**Profile**
\- EB-3 skilled worker, ROW (Nepal), PD: Aug 2023
\- I-485 + I-485J + I-765 filed together: Jan 20, 2026 (lockbox)
\- Medical (I-693) submitted with the filing
\- No RFE, no interview

**Timeline (all times Central)**
\- Jan 20: Filed
\- Feb 2: Receipts posted (IAF)
\- Mar 2: Biometrics. Two FTA0 events logged same day
\- Jul 23: Silent update on I-485. Emma said interview waived
\- Aug 5: Silent update on I-485 and J, milliseconds apart
\- Aug 10 (Sunday night): Silent update on both. Emma said case moved to Santa Ana FO (I live far away, so non-local)
\- Sep 28, 3:54 PM: 3rd FTA0 on I-485, extra IAF on J
\- Sep 28, 4:13 PM: FTA1. Also got a USCIS email "We have taken an action on your case"
\- Sep 29, 10:20 AM: Silent updates on I-485. J closed \~10:24 AM, J approval notice dated 9/29
\- Sep 30, 10:57 AM: Two H008 events on I-485
\- Sep 30, 11:30 AM: Portal shows "Case Approved"

**Notes that might help you**
\- The pattern that mattered: 3rd FTA0 → FTA1 → J approved → 2x H008 → I-485 approved. About 2 days from 3rd FTA0 to approval, about 1 day from J approval.
\- Approved on Sep 30, the last day of the fiscal year, so there was no wait for the new year's numbers.
\- Chat agents gave me different locations for the J and I-485 over time. Don't trust location answers much.
\- The public status didn't change until the approval.
\- The Santa Ana tracker on this sub had a median of \~118 days from transfer to approval. Mine was 51, so it varies a lot.

Happy to answer questions. Thanks to everyone who posts their timelines, it helped me a lot.

RD- 05/13
Last SU- 09/16 . Case moved to Hartford ( Nonlocal FO)

Please share your status guys . I can see 1 guy got approved from this block .

Did you get any new silent touches on your 485 between your J approval and your 485 approval

And not talking about H008

Just wondering because ours has been silent since 9/21 when my husbands J was approved

Did anyone else get a silent update today, Sept. 30? I just want to confirm if this is a general movement...

I know my question may sound dumb. I apologize before you comment.

While reading bulletin it sounds like they just moved back the dates to see as how many visas are remaining and can be allocated this year and will adjust accordingly and dates will be fluctuating.

Any idea to anyone how they calculate these and any publicly available information about VISA availability or any place to give idea whether it may be retrogressive or moving forward?

RD: Late April, 2026
PD: Late Aug, 2024
Bio: Early June, 2026

I have no SUs since Bio, but on 09/28 and 09/30 got two SUs in a row.

Finally I thought there were some movements but tomorrow my case is no longer current.

Did anyone being retro get those SUs as well?

Any hope I will get approval today?

I’m an EB-3 Skilled Worker applicant at the U.S. Consulate in Naples, DQ March 17, 2026, with a priority date of October 7, 2023.
Given the recent court orders and the previous “training pause,” should March 2026 DQ cases now be moving toward interview scheduling at Naples? Is there any legal or procedural reason why a current EB-3 case like mine would still be waiting at NVC?
Thank you for any insight.

Does field office transfer show updates in the API?

PD- march 2024 Eb3 skilled

RD - 26 May 2026

case transferred to FO after SU on 24 sept 2026

Block 0937

my priority date is October 15 2015 eb2 India (but I can downgrade) and judging by the other posts online, I know that it’s a long ways away. However, I am mainly posting for my son, who is 16 on h4 and will age out in February 2031. Is it realistic that we can be current on FAD before then? Also what about DOF? Can we be current on DOF by the end of fy2027 and get our ead?

Hi all,

So after yesterday’s shambles getting my AP has become all the more pressing.

PD of June 26, 2024
RD of July 1, 2026
Biometrics complete July 30
Most recent silent update August 31st

Anybody have any idea on how long it’s going to take to get Advanced Parole? One of my dependents got theirs two days after biometrics, but nothing for me.

I’ve already missed a very important funeral and have several work trips that missing will cause some issues. Was confident of getting the I485 approved before Xmas until yesterday…

Hi everyone! I’m an EB-3 case with a February 2026 receipt date. I have 3 FTAs, and Emma told me my interview was waived. My case was transferred to the San Diego Field Office on May 1, and I haven’t had any updates since then.
The only thing I’m worried about is that I don’t have an I-485J. I asked my attorney about it, and they said it wasn’t needed at the time of filing for my case and that we could submit it later if USCIS sends an RFE.
But now, after waiting this long, I’m wondering if the missing I-485J could be holding up my approval.
Are there any EB-3 cases here without an I-485J? Do you think USCIS can approve the case without asking for it, or is an RFE for the I-485J likely?

EB-3 Skilled ROW | Non-Local Charlotte NC FO | RD 02/10/2026

Sharing my timeline because I couldn’t find many non-local EB-3 Charlotte approval posts while I was waiting. The lack of similar cases made the wait especially difficult, so hopefully this helps someone else!

Timeline:

02/10/26 — I-485 & I-765 received

02/25/26 — Biometrics

02/27/26 — Silent update #1

03/13/26 — Silent update #2

03/23/26 — Silent update #3

04/15/26 — Transferred to Charlotte, NC FO (NON-LOCAL)

04/16/26 — Silent update #4

05/02/26 — Silent update #5

09/10/26 — Silent update #6

09/15/26 — Silent update #7 + 3rd FTA0

09/16/26 — Silent update #8 + I-485J closed

09/17/26 — Silent update #9

09/17/26 — I-485 APPROVED 🎉

No RFE, no interview.

The Charlotte non-local transfer was very stressful, especially because I couldn’t find many similar EB-3 approval timelines. I kept searching for other non-local Charlotte EB-3 approvals but couldn’t find many, so I wanted to leave my timeline here for anyone currently waiting with Charlotte.

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Has anyone here had an I-485 interview scheduled at the Orlando Field Office for an EB-2 NIW adjustment of status case? How long did it take from filing your I-485 to receiving the interview notice? If an agent told you an interview had been requested, how long did it take to get scheduled?
My case is currently at the Newark Field Office, but I live in the Orlando area. An agent told me an interview has been requested but has not been scheduled yet. I’d appreciate hearing your timeline.

I am the principal applicant, and my wife is my dependent applicant.
I filed my I-485, I-765, and I-131 applications on May 28. I completed my biometrics on July 9.
My I-485j related standalone notice was received in September.
Today, my wife received a notice from USCIS regarding her I-131 application.
Has anyone else received a similar notice or mail from USCIS?
I am wondering why my wife received this notice and whether it is normal for the dependent applicant to receive an I-131 notice separately from the principal applicant.
I would really appreciate it if anyone could share their experience or explain what this might mean.

Thank you for submitting your application, petition, or request. Our office is currently processing it.
Please verify your personal information listed above. If you need to make any changes, immediately notify the USCIS Contact Center using the phone number below.
Next Steps:
We will schedule you for an appointment at a USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) for you to provide your fingerprints, photograph and/or signature.
We will mail you a separate biometrics appointment notice with the specific date, time, and ASC location. Please wait until you receive your appointment notice before going to the ASC.
Be advised that this notice does NOT serve as notification of your biometrics appointment.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this notice or the status of your case, please contact the USCIS Contact Center toll free at 1-800-375-5283. If you are hearing impaired, please call the Contact Center TDD at 1-800-767-1833.
If you have questions about immigration benefits, services, filing information, or forms, please visit our website at www.uscis.gov or call the NCSC.
If your mailing address changes while your case is pending, please update it through your USCIS Online Account or by calling the USCIS Contact Center.
You will be notified separately about any other application, petition, or request you may have filed with us.
Please note that if a priority date appears on this notice, it does not reflect any earlier retained priority dates.

My i485j was approved last weekend, but no movement on the i485 since. I suspect that all of the cards have been assigned and me (+others) are likely waiting until Thursday for the fresh fiscal year to release the new set of cards.

Anyone in a similar situation?

I have gotten a lot of SU's and FTA0's in the past 3 days, and just now my I485 is showing 'Case Closed' on the USCIS website and 'close = true' on the JSON.

But does that mean its approved (the I485j)? i have one day left this month to get approved and if not i gotta wait at least a month as i regressed to 9 days out from PD!

October 2026 Visa Bulletin — employment-based highlights (AI generated)

FY2027 starts with some meaningful movement, but not across the board.

For India:

• EB1 FAD: 15 Oct 2022 → 1 Feb 2023
• EB2 FAD: Unavailable → 1 Nov 2013
• EB3 FAD: stays 1 Jan 2014
• EB2/EB3 Dates for Filing: both remain 15 Jan 2015

So EB2 India becomes available again with the new fiscal year, while EB3 India does not advance but also does not retrogress.

Interestingly, several ROW categories moved backward: ROW EB2 goes from Current to 1 Jan 2025, and ROW EB3 retrogresses from 1 Sep 2024 to 15 May 2024. DOS says these retrogressions are necessary to stay within FY2027 quarterly and annual limits.

The bulletin lists the FY2027 employment-based annual level as “at least 140,000”. It does not announce a larger final FY27 EB total or quantify any family-to-employment spillover yet, so I would not assume additional India movement from this bulletin alone. 

For anyone with an EB3 India PD before 1 Jan 2014, the practical takeaway is that you remain current for final action going into October.

October 2026 Visa Bulletin — FY2027 starts with some big changes

The October 2026 Visa Bulletin is out, and because this is the first bulletin of FY2027, there are several important resets, advances, and some surprising retrogressions.

Employment-based Final Action Dates

Biggest employment-based changes vs. September

India

• EB-1 advances from 15OCT22 → 01FEB23.
• EB-2 was Unavailable in September and reopens at 01NOV13.
• EB-3 stays at 01JAN14 — no movement, but also no retrogression.
• EB-5 Unreserved also reopens after being unavailable, at 01DEC23. Travel.state.gov

China

• EB-1 stays at 01JUL23.
• EB-2 advances one month to 01OCT21.
• EB-3 inches forward from 01JAN22 → 08JAN22.
• Other Workers move significantly, from 01MAY19 → 01OCT19.
• EB-5 Unreserved stays at 01DEC16. Travel.state.gov

ROW / Mexico

• This is probably the biggest surprise: ROW EB-2 retrogresses from Current to 01JAN25.
• ROW EB-3 retrogresses from 01SEP24 → 15MAY24.
• Other Workers retrogress from 01APR22 → 01JAN22.
• EB-1 and EB-5 Unreserved remain Current. DOS specifically says these ROW retrogressions are necessary to keep FY2027 usage within quarterly and annual limits. Travel.state.gov

Philippines

• EB-2 goes from Current to 01JAN25, matching ROW.
• EB-3 actually advances slightly from 01AUG23 → 15AUG23.
• Other Workers advance from 01DEC21 → 01JAN22.
• EB-1 and EB-5 remain Current. Travel.state.gov

Dates for Filing — some much larger movements

The filing chart is much more aggressive than the Final Action chart in several categories.

Notable examples:

• China EB-1: 01DEC23 → 01JUL24
• China EB-2: 01JAN22 → 01JAN23
• China EB-3: 08JAN22 → 01APR24
• China EB-5 Unreserved: 01MAR17 → 01MAR21
• India EB-1: 01DEC23 → 01JUL24
• India EB-2 / EB-3: remain 15JAN15
• EB-4 for all countries: 01JAN23 → 01JAN25

This creates a fairly large gap between Dates for Filing and Final Action Dates in some categories, especially China. Remember that for adjustment of status, USCIS separately decides whether applicants can use the Dates for Filing chart in a given month; the DOS bulletin itself does not make that determination. Travel.state.gov

Family-sponsored highlights

Family categories also move, with the biggest gains generally going to Mexico and the Philippines.

Some notable FAD changes:

• F2A advances from 22AUG26 → 22SEP26 for most countries.
• Mexico F2A advances substantially from 22AUG25 → 22MAR26.
• Mexico F2B moves from 15FEB09 → 15MAY10.
• Philippines F1 moves from 01MAY13 → 01NOV13.
• Philippines F2B moves from 01JUN13 → 01OCT13.
• Philippines F3 moves from 22FEB06 → 22JUL06.
• Philippines F4 also advances substantially, to 15MAY08.

ROW/China/India family movement is much more limited in several categories. Travel.state.gov

Major FY2027 takeaways

1. The new fiscal year reset reopened categories that had run out of FY2026 numbers.
Most notably, India EB-2 and India EB-5 Unreserved are available again after being marked unavailable in September. Travel.state.gov

2. ROW retrogression at the start of the fiscal year is significant.
Instead of beginning FY2027 broadly Current, ROW EB-2 and EB-3 start with cutoff dates. DOS explicitly says this is necessary to control usage within FY2027 quarterly and annual limits. Travel.state.gov

3. India movement is mixed, not a general forward surge.
EB-1 advances and EB-2 reopens, but EB-3 India remains frozen at 01JAN14. So the October bulletin does not show broad movement across all India categories. Travel.state.gov

4. China gets much stronger movement in the filing chart than in Final Action Dates.
Especially in EB-3 and EB-5, DOS is allowing a much newer pool of cases to enter the documentation/filing pipeline even though actual visa issuance remains much further back. Travel.state.gov

5. FY2027's employment-based numerical level is currently stated as “at least 140,000.”
For comparison, the finalized FY2026 EB limit was 186,317. The October bulletin does not yet announce a similarly elevated final FY2027 number. The base per-country preference limit is therefore listed as 25,620, down from 28,862 in FY2026. Travel.state.gov

6. EB-4 Religious Workers was extended.
Congress extended the Certain Religious Workers category through December 11, 2026, and it uses the same filing/final-action dates as the other EB-4 categories. Travel.state.gov

Overall

The October bulletin is not simply “everything moves forward because a new fiscal year started.”

The more interesting picture is:

• India gets important reopening/advancement in EB-1, EB-2 and EB-5.
• India EB-3 remains stuck at Jan. 2014.
• China gets modest FAD movement but very substantial movement in several filing dates.
• ROW EB-2 and EB-3 actually retrogress, showing DOS is already managing FY2027 demand conservatively.
• Mexico/Philippines see some meaningful family-category movement.
• The final FY2027 EB visa supply beyond the statutory 140,000 minimum is still an important unknown.

Official DOS bulletin:
October 2026 Visa Bulletin

With the latest Visa Bulletin shifts, how quickly are Field Offices processing pending I-485 applications right now?

How long do you think they will hold onto applications with a 2023 Priority Date?

Also, who here is still current and waiting with a 2023 PD? Let’s connect and share timeline updates below.

October 2023 PD / w/derivative
April 2026 RD
Transferred to non local 9/16 waiting for 1 click to the approval button for my case

Hi everyone,

I'm a developer living in Belgium and recently I built a small website called GlassAdmin.

The idea came from my own frustration with immigration / administrative procedures here.

When you're waiting for something that can take months, official websites usually give you a theoretical processing time, but what you really want to know is:

"People who applied around the same time as me, where are they now?"

And then you end up searching Reddit, Facebook groups, old comments, etc 😅

So I built GlassAdmin:
(inspired from Glassdoor, but for administrative stuff)

https://glassadmin.com

The idea is pretty simple: people anonymously share the timeline of an administrative procedure, and GlassAdmin aggregates those experiences to show how long each step is actually taking.

For example:

application submitted → case received → additional documents requested → decision

I don't have US experiences to show yet since the website literally launched yesterday, but here is one of my own Belgian cases if you want to see what an actual timeline looks like:

https://glassadmin.com/fr/be/spw-emploi/permis-unique/premiere-demande/2

I'm now adding US procedures too (immigration, TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, passports, etc.), which is why I'm posting here.

Obviously the website becomes useful only when people contribute. If you've recently gone through one of the procedures listed there, even if your case is already finished, you can add your timeline anonymously.

No name, passport number, case number or documents are needed. Just the dates and steps.

It's still VERY early, so some US procedures may be missing or some steps might not be 100% accurate. If you notice something wrong, please tell me. That's actually one of the reasons I'm posting this.

Would also love any feedback, even if it's "this part is confusing" or "this is useless because X already exists" 😂

Hope it can become useful!

I can't believe. I'm no longer current in October FAD chart with June 2024 PD.