U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed late Monday that, beginning with the May 2026 Visa Bulletin, it will accept employment-based adjustment-of-status (AOS) applications only if the applicant’s priority date is current under the Department of State’s Final Action Dates chart. For the past 18 months the agency had allowed applicants to use the more generous “Dates for Filing” chart whenever it was more advantageous. The change will immediately narrow eligibility. Human-resources teams that rushed to prepare AOS packets based on March and April filing dates may now find those cases ineligible; they will have to hold the packages or pivot to consular processing. According to the May bulletin, most EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories remain frozen, while the EB-3 “Other Workers” and EB-5 Unreserved categories advance modestly. China’s EB-5 Unreserved category moves forward three weeks to 22 September 2016, but India’s EB-2 and EB-3 cut-off dates remain stalled at 15 July 2014 and 15 November 2013 respectively. Corporate mobility managers say the policy reversal complicates workforce strategies. “Using Dates for Filing gave us a predictable window to initiate green-card cases and retain key talent,” said the immigration lead at a Silicon Valley semiconductor company with 400 foreign engineers in the queue. “Now we’re back to the old stop-start rhythm, and employees are frustrated.”
![USCIS Switches to ‘Final Action Dates’ for All Employment-Based Green Card Filings in May]()
For employers and individuals looking for real-time visa guidance, VisaHQ offers centralized tracking tools, deadline alerts, and personalized support. Their U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/) aggregates the latest government bulletins and processing requirements, helping HR teams and foreign nationals decide when to file AOS applications or pivot to consular processing.
The shift also undercuts ancillary benefits such as earlier work-authorization and advance-parole eligibility for spouses. Practically, employers should: 1) compare employees’ priority dates to the Final Action chart before filing in May; 2) communicate the change to foreign national populations that were expecting to file next month; and 3) revisit long-term retention budgets because filing delays can extend H-1B costs and relocation allowances. Immigration counsel recommend preserving medical exams (Form I-693) and supporting evidence so cases can be filed quickly when dates advance again. The agency did not explain why it is abandoning the filing-date chart, but practitioners suspect the ongoing partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security and a 37 percent surge in AOS receipts this fiscal year have strained adjudication capacity. Unless Congress restores DHS funding—or USCIS receives more fee revenue from its January 2026 fee hike—applicants should brace for slower movement throughout the summer.
For employers and individuals looking for real-time visa guidance, VisaHQ offers centralized tracking tools, deadline alerts, and personalized support. Their U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/) aggregates the latest government bulletins and processing requirements, helping HR teams and foreign nationals decide when to file AOS applications or pivot to consular processing.
The shift also undercuts ancillary benefits such as earlier work-authorization and advance-parole eligibility for spouses. Practically, employers should: 1) compare employees’ priority dates to the Final Action chart before filing in May; 2) communicate the change to foreign national populations that were expecting to file next month; and 3) revisit long-term retention budgets because filing delays can extend H-1B costs and relocation allowances. Immigration counsel recommend preserving medical exams (Form I-693) and supporting evidence so cases can be filed quickly when dates advance again. The agency did not explain why it is abandoning the filing-date chart, but practitioners suspect the ongoing partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security and a 37 percent surge in AOS receipts this fiscal year have strained adjudication capacity. Unless Congress restores DHS funding—or USCIS receives more fee revenue from its January 2026 fee hike—applicants should brace for slower movement throughout the summer.
