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The Department of State has just issued the May 2026 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates
Applications with these priority dates or earlier may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment:
Table B: Dates for Filing
In a change from the past several months, the USCIS will use the Table A Final Action Dates chart for I-485 employment-based filings in May 2026. As the Final Action Dates chart generally moves slower than the Dates for Filing chart, this means a longer wait time for those intending to file Adjustments of Status in May 2026. See: USCIS's Adjustment of Status Filing Chart
MU Law Analysis
All categories on the Employment-based Final Action Dates Chart remained steady and made no change from April 2026.
On March 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a new rule to increase prevailing wage levels. If finalized, the rule would increase prevailing wage requirements for employers sponsoring foreign nationals under the H‑1B, H‑1B1, E‑3, and PERM (EB‑2 and EB‑3) programs.
Current
Prevailing Wage Structure
For more than two decades, DOL has relied on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey to assign four prevailing wage levels based on percentiles of the wage distribution:
These
wage levels are used uniformly for temporary programs, like the H-1B and
permanent programs, like EB-2 and EB-3 category Green Cards.
Proposed
Wage Level Changes
Under
the new rule, DOL would substantially raise each wage tier:
|
Wage Level |
Current |
|
Proposed |
|
Level I |
17th |
→ |
34th |
|
Level II |
34th |
→ |
52nd |
|
Level III |
50th |
→ |
70th |
|
Level IV |
67th |
→ |
88th |
Notably,
entry-level wages would double, moving to the current Level II floor.
DOL
estimates these changes would increase average required wages by approximately
$14,000 annually, depending on occupation and location.
When Would the New Wages Take Effect?
DOL will accept
comments on the rule from the public until May 26, 2026.
If
finalized, the new wage methodology would take effect no earlier than 60 days
after the final rule is published. Until then, current wage levels remain in
effect.
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