United States · Visa Bulletin
October 2026 Visa Bulletin still not published on September 23: what the delay means
The State Department still lists September 2026 as current and October as Coming Soon. See recent October document dates, why October matters, and what the delay does not predict.
Published .
Reported and checked by C. Githii. Last checked September 23, 2026. Research and verification follow the QueueCheck editorial standards. How we verify information
Still Coming Soon on September 23
As of September 23, 2026, the State Department's Visa Bulletin index still lists September 2026 as the current bulletin and labels the upcoming bulletin Coming Soon. October 2026 is not listed in the archive and no official October Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing are available. The timing is later in September than the dates printed inside the three preceding October bulletins: October 2025 and October 2024 each carry a CA/VO date of September 3, while October 2023 carries September 8. Those CA/VO dates are document markers, not verified website publication times or promised deadlines, so they show recent timing without proving that the 2026 bulletin is officially late.
Who is waiting on October's first FY2027 charts
Family-sponsored and employment-based applicants waiting for October priority-date movement, especially applicants in categories that are unavailable at the end of Fiscal Year 2026, and adjustment-of-status applicants who will also need USCIS to announce which October filing chart they may use.
What the official index says today
- The State Department index was checked on September 23, 2026. It still shows September 2026 as the current bulletin and Coming Soon under Upcoming Visa Bulletin.
- No October 2026 Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing appear on the official index, so there is no verified October cut-off table to compare with September yet.
- The October 2025 bulletin carries CA/VO: September 3, 2025. October 2024 also carries September 3, and October 2023 carries September 8.
- Those CA/VO dates are printed inside the bulletins. QueueCheck is not treating them as public posting timestamps, statutory deadlines, or evidence that the State Department promised to publish October 2026 by a particular day.
- The official index gives no October publication date and no explanation for the current timing. A later publication does not by itself signal a larger advance, a retrogression, or a particular USCIS filing-chart choice.
- October matters because it begins Fiscal Year 2027. The new fiscal year changes the annual visa-number pool available for allocation, but reported demand still determines how far an oversubscribed cut-off can move.
- The July 2026 bulletin did give two conditional October signals: it said EB-2 India and EB-5 unreserved India were likely to advance to at least earlier published levels. Both statements were made dependent on Indian demand and the FY 2027 employment-based annual limit.
- USCIS makes a separate monthly decision about which Visa Bulletin chart adjustment-of-status applicants may use. The State Department publishing October will not, by itself, answer that filing question.
Three recent October bulletin document dates
Official status checked September 23, 2026: current bulletin September 2026; upcoming bulletin Coming Soon.
October 2025 document marker: CA/VO September 3, 2025.
October 2024 document marker: CA/VO September 3, 2024.
October 2023 document marker: CA/VO September 8, 2023.
The recent CA/VO dates are document dates. They are not being presented as verified public posting times.
The July 2026 bulletin is the official source for the conditional October statements concerning EB-2 India and EB-5 unreserved India.
Recent October Visa Bulletin document timing
State Department Visa Bulletin index checked September 23, 2026
The three preceding October bulletins carry early-September CA/VO document dates. The 2026 row is different: as of September 23, the State Department index still shows the upcoming bulletin as Coming Soon. The comparison is about document timing, not a promised release deadline.
October 2026
Coming Soon
Still unpublished on the official index when checked September 23, 2026.
October 2025 CA/VO
3 Sep 2025
Document date printed in the official bulletin.
October 2024 CA/VO
3 Sep 2024
Document date printed in the official bulletin.
October 2023 CA/VO
8 Sep 2023
Document date printed in the official bulletin.
| Bulletin | Official marker | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | Coming Soon on 23 Sep 2026 | No October tables published on the State Department index |
| October 2025 | CA/VO: 3 Sep 2025 | Document date, not verified public posting time |
| October 2024 | CA/VO: 3 Sep 2024 | Document date, not verified public posting time |
| October 2023 | CA/VO: 8 Sep 2023 | Document date, not verified public posting time |
Why October matters more than an ordinary month
- The 2026 bulletin is still pending later in September than the dates printed inside the three preceding October documents.
- The comparison does not establish a missed legal deadline because the current index gives no October release date.
The index and recent October bulletins
- State Department Visa Bulletin index
- Visa Bulletin for October 2025
- Visa Bulletin for October 2024
- Visa Bulletin for October 2023
What the delay does not tell us
- QueueCheck keeps release status and forecast content separate.
- The permanent October page will carry the verified tables when an official October bulletin is published.
October release questions, answered
When will the October 2026 Visa Bulletin be released?
The State Department has not posted a release date. Its index still showed September 2026 as current and October as Coming Soon when checked September 23. Recent October bulletins carry early-September CA/VO document dates, but those are not promised release dates.
Does the later timing mean October will have a bigger jump?
No official source establishes that. Publication timing and cut-off movement answer different questions. The October tables depend on available visa numbers and reported demand, and no October table has been published yet.
Will EB-2 India and EB-5 India become available in October?
The July bulletin said an October advance was likely for EB-2 India and EB-5 unreserved India to at least earlier published levels, but it made both statements dependent on Indian demand and the FY 2027 employment-based annual limit. The October table will be the controlling monthly answer.
Can I file Form I-485 as soon as the October bulletin appears?
Not from the State Department table alone. USCIS separately announces which chart family-sponsored and employment-based adjustment applicants may use for that month. Wait for the October USCIS filing-chart decision before treating a Dates for Filing row as an adjustment filing instruction.
Who is waiting for which next step
For EB-2 India, the July bulletin said an October Final Action Date advance was likely to reach at least the May 2026 level, which QueueCheck's verified May transcription records as July 15, 2014. That remains an official conditional expectation, not the October table.
For EB-5 unreserved India, the July bulletin used the same conditional language against the June 2026 level, which QueueCheck's verified June transcription records as May 1, 2022.
For other employment categories and every family-sponsored category, the fact that the bulletin is still unpublished does not create an official October movement forecast. The first reliable answer is the table itself.
For adjustment-of-status applicants, even a published State Department bulletin leaves one more official step: USCIS must identify the October chart or charts it accepts for filing.
What to check before and after publication
- Use the permanent October 2026 QueueCheck page for release status. It is designed to change from a waiting page to the verified monthly tables at the same URL after publication.
- Do not treat an October prediction table, search snippet, law-firm estimate, or social post as the published bulletin. Check whether it links to an official State Department October document.
- If your category is currently unavailable, keep documents ready rather than assuming the first FY2027 cut-off will reach your priority date. A new annual allocation does not remove category or country demand.
- After the October bulletin appears, adjustment-of-status applicants should check the USCIS monthly filing-chart announcement separately. Consular processing follows the State Department's Visa Bulletin rules and case instructions.
Why the fiscal-year boundary matters
The CA/VO line appears at the end of a Visa Bulletin and identifies the Visa Office document date. It is useful for comparing the timing of official documents, but it is not a publication calendar.
October is different from an ordinary month because it opens a new federal fiscal year. Annual preference numbers become available under the new year's limits, which can allow categories that exhausted a prior-year allocation to become usable again.
That reset does not mechanically move every cut-off by the same amount. The State Department sets oversubscribed dates against available numbers and reported demand, which is why a larger pool cannot be converted into a reliable number of months of movement.
The September 2026 bulletin remains the last verified set of cut-offs until an October document is published. QueueCheck's checker and category trackers therefore continue to use September rather than inserting forecast values.
No official reason or release date
- The State Department index provides no explanation for why October 2026 remains Coming Soon and no publication date for it. QueueCheck is not attributing the timing to staffing, policy, demand, annual-limit calculations, or any other cause without an official statement.
- The CA/VO dates in prior October bulletins do not establish when those pages first became publicly accessible, so they cannot prove a formal publication delay.
- No October 2026 cut-off figures are included here because the State Department has not published them.
- The July statements for EB-2 India and EB-5 unreserved India are conditional expectations. They are not substitutes for the October Final Action Dates table.
- USCIS's October filing-chart choice remains a separate official decision and must not be inferred from September.
The live status page and forecast boundary
This update covers more than one queue. Choose the service that matches your own application before sharing a date or comparing waits.
Official citation
Published September 23, 2026. Original source: U.S. Department of State: the Visa Bulletin index.
- Also checked: U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletin for October 2025.
- Also checked: U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletin for October 2024.
- Also checked: U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletin for October 2023.
- Also checked: U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletin for July 2026.
- Also checked: USCIS: adjustment of status filing charts.