Before Sept. 30: I-485 File, Hold, or October Wait

The deadline comes before the strategy

The State Department warned that some employment-based categories could retrogress or become unavailable before the U.S. fiscal year ended on September 30, 2026. For that month, the Final Action Dates chart indicates when final adjudication of immigrant visa cases can proceed. Applicants could file adjustment of status applications using the State Department Final Action Dates chart. That makes the chart the filing gate, not a background reference.

Start with the employee, not the category. The priority date is the anchor, and the chargeability country is the row that decides whether the date is usable. A current row means the case is ready to move. A noncurrent row needs a hold note, not a hopeful filing.

The practical test is I-485 filing eligibility, the question of whether the adjustment application can be filed under the Final Action Dates chart. A mobility team should not spend the last week debating whether a current date is close enough. If the chart supports filing, the case should be prepared to move. If it does not, the case should be parked with a clear reason.

The rule is current, not hopeful

When an employee's priority date is current on the Final Action Dates chart, file the I-485 before September 30, 2026. When the row is Unavailable, or the priority date is not current, hold the filing and note the reason. The warning is a documentation trigger, not a blanket pause: record the risk in the file, but do not abandon a filing window that is open today. For a current employee, the safer move is to file and preserve the priority date. For a noncurrent employee, the safer move is to hold and explain why the chart does not support filing yet.

A hold note should identify the employee, the category, the chargeability country, the priority date, and the chart row that blocks filing. It should also say whether the team is watching for a later chart or for a change in the employee's status. That note protects the file if the question comes back later.

The flagged rows need a memo, not a delay

The September 2026 Visa Bulletin, the availability chart, listed EB-2 India as Unavailable on the Final Action Dates chart. The State Department flagged EB-1 India as a category that might turn Unavailable in the weeks after the bulletin because demand and visa-number usage were heavy. The agency also flagged EB-2 and EB-5 unreserved as categories that might retrogress or turn Unavailable before September 2026 ended, citing sustained demand and higher visa-number usage. For September 2026, the employment-based Dates for Filing chart did not change for any country or category.

Those warnings matter because they change the file, not the rule. A current EB-1 India case should still be evaluated under the Final Action Dates row. An EB-2 India case cannot use a September 2026 Final Action Dates filing. An EB-2 or EB-5 unreserved case that is current today still needs a memo explaining why the team is filing despite the warning.

The unchanged Dates for Filing chart does not create a second filing path for these cases. Do not assume that a different chart will rescue a case that is not current on the Final Action Dates chart.

The checklist turns the chart into a file decision

Keep the chart open beside the employee file. Use the list below as the minute-by-minute test. Each item should produce a yes, a no, or a documented exception.

• Confirm the employee's priority date and chargeability country.
• Open the matching EB category row on the September 2026 Final Action Dates chart.
• File the I-485 before September 30, 2026 when the row supports the priority date.
• Withhold the filing and record the reason when the row is Unavailable.
• Withhold the filing and note the gap when the priority date is not current.
• Add a memo noting the State Department warning for EB-1 India, EB-2, and EB-5 unreserved.
• Record the EB-2 India row in the hold note.
• Do not wait for the next chart unless the employee is not eligible under the September 2026 dates and the next chart would make them eligible.

Put the note in the case file, assign a reviewer, and keep the reason visible so the next reviewer can see why the team acted or waited.