May 2026 Visa Bulletin: USCIS I-485 Filing Rules & EB-3 Green Card Updates

The U.S. Department of State has released the May 2026 Visa Bulletin (Volume XI, Number 14), detailing immigrant visa number availability for employment-based and family-sponsored preference categories. As required, applicants for adjustment of status (Form I-485) must use the Final Action Dates charts unless USCIS explicitly authorizes use of the Dates for Filing charts at uscis.gov/visabulletininfo. For fiscal year 2026, the worldwide employment-based preference immigrant limit stands at a minimum of 140,000 visas, while family-sponsored preference visas are capped at 226,000. The per-country annual limit is set at 7% of the combined total, equating to 25,620 visas per country. This cap disproportionately affects applicants from high-demand countries. The bulletin identifies four oversubscribed chargeability areas subject to per-country prorating: China (mainland born), India, Mexico, and the Philippines. Applicants from these countries face significantly longer waits as demand exceeds the per-country numerical limits. EB-3 applicants from these nations — particularly India and China — should monitor monthly cutoff date movements closely. For EB-3 applicants outside oversubscribed countries, including Vietnam, priority date advancement in May 2026 determines eligibility to file or receive a final visa decision. Applicants are advised to verify their specific category and chargeability country against the published Final Action Dates before taking any filing action. All allocation decisions in this bulletin were based on demand received by April 2, 2026. Applicants whose priority dates fall within the published cutoffs should work with their employers or attorneys to ensure documentation is complete and submitted to the National Visa Center or USCIS in a timely manner.