The US Department of State announced on Monday, July 20, 2026, the visa bulletin for August 2026, which includes immigrant visas (also known as green card visas).
Compared to the visa bulletin for July, the priority dates for four categories of applicants born in mainland China have shown significant advancements for family-sponsored green cards. The F2A category saw the biggest leap, advancing by 1 year, 7 months, and 22 days. The F1 category moved ahead by 10 and a half months, while the F4 category progressed by 8 months. In terms of family-sponsored green card application processing, all categories showed advancements ranging from 2 to 6 months.
In contrast, the final action dates for employment-based green cards showed minimal progress, with most categories moving forward by just one month or remaining stagnant. The application processing dates for employment-based green cards mostly remained unchanged.
The immigrant visas are divided into two categories: family-sponsored visas and employment-based visas. Each category has two tables – A table shows the Application Final Action Dates (FAD) when the immigration agency can approve green cards, and B table shows the Dates for Filing Applications (DFA) when applications can be submitted.
The A table provides the reference dates when the immigration agency can approve green cards. Applicants who submit their petitions (e.g. I-140/I-130/I-526) before the published date have the chance of being approved in that month.
The B table shows the priority dates when the immigration agency can accept green card applications. The priority date is usually mentioned in the receipt notice, labor certification approval, or I-140 receipt, and is always earlier than the A table date. If the applicant’s priority date is earlier than the published time in the B table, they can submit their I-485 application in that month.
– First Preference (F1): Unmarried adult children of US citizens, with an annual limit of 23,400.
– Second Preference (F2-A, F2-B): Spouses and unmarried minor children of permanent residents, as well as adult unmarried children of permanent residents, with an annual limit of 114,200.
– Third Preference (F3): Married children of US citizens, with an annual limit of 23,400.
– Fourth Preference (F4): Siblings of US citizens, with an annual limit of 65,000.
The US Congress issues approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas annually, which fall under the following five priority categories:
– First Preference (EB-1): Outstanding researchers, professors, multinational executives.
– Second Preference (EB-2): Professionals with advanced degrees and individuals with exceptional abilities in arts, sciences, or business.
– Third Preference (EB-3): Skilled workers, professionals without advanced degrees, and other unskilled workers.
– Fourth Preference (EB-4): Certain special immigrants, including religious workers.
– Fifth Preference (EB-5): Investors, with unreserved categories such as direct investment, regional center programs, and reserved categories including rural areas, high unemployment areas, and government infrastructure projects.
Hong Kong is included in the same EB-5 visa bulletin system as mainland China.
In terms of US immigration policies, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are considered separate jurisdictions from mainland China, and their visa quotas are not counted under the “mainland China” category. However, due to the “one country, two systems” policy imposed by the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong has now been included in the same EB-5 visa bulletin system as mainland China.