EB-1 Priority Date for China: November 2026 Cutoffs, History, and Planning

Reviewed by: Beth Persky, Esq.

The EB-1 priority date for mainland China-born applicants in the November 2026 Visa Bulletin is August 1, 2023 on the Final Action Dates chart and July 1, 2024 on the Dates for Filing chart. USCIS has designated the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based adjustment of status for November 2026, so a mainland China-born EB-1 applicant in the United States with a priority date earlier than July 1, 2024, may be able to file Form I-485 during November 2026. USCIS cannot approve that I-485 until the priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date, which means earlier than August 1, 2023 under the November 2026 bulletin. A priority date that falls on the listed cutoff date is not current; the date must be before it. As of October 22, 2026, the October 2026 bulletin (Final Action Date July 1, 2023; Date for Filing July 1, 2024) remains in effect through October 31, 2026.

This post explains where those dates come from, who is charged to China, how the EB-1 China date has moved since fiscal year 2020, how an EB-1 priority date is set and kept, and practical steps for applicants waiting in line.

What is the EB-1 priority date for China for November 2026?

The Department of State publishes two employment-based charts each month. The Final Action Date is the cutoff for actually issuing an immigrant visa or approving a green card. The Date for Filing is an earlier-stage cutoff that, when USCIS designates it, lets applicants in the United States submit Form I-485 sooner. For EB-1, mainland China-born, the November 2026 Visa Bulletin shows:

For comparison, the November 2026 EB-1 Final Action Date for applicants charged to All Chargeability Areas, Mexico, and the Philippines is Current, and for India it is Feb. 1, 2023. The EB-1 Date for Filing for India is also July 1, 2024. Both India dates are unchanged from October 2026. Check the State Department’s Visa Bulletin page for the December 2026 bulletin before relying on these dates for a December filing.

Which chart can you use to file in November 2026?

Each month, USCIS decides whether employment-based adjustment applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart or may use the Dates for Filing chart, and posts the decision on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page. The Visa Bulletin itself says applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart unless USCIS states otherwise. For November 2026, the USCIS page states that for all employment-based preference categories, applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart, the same designation as for October 2026. For September 2026, by contrast, USCIS required employment-based applicants to use the Final Action Dates chart.

USCIS adds one exception: if a category is Current on the Final Action Dates chart, or the Final Action Date is later than the Date for Filing, applicants in that category may file using the Final Action Dates chart that month. That exception does not affect EB-1 China for November 2026, because the Date for Filing (July 1, 2024) is the later of the two dates.

Filing early lets an eligible pending applicant apply for employment authorization (Form I-765) and, where the applicant qualifies, advance parole (Form I-131) while the I-485 is pending, and can matter for the job portability rules discussed below. It does not move the applicant ahead in line. Filing the I-485 does not by itself grant work authorization or permission to return after travel; each of those benefits requires its own application, its own filing fee, and its own eligibility determination and approval. To file under the November 2026 bulletin, the applicant must also be physically present in the United States, must have an approved I-140 or file one concurrently, and must otherwise be eligible to adjust status under INA 245, including the bars in INA 245(c) and the limited 180-day exception in INA 245(k) for certain employment-based applicants.

Who is charged to China in the Visa Bulletin?

Visa numbers are counted against a country based on where the applicant was born, which the law calls chargeability (INA 202(b)). Citizenship and current residence do not control. A few consequences for EB-1 applicants:

• Born in mainland China: charged to the “CHINA-mainland born” column, even if you now hold another citizenship.
• Born in Hong Kong or Taiwan: the Visa Bulletin lists mainland China as a separate chargeability area, and under the Department of State’s current treatment, applicants born in Hong Kong or Taiwan are not charged to the mainland China column. In practice they fall under the All Chargeability Areas column, which is Current for EB-1 in November 2026. Because the bulletin does not list Hong Kong or Taiwan by name, confirm your chargeability against the bulletin in effect when you file.
• Born outside China to Chinese parents: generally charged to your own country of birth.
• Cross-chargeability through a spouse: a mainland China-born applicant may be charged to the spouse’s country of birth if the spouse is accompanying or following to join, under INA 202(b)(2). For example, if your spouse was born in Canada, both of you may be able to use the All Chargeability column.
• Other limited exceptions: a child may be charged to an accompanying parent’s country of birth (INA 202(b)(1)), and a person born in a country in which neither parent was born and in which neither parent had a residence at the time of the birth may be charged to the country of either parent (INA 202(b)(4)). Both conditions must be met for the INA 202(b)(4) exception.

Check whether cross-chargeability applies to your family before relying on the mainland China column. It depends on the facts, including where each spouse was born and whether both are immigrating together. If you plan to rely on cross-chargeability, request it clearly in the I-485 package and include the spouse’s birth evidence so the officer can identify the basis for charging you to the other country.

Why mainland China has an EB-1 cutoff date

Three rules in the Immigration and Nationality Act create the line:

1. An annual employment-based limit. Under INA 201(d), the worldwide employment-based level for a fiscal year is 140,000 plus the number, if any, by which the family-sponsored level for the prior fiscal year exceeded the family-sponsored visas actually issued that year. The November 2026 bulletin states the FY2027 employment-based limit as at least 140,000.
2. A category share. Under INA 203(b)(1), EB-1 receives 28.6 percent of the worldwide employment-based level, plus any visas not required for the EB-4 and EB-5 categories.
3. A per-country limitation. As a general rule, a single country’s share of the combined family-sponsored and employment-based preference numbers is limited to 7 percent in a year (INA 202(a)(2)). The bulletin lists that figure as 25,620. The limitation is not absolute: under INA 202(a)(5), employment-based numbers that would otherwise go unused in a quarter can be allocated without regard to the per-country limitation. The bulletin identifies mainland China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines as oversubscribed chargeability areas.

When demand from mainland China-born applicants in a category exceeds what the per-country limitation allows, the State Department sets a China-specific cutoff while other countries may remain Current. The INA 202(a)(5) allocation of numbers left unused by other countries is one reason the China date can move quickly in some years and slowly in others. USCIS explains that there is no separate batch of numbers released to a particular country or category each quarter; the Final Action Dates generally reflect the annual category and per-country limits as the State Department projects them.

EB-1 China dates since fiscal year 2020

The October bulletin opens each federal fiscal year. The table shows the EB-1 China dates in each October bulletin from FY2020 to FY2027, taken from the State Department’s archived bulletins.

Three patterns appear in the table:

• EB-1 China was Current at the start of FY2022 and FY2023. The State Department reported unusually high employment-based limits in those years (approximately 262,000 for FY2022 and 197,000 for FY2023) because unused family-sponsored numbers from the pandemic period rolled into the employment-based level under INA 201(d).
• By the October 2023 bulletin, a cutoff had returned (Feb. 15, 2022), and the Final Action Date has advanced each October since, by roughly 9 months, 1.5 months, and 6 months at the start of FY2025, FY2026, and FY2027.
• In the October bulletins since FY2024, the Date for Filing has run between about 2 and 12 months ahead of the Final Action Date. The 12-month gap in October 2026 is the widest in that period. The Date for Filing for EB-1 China moved from December 1, 2023 in the September 2026 bulletin to July 1, 2024 in October 2026, a 7-month jump in a single month.

Past movement is not a forecast. Dates can stall or retrogress during a fiscal year when demand rises or numbers run short, and the State Department has retrogressed employment-based categories late in the fiscal year to stay within annual limits.

How your EB-1 priority date is set

EB-1 has three subcategories, and none requires a PERM labor certification:

Under 8 CFR 204.5(d), when no labor certification is required, the priority date is the date a properly filed I-140 is received by USCIS. The date appears on the Form I-797 receipt and approval notices. If the I-140 is rejected as improperly filed (for example, for a missing signature or incorrect fee), no priority date is set until a corrected petition is received. Learn more about the categories on our EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C pages.

Can you bring an earlier priority date into EB-1?

Generally yes, subject to the exceptions below. Under 8 CFR 204.5(e)(1), a beneficiary of an approved EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition is entitled to that petition’s priority date for any later EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition. People refer to moving an older date into a new EB-1 petition as “porting” or “upgrading.”

• The earlier I-140 must have been approved. A priority date from a petition that was denied, withdrawn before approval, or still pending is not retained.
• Under 8 CFR 204.5(e)(2), the date is not retained if the earlier approval was revoked because of fraud or willful misrepresentation, because the Department of Labor revoked the labor certification, because USCIS or the Department of State invalidated the labor certification, or because USCIS revoked the approval for material error. Withdrawal by the employer, or termination of the employer’s business, after approval does not by itself take the date away, but USCIS still applies these exceptions when it reviews the new petition.
• The new EB-1 petition must be approved on its own merits. The older date does not lower the EB-1 standard, and a pending EB-1 petition does not provide an approved basis for priority date retention or for adjustment until it is approved.
• You do not need to be the same employer’s beneficiary. A self-petitioned EB-1A can use a priority date from an approved employer-sponsored EB-2 petition.

In the November 2026 bulletin, the EB-1 China Final Action Date (August 1, 2023) is later than the EB-2 China Final Action Date, which that bulletin lists as October 1, 2021, a gap of 22 months. The practical consequence: a China-born professional with an approved EB-2 petition and a priority date between October 1, 2021 and July 31, 2023 would already be eligible for final approval under EB-1 in November 2026 if an EB-1 petition carrying that date were approved, while remaining short of the EB-2 Final Action Date. Whether an EB-1 filing is realistic depends on the evidence, and that assessment is case-specific. Premium processing is available for I-140 petitions in EB-1A, EB-1B, and EB-1C, but faster adjudication does not change the Visa Bulletin.

If you already have a pending EB-2 I-485 and later obtain an approved EB-1 I-140, you can ask USCIS in writing to transfer the pending I-485 to the new basis rather than file a second I-485. Under USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 8, you generally must have remained eligible to adjust under the original basis up to the time of the request, you must be eligible under the new category, and a visa must be immediately available under the new basis on the date USCIS receives the transfer request. USCIS grants or denies the request as a matter of discretion. Two consequences follow if the transfer is granted. First, the original petition no longer supports that I-485, and USCIS states that a later transfer to yet another basis is restricted, subject to the limited ability to move among the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories. Second, the 180-day job portability clock described below restarts, and USCIS states that portability cannot be used until at least 180 days after the transfer request was made.

What retrogression means for a pending EB-1 case

Retrogression happens when the State Department moves a cutoff date backward because demand is higher than the numbers available. USCIS notes that retrogression tends to occur toward the end of the fiscal year as issuance approaches the annual category or per-country limits. It has happened to EB-1 China before: the category was Current in the October 2022 bulletin and had a cutoff again by the October 2023 bulletin.

If your priority date stops being earlier than the Final Action Date while your I-485 is pending, USCIS retains the application and finalizes it when a visa number is again available. The Policy Manual directs officers to pre-process and adjudicate such cases up to the point of final approval, and USCIS states that it conducts interviews on some employment-based cases even when a visa is not yet available so that it can approve them promptly once a number is allocated. You may apply to renew a pending-I-485 employment authorization document and advance parole document before they expire; renewal is not automatic, and each renewal is subject to eligibility and adjudication. An EB-1 applicant abroad would wait for the date to become current again before the consulate can issue the visa.

Two related protections for people who filed under the Dates for Filing chart:

• Job portability. Under INA 204(j) and 8 CFR 245.25, once the I-485 has been pending 180 days or more, the beneficiary of an EB-1B or EB-1C petition may accept a new bona fide job offer in the same or a similar occupational classification with a different employer without losing the petition. USCIS states that EB-1A beneficiaries are not eligible for this portability provision because the classification is not tied to a specific job offer; an EB-1A beneficiary may change employers or become self-employed, but must continue to intend to work in the area of extraordinary ability.
• Travel while waiting. Filing an I-485 does not end your nonimmigrant status. Under 8 CFR 245.2(a)(4)(ii), an H-1B or L-1 worker with a pending I-485 who leaves the United States and returns using a valid H or L visa, who remains eligible for that status, and who returns to resume employment with the same employer is not treated as having abandoned the I-485, even without advance parole. Whether you can extend H-1B or L-1 status is governed by the separate rules for those categories, not by this provision. Applicants in other statuses (for example, F-1 or O-1) who leave without an approved advance parole document risk having the I-485 treated as abandoned.

What to check before you submit Form I-485

Five points to confirm on the day you file:

• Form edition. USCIS periodically publishes new editions of Form I-485 and rejects outdated editions after any grace period ends. Use the edition date shown on the USCIS Form I-485 page on the day you file.
• Filing location. USCIS changes mailing addresses for Form I-485 from time to time and posts alerts on the form page. Use the Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-485 page to find the address for your filing basis.
• Medical exam. USCIS announced that applicants who file Form I-485 on or after December 2, 2024 must submit Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, with the I-485, with limited exceptions described in the form instructions (for example, certain applicants who already completed an immigration medical exam before admission). Check the current Form I-485 and Form I-693 instructions for which applicants are covered.
• Fees. The general Form I-485 filing fee is $1,440 for an applicant age 14 or older, and that amount includes biometric services; the fee is $950 for a child under 14 filing with a parent, and some applicants are exempt. A concurrently filed Form I-765 and Form I-131 each carry a separate fee. The USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055) lists a reduced Form I-765 fee of $260 for an applicant who filed Form I-485 with the required fee on or after April 1, 2024 and whose I-485 remains pending, and a Form I-131 fee of $630 for an adjustment applicant requesting advance parole. A separate $0 Form I-765 category remains for certain applicants whose fee-paid I-485 was filed from July 30, 2007 through March 31, 2024. Fees change and exemptions apply, so confirm each amount on Form G-1055 or the form page before mailing.
• Public charge evidence. EB-1 adjustment applicants are subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility in INA 212(a)(4). The current Form I-485 asks about household size, income, assets, liabilities, education and skills, and health insurance, and USCIS applies the public charge guidance in Policy Manual Volume 8, Part G that is in effect when it decides the case. Review the current Form I-485 instructions for the exact evidence requested and check the USCIS Policy Manual for any update before you file.

Planning steps for China-born EB-1 applicants

1. Find your priority date and category on your I-140 receipt or approval notice, and keep a copy of every earlier approved I-140.
2. Confirm your chargeability, including whether cross-chargeability through a spouse born outside mainland China may apply.
3. Check both charts each month. Monitor the State Department’s Visa Bulletin page for the next month’s bulletin, then check which chart USCIS designates for employment-based filings; USCIS states it aims to post its designation within one week of the bulletin’s release.
4. Prepare the I-485 package before your date is reachable, including civil documents, certified translations, and the medical exam on Form I-693. A filing window can open and close in a single month, and the designated chart can switch back to Final Action Dates, as it was for September 2026.
5. Maintain your nonimmigrant status while you wait. H-1B workers with an approved I-140 who cannot adjust because of the per-country limitation may be eligible for three-year extensions beyond the six-year limit under AC21 section 104(c), as implemented in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(E).
6. Watch children’s ages. Under the Child Status Protection Act, a child’s age is locked when a visa becomes “available.” USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7 states that, for adjustment applications filed on or after August 15, 2025, USCIS uses the Final Action Dates chart, not the Dates for Filing chart, to decide when a visa became available. A child who is under 21 when you file under the Dates for Filing chart may still age out before the Final Action Date reaches your priority date. Separately, the child must take a qualifying step (“sought to acquire”) within one year of visa availability; USCIS may excuse a missed one-year deadline where the applicant shows extraordinary circumstances, but that relief concerns the one-year requirement, not the age calculation itself. If a child’s date became reachable under the Dates for Filing chart between February 14, 2023 and August 14, 2025, when USCIS used that chart for CSPA purposes, have the calculation reviewed, because the treatment of that period depends on when the application was filed.
7. Get a case-specific review before switching or adding categories, for example filing a new EB-1 petition to use an older EB-2 or EB-3 date, or requesting a transfer of a pending I-485 to a new basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the EB-1 priority date for China in November 2026?

  The November 2026 Visa Bulletin lists an EB-1 Final Action Date of August 1, 2023 and a Date for Filing of July 1, 2024 for applicants born in mainland China. Your priority date must be earlier than the listed date; a date of exactly July 1, 2024 does not qualify to file under the November 2026 bulletin.

• Can I file my I-485 if my EB-1 China priority date is before July 1, 2024?

  For November 2026, USCIS has designated the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based applicants, so an applicant in the United States with a priority date earlier than July 1, 2024 may be able to file if the I-140 is approved or filed concurrently and the other adjustment requirements are met. Confirm the chart on uscis.gov for the month you file; approval still requires a priority date earlier than the Final Action Date.

• Is EB-1 China current?

  Not in the November 2026 bulletin. EB-1 China was Current in the October 2021 and October 2022 bulletins, but it has had a cutoff date at the start of each fiscal year beginning with FY2024.

• I was born in Hong Kong. Do the China dates apply to me?

  Generally no. Under the Department of State’s current treatment, Hong Kong-born and Taiwan-born applicants are not charged to the mainland China column and fall under All Chargeability Areas, which is Current for EB-1 in November 2026. Confirm against the bulletin in effect when you file.

• My spouse was born outside China. Does that help?

  It may. Under INA 202(b)(2), a mainland China-born applicant may be charged to a spouse’s country of birth when the spouse is accompanying or following to join. Whether this applies depends on the facts, including whether the spouse is immigrating with you.

• Can my spouse and children file their own I-485 applications with mine under the Dates for Filing chart?

  Derivative spouses and unmarried children under 21 may file Form I-485 as accompanying family members when the principal applicant’s priority date is earlier than the designated cutoff, provided each of them is in the United States and separately eligible to adjust status. Each derivative pays their own filing fee and submits their own Form I-693. A derivative abroad goes through consular processing instead and is governed by the Final Action Date.

• How is my EB-1 priority date set?

  Because EB-1 does not require a PERM labor certification, the priority date is the date USCIS receives a properly filed EB-1 Form I-140 (8 CFR 204.5(d)).

• Does premium processing on my EB-1 I-140 change my priority date or my place in line?

  No. Premium processing (Form I-907) shortens USCIS’s adjudication time for the I-140; it does not change the priority date, which remains the date USCIS received the properly filed I-140, and it does not move the Visa Bulletin cutoff.

• Can I use my EB-2 priority date for an EB-1 petition?

  Generally yes, if the earlier EB-2 or EB-3 I-140 was approved and the approval was not revoked for fraud, willful misrepresentation, labor certification revocation or invalidation, or material error. The EB-1 petition must still be approved on its own merits.

• My EB-2 I-485 is already pending. Do I need to file a new I-485 after my EB-1 is approved?

  Not necessarily. You can ask USCIS in writing to transfer the pending I-485 to the approved EB-1 petition as the new basis. USCIS decides the request in its discretion and looks at continued eligibility under the original basis, eligibility under the new basis, and whether a visa was immediately available under the new category on the date it received the request. If granted, the original petition no longer supports that I-485.

• If I file under the Dates for Filing chart, is my child protected from aging out?

  Not automatically. For adjustment applications filed on or after August 15, 2025, USCIS calculates Child Status Protection Act age using the Final Action Dates chart, so a child’s age is not locked by a filing made under the Dates for Filing chart. The calculation is detailed and should be run for each child.

• What happens if I mail my I-485 in November 2026 but USCIS receives it in December?

  USCIS applies the chart designated for the month in which the application is received at the correct filing location. If the December 2026 designation or the December cutoff dates differ, the December rules control. Mail early in the month and use a trackable method.

• Does a new fiscal year make EB-1 China current?

  No. A new fiscal year on October 1 brings a fresh annual allocation, but the State Department still sets a cutoff whenever demand from mainland China-born applicants exceeds the numbers available under the per-country limitation. FY2027 opened with a July 1, 2023 Final Action Date, and the November 2026 bulletin lists August 1, 2023.

• Will the EB-1 China date advance in December 2026?

  No one can say for certain. Check the December 2026 bulletin when it is released; the State Department notes that it monitors demand and adjusts dates as needed.