October 2026 Visa Bulletin: Indian Applicants Face Major Disappointment as Backlogs Persist

The US State Department has released the visa bulletin for October 2026, marking the commencement of Fiscal Year 2027. However, the release, which arrived just two days before the conclusion of the previous fiscal year, has been met with widespread frustration among immigration experts and thousands of Indian applicants awaiting permanent residency.

Often, the first bulletin of a new fiscal year brings optimism as fresh annual visa quotas are introduced and unused numbers from the prior year are redistributed. This time, however, that expected relief failed to materialize, leading many attorneys to label this the most disappointing start to a fiscal year in recent memory.

A Stagnant Outlook for Indian Applicants

For Indian nationals, the primary takeaway is the return of the EB-2 category, which had been exhausted and marked as “unavailable” during the final weeks of September. While the category is once again active, the final action date has been set at November 1, 2013, effectively trapping many applicants in a backlog that spans over a decade.

Immigration attorney Rahul Reddy noted that the current bulletin lacks the necessary data regarding “spillover” visas—unused slots from other categories that are typically redirected to high-demand groups like those from India. Without a clear indication of these additional numbers, experts suspect that the State Department is still finalizing its calculations, leaving many in a state of administrative uncertainty.

Breakdown of Key Employment-Based Categories

The bulletin highlights varying degrees of stagnation and regression across several preference categories:

• EB-1: The final action cutoff date for Indian applicants has advanced to February 1, 2023. While any movement is technically progress, the pace remains glacial for the thousands currently in the queue.
• EB-3: For Indian skilled workers and professionals, the final action date remains stalled at January 1, 2014. Meanwhile, for the rest of the world, the category has seen significant shifts.
• EB-5: The unreserved EB-5 category for India is once again available, carrying a final action date of December 1, 2023. Notably, the set-aside categories—covering rural, high-unemployment, and infrastructure projects—remain current for all countries, providing a small glimmer of hope for those choosing that route.

Global Setbacks and Policy Adjustments

The bulletin also signals a broader trend of tightening in the US immigration system. A significant development is the retrogression of the EB-2 category for “all other countries of chargeability,” including Mexico and the Philippines, which has now moved back to January 1, 2025.

The State Department attributed this general retrogression to the necessity of remaining strictly within the statutory annual limits for Fiscal Year 2027. By curbing the issuance of visas, officials aim to manage the flow of applicants across the diverse preference tiers.

As the new fiscal year begins, immigration analysts remain hopeful that subsequent bulletins will clarify the spillover situation. Until then, the October 2026 update stands as a stark reminder of the persistent structural challenges facing the US employment-based immigration system, particularly for those waiting under the country-specific caps that have defined the Indian experience for years.

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