August 2026 Visa Bulletin Prediction： Is F4 Finally Entering 2009？ Family-Based Immigration News

Hello everyone! Welcome to Immigration Update. If you or someone you love has been waiting years, and we mean many, many years, for a sibling green card through the F4 Family Preference category, then today's video is exactly what you have been waiting for. The July 2026 Visa Bulletin just dropped, and the numbers are moving in a direction that has given thousands of applicants a reason to pay close attention. The F4 category, which covers brothers and sisters of adult United States citizens, has been inching its way through a backlog so deep it stretches back nearly two decades. And right now, based on the current trajectory, we are predicting that the August 2026 Visa Bulletin could push F4 priority dates further into 2009 for worldwide applicants, a milestone that many people in this category never thought they would live to see. We will also cover what is happening with F1, F2B, F3, and other family categories, and most importantly, what all of this actually means for how much longer you may have to wait. If you are interested in this topic and liking this video, please stay tuned until end of the video. Now let's get into the video. To understand why the August 2026 Visa Bulletin predictions are generating so much discussion, we first need to take a step back and explain how the family-based immigration system actually works. Every single month, the United States Department of State releases the Visa Bulletin, which is essentially a waiting list tracker for people who have filed immigrant visa petitions but are waiting for a green card number to become available. The Bulletin contains two key charts. The first is the Final Action Dates chart, which tells you when your case can actually be approved and a visa issued. The second is the Dates for Filing chart, which tells you when you might be eligible to submit your Adjustment of Even before your visa number is technically available, right now, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, has instructed applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart for all family-sponsored categories. This is an important detail because it means the filing dates are actually more relevant to most applicants inside the United States right now than the Final Action Dates. So, here is where things stand, heading into the August 2026 predictions. In the July 2026 Visa Bulletin, the F4 Final Action Date for worldwide applicants, which includes China, moved forward by about two and a half months to January 1, 2009. Meanwhile, the Dates for Filing chart for F4 worldwide and China advanced to March 1, 2010. Let's put that in perspective. Just two months earlier, in May 2026, the F4 Dates for Filing date was sitting at September 1, 2009. We have watched this category advance steadily over the past several months, roughly two to three and a half months of forward movement per bulletin. If that pattern holds into August, we could see the Final Action Date for F4 worldwide push somewhere between March and April of 2009, and the Dates for Filing date push past April or even May of 2010. In practical terms, this means if you filed your I-130 petition, that is your immigrant visa petition, sometime in 2009 or early 2010, the end of this long wait may be closer than you think. But here is the real question that every F4 applicant is asking. How much longer do I actually have to wait? And the honest answer is, it depends on several factors, and the situation is more complicated than a simple date on a chart suggests. The F4 category has one of the longest backlogs in the entire family-based immigration system. The statutory allocation for brothers and sisters of adult United States citizens is 65,000 visas per fiscal year, plus any numbers left over from higher preference categories. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider the enormous global demand, particularly from the Philippines, India, Mexico, and China, that 65,000 number gets absorbed very quickly, and the line stretches for decades. For applicants born in the Philippines, the situation is significantly more severe. Philippine F4 applicants are subject to per-country limits, and their cutoff date has barely moved. India and Mexico have their own separate cutoff dates as well, and those categories have not seen the same momentum as the worldwide dates. This is not simply a matter of patience. For many applicants from high-demand countries, particularly the Philippines, the backlog could still stretch well beyond a decade, even with consistent forward movement. Now let us talk about why F4 has been moving at all, because that context matters for predicting what August might look like. One of the factors that has allowed family-based categories to advance more consistently in fiscal year 2026 is the current administration's enforcement actions related to immigrant visa processing at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. A series of presidential proclamations and processing pauses have reduced immigrant visa issuance for nationals from certain countries, meaning that fewer visa numbers are being consumed than would otherwise be expected. The State Department acknowledged this directly in the June 2026 Visa Bulletin, noting that reduced issuance rates for some nationalities have freed up numbers that can be redistributed to advance cutoff dates for other applicants. Immigration experts note that this dynamic creates an artificial acceleration in the dates, and that acceleration could reverse. If the processing pauses are lifted, or if demand surges as applicants catch up, retrogression is entirely possible later in the fiscal year or at the start of fiscal year 2027 in October. Advocacy groups have warned that applicants should not assume this pace of movement is permanent. Beyond F4, let us quickly review what the other family categories look like heading into August 2026. The F1 category, which covers unmarried adult sons and daughters of United States citizens, also saw solid movement in July, advancing about three months for worldwide China and India applicants. Based on the current pace, moderate forward movement of two to three months is expected to continue for F1 in August as well. The F2b category, that is unmarried sons and daughters over the age of 21 who have a parent with a green card, advanced about two and a half months in July for worldwide applicants, and is expected to continue moving at a similar pace. The F2a category, which covers spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents, remained essentially current for most applicants and continues to be in a relatively favorable position. The F3 category, covering married sons and daughters of United States citizens, saw more limited movement, and the F3 dates for Mexico and the Philippines remain significantly behind worldwide dates due to those per-country caps. Now, let's talk about what all of this means for you specifically, and how you should be preparing right now. If your F4 priority date is in 2009 and you are a worldwide, non-oversubscribed country applicant, you should be watching the August 2026 visa bulletin very closely. The bulletin is typically released in the second week of the month prior, meaning the August 2026 bulletin will be published sometime around mid-July. Once it drops, check the dates for filing chart immediately. If your priority date becomes current under the dates for filing chart and you are inside the United States, you may be eligible to file your Form Y-485 Application for Adjustment of Status. This is significant because filing your I-485 locks in your place in line gives you access to work authorization and allows you to travel more freely while your case is pending. However, before you file, make sure all your supporting documents are in order. You will need your Form Y-13, O Approval Notice, your civil documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates, medical examination results on Form Y-693, and financial sponsorship documents to demonstrate you will not become a public charge. If you are applying through consular processing, meaning you are abroad and waiting for a visa interview, then you are watching the final action dates chart, not the filing dates. When the final action date in F4 reaches your priority date, the National Visa Center will schedule your immigrant visa interview at a U.S. consulate. Given the current trajectory, those with priority dates in early to mid-2009 should begin making sure their DS-260 immigrant visa application and supporting documents at the National Visa Center are complete and up-to-date. Do not wait until your date is technically current to prepare. The processing time between NVC submission and a visa interview can still add months to your timeline. Legal analysts suggest that staying ahead of the paperwork is one of the most practical things applicants can do while they wait. This situation might feel overwhelming, especially if you have been waiting since 2009 or even earlier. You are not imagining the frustration. The F4 backlog is one of the most visible examples of how the legal immigration system has struggled to keep pace with demand. But the data from recent months does offer a reason to stay engaged and stay prepared. Moderate forward movement is expected to continue for F4 worldwide through the August 2026 Visa Bulletin. And based on the current pace, breaking deeper into 2009 on the final action date chart is well within reach. That said, it is important to stay realistic. The pace of movement can change quickly. Retrogression, that is, dates moving backward, is always a possibility, particularly as the fiscal year approaches its end in September 2026. Watch for the August Bulletin carefully. And if you have specific questions about your individual case, consult with a qualified immigration attorney who can review your petition history and advise you on the best next steps. That's all we have for this Bulletin. The Immigration Update Channel provides all necessary visa information and procedures for your U.S. immigration journey. It is important to understand the United States immigration processing steps, visa application requirements, processing times, forms, fees, and more. We will continue to provide all information about U.S. visitor visas such as B-1 and B-2, work visas such as L-1A, L-1B, and H-1B, student visas, green cards, immigrant visas, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4, and EB-5, and family immigrant visas. Thank you for visiting us today and we'll see you in the next video. If you haven't subscribed to our channel, please subscribe to the channel for more U.S. immigration update videos.