November Visa Bulletin 2026: Why November Is Usually Quiet, Five Years of October to November

The November 2026 Visa Bulletin is out, and it is a quiet one. If you were hoping for a large jump, there is not one. If you were worried about a setback, there is not one of those either.

This post looks at what moved this November, compares it with the last four Novembers, and offers a calm reading of why this month so often looks the same as the one before it.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check your own dates and options with an immigration attorney.

What changed in November 2026

Compared with October 2026, only two of the EB-1 and EB-2 final action dates moved:

• EB-1 China: forward one month, from July 1, 2023 to August 1, 2023.
• EB-2 for all other countries: forward three months, from January 1, 2025 to April 1, 2025.

Everything else stayed where it was:

• EB-1 all other countries: current.
• EB-1 India: February 1, 2023.
• EB-2 India: November 1, 2013.
• EB-2 China: October 1, 2021.

The dates for filing largely held steady as well. For EB-1 India and China the date for filing is July 1, 2024. For EB-2 it is March 15, 2026 for all other countries, January 15, 2015 for India and January 1, 2023 for China. USCIS was expected to keep honoring the dates for filing chart for adjustment filings in November. It confirms that about a week after the bulletin is published, so check the USCIS adjustment of status filing charts page before you plan.

The last five Novembers, side by side

These are the final action dates in each November bulletin, and what changed from the October bulletin of the same year.

November 2022. EB-1 was current for every country. EB-2 was current for all other countries, April 1, 2012 for India and June 8, 2019 for China. Nothing changed from October. The bulletin was described as having almost no movement in the major categories.

November 2023. EB-1: India January 1, 2017, China February 25, 2023, all other countries current. EB-2: India January 1, 2012, China October 1, 2019, all other countries July 15, 2022. The only change reported from October was EB-2 for all other countries, forward one week. It was also the first time that EB-2 for all other countries was not current.

November 2024. EB-1: India February 1, 2022, China November 8, 2022, all other countries current. EB-2: India July 15, 2012, China March 22, 2020, all other countries March 15, 2023. Nothing changed from October.

November 2025. EB-1: India February 15, 2022, China December 22, 2022, all other countries current. EB-2: India April 1, 2013, China April 1, 2021, all other countries December 1, 2023. Nothing changed from October.

November 2026. EB-1: India February 1, 2023, China August 1, 2023, all other countries current. EB-2: India November 1, 2013, China October 1, 2021, all other countries April 1, 2025. EB-1 China moved one month and EB-2 for all other countries moved three months.

So in four of the five years the EB-1 and EB-2 dates for India and China did not move at all from October to November. The only changes anywhere were EB-2 for all other countries (one week in 2023 and three months in 2026) and EB-1 China (one month in 2026).

Why November so often looks the same as October

The bulletins themselves almost never explain a quiet month, and I did not find a stated reason for any of the four unchanged Novembers. What can be said with some support:

• Visa numbers are managed within limits. The State Department said in its October 2023 bulletin that its aim is to keep visa issuance within quarterly limits under sections 201(a)(2) and 203(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Early in the fiscal year there is little data yet on how many numbers will be used.
• Annual limits change from year to year. For example, one summary of the fiscal year 2024 employment-based limit put it at 165,000, down from 197,000 in fiscal year 2023. A lower or less certain annual limit makes a cautious start more likely.
• Backlogs are long. For categories with heavy demand, such as EB-2 India, existing caseloads at USCIS and the State Department leave little room for fast movement.

A reasonable reading is that October and November are early in the fiscal year. The State Department often waits to see demand before moving dates, and larger changes tend to come later in the year. That is an interpretation and not something the bulletins say.

What happened in 2023, and what is different now

The 2023 numbers are worth a second look. In November 2022 EB-1 was current for every country. A year later EB-1 India stood at January 1, 2017 and EB-1 China at February 25, 2023. That change did not come from one bulletin. It built up across the 2023 fiscal year, and it lines up with the rise in EB-1 approvals from India that people have been discussing.

One fact helps explain the background. The State Department estimated the fiscal year 2023 employment-based limit at about 200,000, because unused family-based visa numbers from fiscal year 2022 were added to it. That is the spillover people refer to. A larger limit and a surge of cases at the same time meant the numbers had to be recalculated as demand became clear.

From my own case. My EB-1A petition was approved in 2023, the year of that spillover. At the time the bulletin showed EB-1 India at January 1, 2017, so there was nothing to do but wait. My reading is that USCIS and the State Department needed time to recalculate and understand how many numbers were really available. I cannot prove that, and the bulletins do not say it. What I can say is what happened next. In the January 2024 bulletin the EB-1 India final action date moved forward by three years and eight months, to September 1, 2020, and the date for filing moved to July 1, 2021. I was ready to apply, because the evidence and the approved petition were already in place.

That last point is the useful one. When the dates moved, applicants who were ready could act at once. Those who were still gathering documents lost time. The January 2024 move was large and came after a long quiet stretch, so waiting did not mean that nothing was happening behind the scenes.

By November 2024 EB-1 India stood at February 1, 2022, and it has stayed in that general range since, reaching February 1, 2023 in the November 2026 bulletin.

This year looks different. The movement is small and goes forward. Nothing retrogressed in November 2026, and I did not find any retrogression warning in the summaries I read. Dates can still change later in the fiscal year.

What to do with a quiet month

A quiet bulletin tells you about visa number availability. It does not tell you how strong your evidence is. Since USCIS can now deny a filing that lacks required initial evidence without first sending a Request for Evidence (guidance issued August 5, 2026), a quiet month is a good time to review your record without pressure.

If you want a starting point, the free Meritocrat assessments are at meritocrat.us for EB-1A, EB-2 NIW and O-1.

Sources

• Manifest Law, November 2026 Visa Bulletin: key date changes
• Capitol Immigration Law Group, November 2026 Visa Bulletin: minor forward movement
• Erickson Immigration Group, November 2022, 2024 and 2025 Visa Bulletin summaries
• Capitol Immigration Law Group, November 2022 Visa Bulletin summary
• Morgan Lewis, November 2023 Visa Bulletin summary
• Biz Legal Services, November 2023 and January 2024 Visa Bulletin summaries
• Erickson Immigration Group, January 2024 Visa Bulletin summary

Meritocrat is not a law firm and this is general information, not legal advice.