Currently on EB2 with Priority date in late July 2015 India. The current DOF is in Jan 15. Really frustrated not able to travel back home to visit parents and have about 1.8M NW. Been in the country for nearly 20 years. Since there’s not much time left for EB5( sept 2026) should I consider EB5 route at all or wait for EAD ? Not sure how long that is really going to take. Trying to get some help from the community

Hello, I recently saw posts about I140 being approved in less than a month, I also saw some posts about Premium I140 filings that have been pending for over 70 days.

My employer is about to file I140 should I advise them to go premium filing route or normal? Any way we can find recent trends for i140s?

My priority date is 21 Dec 2023, any estimate when the filing date will be current?

I have an approved PERM and have filed my I-140, I-485, EAD, and AP concurrently. I am from one of the 39 countries on the travel ban list. Has anyone from these countries recently had their I-140 approved under regular (non-premium) processing? How long does it typically take to receive approval for the I-485, EAD, and AP? Thank you.

77 businesses days past, no RFE, NOID or Decision

https://www.reddit.com/r/19countriesAOS/s/gXJKn2ZAUQ

Employment-based Final Action Dates, August 2026

• EB-2 India is Unavailable. U means no numbers authorized for issuance. Worth noting because the Dates for Filing chart still shows 15JAN15 for EB-2 India and people keep pointing at that one. Filing is not issuance. If you're waiting on a decision, the Final Action chart is the one that governs.
  
• EB-5 Unreserved India also went Unavailable. Barely anyone is covering this. The set-asides (rural, high unemployment, infrastructure) are all still current, so that path is open.

Now the part that isn't in the charts.

Section E of the bulletin, which most summaries skip, says this about EB-1 India:

“High demand and number use by aliens chargeable to India in the EB-1 visa category may necessitate making the category unavailable in the coming weeks if India's pro-rated limit in the EB-1 category is reached before the fiscal year ends.”

Coming weeks and not months. Fiscal year ends September 30.

EB-1 India is holding at 15OCT22 right now, so nothing has changed on paper this month. But State is telling you plainly that it may shut before the year is out.

And Section F applies to everyone, not just India. It warns that increased demand in EB-2 may require retrogressing the final action date or making the category unavailable in the coming months. EB-2 Worldwide is currently C. That warning is aimed at all of you sitting comfortably.

The detail worth understanding

Section D explains why dates have been advancing lately, and the explanation is not what most people assume. Visa issuance to certain countries has dropped because of administration actions, and the bulletin specifically cites Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998. To use up the numbers available in FY2026, State advanced dates across other categories.

So some of the recent forward movement isn't demand easing. It's unused numbers getting redistributed. Which is why the same section says retrogression may be necessary if demand materializes or those actions change.

Movement that comes from redistribution is not the same as movement that comes from the backlog clearing. Worth keeping that distinction in mind when a date jumps and people start making plans around it.

So, 

If you're India EB-2, nothing gets issued this month regardless of your priority date.

If you're India EB-1 with a date before 15OCT22 and your case is ready, this is not the month to sit on paperwork.

If you're EB-2 Worldwide and currently C, understand that C is a status, not a guarantee. Section F exists for a reason.

If you're weighing EB-1A as a way around an EB-2 or EB-3 backlog, it's still a much shorter queue. But the queue is real, and it's getting longer.

Anyone telling you EB-1 skips the backlog entirely is selling you a version of this that stopped being true a while ago.

Full bulletin: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2026/visa-bulletin-for-august-2026.html