February 2026 visa bulletin: India green card dates freeze after January’s momentum

 

The February 2026 US Visa Bulletin brings a familiar pause for Indian green card applicants. After the clear employment-led momentum seen late last year and into January, February lands as a month of consolidation, no fresh advances, no reversals and no relief for long-waiting families.

Released by the US Department of State, the bulletin leaves both employment-based and family-sponsored categories for India unchanged across Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing, highlighting how fragile forward movement remains despite earlier gains.

Employment-based green cards: momentum holds, but no new gains

For Indian professionals, February effectively presses the pause button. Every employment-based category retains its January cut-off, preserving recent progress but offering no additional movement.

Employment-based Final Action Dates – India (February 2026)

• EB-1: February 1, 2023 (unchanged)

• EB-2: July 15, 2013 (unchanged)

• EB-3: November 15, 2013 (unchanged)

• EB-3 Other Workers: November 15, 2013 (unchanged)

• EB-4: January 1, 2021 (unchanged)

• Certain Religious Workers: Unavailable

• EB-5 Unreserved: May 1, 2022 (unchanged)

After multi-month advances through late 2025 and January, February reads as a stabilisation month — no retrogression, but no fresh openings either.

Employment-based Dates for Filing – India (February 2026)

Filing timelines also remain frozen, continuing to offer procedural breathing room rather than faster approvals:

• EB-1: August 1, 2023

• EB-2: December 1, 2013

• EB-3 / Other Workers: August 15, 2014

• EB-4: March 15, 2021

• EB-5 Unreserved: May 1, 2024

For many applicants, the practical strategy remains unchanged: file as soon as eligible to secure work authorisation, advance parole and child age-out protection while waiting for final action dates to catch up.

Family-sponsored green cards: queues remain locked

If employment categories held steady, family-sponsored applicants saw no movement at all. February mirrors January exactly — a continuation of long-standing stagnation.

Family-sponsored Final Action Dates – India (February 2026)

• F1 (unmarried adult children of US citizens): November 8, 2016

• F2A (spouses and children of permanent residents): February 1, 2024

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• F2B (unmarried adult children of residents): December 1, 2016

• F3 (married children of US citizens): September 8, 2011

• F4 (siblings of US citizens): November 1, 2006

With no Final Action movement, February offers no additional approvals for Indian families already facing waits stretching well beyond a decade in several categories.

Family-sponsored Dates for Filing – India (February 2026)

• F1: September 1, 2017 (unchanged)

• F2A: January 22, 2026 (unchanged from January’s advance)

• F2B: March 15, 2017 (unchanged)

• F3: July 22, 2012 (unchanged)

• F4: December 15, 2006 (unchanged)

The only meaningful procedural flexibility remains in F2A, where filing dates stay well ahead of final action — allowing eligible families to submit paperwork even as approvals remain capped at February 2024.

Reading February’s bulletin as an Indian applicant

The February Visa Bulletin reinforces a clear split in India’s green card landscape:

• Employment-based categories are holding onto recent gains, with no rollback but no acceleration.

• Family-based categories remain structurally gridlocked, with filing relief offering access to paperwork rather than faster green cards.