Visa Bulletin Retrogression: Why Your Priority Date Moved Backward

Updated 2026-06-07

Few things are as frustrating as watching your green card cutoff move backward. That is called retrogression, and it is a normal (if painful) feature of the system.

Why it happens

Each green card category gets a fixed number of visas per year, split across countries. When the State Department projects that demand for a given month will exceed the supply left, it pulls the cutoff date back to slow approvals. It often happens later in the federal fiscal year (which ends September 30) as annual numbers run low, and at the start of a new year as the count resets.

A recent example

In the June 2026 Visa Bulletin, the EB-2 India Final Action Date retrogressed to September 1, 2013, moving roughly ten months earlier than the prior month. Applicants who looked "close" suddenly had a longer wait again.

What it means for you

• If your I-485 is already pending, retrogression usually does not cancel it, but your final approval may be delayed until your date is current again.
• If you were about to file, you may have to wait for a future bulletin.
• Any wait-time estimate (including ours) is a projection that can change sharply when a date retrogresses. Re-check monthly.

Informational only, not legal advice. If retrogression affects a pending case, talk to an immigration attorney.