Visa
Selected November dates advance, while some categories remain unchanged
The Department of State's November 2026 Visa Bulletin shows an employment second-preference final action date of 1 April 2025 for the general chargeability column, Mexico and the Philippines. October's corresponding date was 1 January 2025. The November second-preference dates for India and mainland-born China remain 1 November 2013 and 1 October 2021 respectively. Applicants must identify their own preference category and chargeability column rather than assume that a widely reported advance applies to every employment case.
For third-preference skilled workers and professionals in the general column and Mexico, the final action date moves from 15 May 2024 in October to 15 June 2024 in November. These selected comparisons concern the final action table, not a promise of an interview or approval. The November document carries an internal Visa Office date of 5 October 2026. This report concerns that month's published availability figures and does not treat the document's internal date as a newly announced October filing deadline. For illustration, a general-column EB-2 priority date in March 2025 is earlier than the November cutoff, while it was not earlier than the corresponding October cutoff.
A filing chart and a final action chart answer different questions
The October bulletin's explanation of the two-chart system provides essential context for reading the monthly tables. A final action date concerns availability for final action in a numerically limited category. A separate Dates for Filing table concerns when applicants may be instructed to assemble and submit documents. A listed cutoff requires a priority date earlier than that cutoff. Someone whose priority date equals the printed date should not interpret the table as saying that the case is already within the eligible group.
Adjustment of status inside the United States adds a separate monthly check with USCIS. The bulletin directs applicants to the USCIS filing-chart resource to establish whether a Dates for Filing chart may be used instead of the final action chart for that month. This report does not confirm a November USCIS chart selection. Applicants must verify that selection before filing; an October choice should not be carried forward automatically. Consular document preparation and an adjustment application are different procedures even when both refer to the Visa Bulletin.
Follow the case-specific payment instructions before completing later steps
For cases handled through the National Visa Center, the Department of State's Pay Fees resource describes the official payment stage. Applicants use their CEAC case to identify the immigrant visa fee and, where required, the Affidavit of Support fee. The page requires a routing number and checking or savings account number from a United States bank. These payments are made separately within the system. A change in a bulletin date is not an instruction to transfer money to a private intermediary.
The resource advises allowing ten calendar days for NVC to process online payments before proceeding, and says Form DS-260 cannot be accessed until the payment has been processed. Where an Affidavit of Support fee appears but the case may be exempt, it directs applicants to contact NVC before paying. Use the linked fee guidance to resolve that stage. The bulletin itself does not set a new processing charge or establish that every employment-based case requires the same financial sponsorship forms.
Prepare documents and direct questions to the office handling the case
The Department of State's Uploading to CEAC instructions identify the separate financial and civil-document areas used by participating immigrant visa cases. Applicants should follow their case's instructions and the relevant upload categories rather than send an unlabelled collection of records. In an illustrative case newly approaching its cutoff, a useful preparation task is to check which required records are ready and which official steps are enabled, without assuming that an appointment has already been assigned.
The NVC Contact Information page directs unresolved case questions to the Public Inquiry Form and provides links to processing guidance. Use the case identifier and describe the precise payment, document or communication problem. A bulletin date cannot establish how quickly a particular consulate will schedule an interview, whether all documents are acceptable or whether the applicant meets every substantive requirement. The next action is therefore specific: verify category, column and applicable chart, then complete the instructions issued by the agency currently handling the case.
