, keep your medical exam, civil documents and Affidavit of Support evidence current so you are ready when an appointment email arrives.

Update log

Nov. 8, 2026: Page launched. The December bulletin has not been released. Added the November cutoff dates, the forecasts published so far, the Dec. 11 funding and religious worker deadlines, the status of the consular interview pause and travel ban, public charge filing guidance, and a reminder that the grace period for old I-485 mailing addresses ends with a Nov. 9 postmark.

Related coverage

November 2026 Visa Bulletin: Family Dates Jump a Full Year
Public Charge Rule Will Impact 485 Applicants: what the revived standard asks I-485 filers to document
Form I-129 Edition Cutoff Hits Employers Monday, Nov. 9: the same day the old I-485 address grace period ends
Immigrant Visa Interviews in 2026: Untangling the Bans, Pauses, and What Comes Next
75-Country Immigrant Visa Pause Over: what the Sept. 10 cable did and did not end
The Missing October Visa Bulletin: Where the Visa Numbers Go
EB-2 Backlog: Indians Hold 91% of Petitions Awaiting Visas
Green Card Backlog Hits 1.56 Million as Job-Based Filings Double

This page is for general information and is not legal advice. Forecasts quoted here are estimates by third parties, not official dates.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds an LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Diego and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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