The US Department of State announced on Saturday, August 22, the visa bulletin for September 2026, including green card applications. Compared to the August visa bulletin, there have been advancements in green card applications for individuals born in mainland China. The Family-Sponsored green card applications have seen significant progress, with the F1 category advancing by 2 years and 7.5 months. Both the third (F3) and fourth (F4) priority dates for family-based green cards have moved forward by over 2 years. In terms of Employment-Based green cards, except for certain categories showing a 2-month advancement, the majority remain stagnant or with minimal movement.
Immigrant visas are categorized into Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based visas, each with A-list showing Application Final Action Dates (FAD) and B-list showing Dates for Filing Applications (DFA).
The A-list provides the date on which USCIS can approve a green card, and applicants who submitted their petitions (e.g., I-140/I-130/I-526) before the posted date can expect approval that same month.
The B-list indicates the priority date on which USCIS can accept green card applications. The priority date is usually indicated on the Notice of Action, labor certification approval, or I-140 receipt and is always earlier than the A-list. If an applicant’s priority date is earlier than the date on the B-list, they can submit an I-485 application that month.
Categories include:
– First preference F1: Unmarried children of US citizens, 23,400 visas allocated per year.
– Second preference F2-A, F2-B: Spouses and unmarried children under 21 of green card holders, along with unmarried children over 21, 114,200 visas allocated annually.
– Third preference F3: Married children of US citizens, 23,400 visas granted per year.
– Fourth preference F4: Siblings of US citizens, with 65,000 visas available annually.
The US Congress allocates approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas annually across five priority areas:
– First preference EB-1: Outstanding individuals, professors or researchers, multinational executives, or managers.
– Second preference EB-2: Professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional abilities in arts, sciences, or business.
– Third preference EB-3: Skilled workers, professionals, or unskilled workers without advanced degrees.
– Fourth preference EB-4: Special immigrants, including religious workers.
– Fifth preference EB-5: Investors, with unreserved and set-aside categories for direct investments, regional center projects, rural areas, high unemployment regions, and government infrastructure projects.
Hong Kong has been included in the EB-5 visa bulletin system alongside mainland China. Regarding US immigration policy, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are considered separate from mainland China in terms of visa quotas. However, due to the “one country, two systems” policy implemented by the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong is now part of the same EB-5 visa bulletin system as mainland China.