Is your priority date current?

The Visa Bulletin is a monthly publication from the U.S. Department of State that shows which green card applications can move forward, based on when the petition was filed (the priority date). Because U.S. law caps the number of immigrant visas per category and per country each year, demand exceeds supply in many categories and a waiting line forms. The bulletin's cutoff dates tell you where the line currently stands.

Final Action Dates (chart A) show when a green card can actually be approved — a visa number is available only if your priority date is earlier than the listed cutoff. Dates for Filing (chart B) show when you may submit your adjustment-of-status paperwork early, but only in months when USCIS says it will accept chart B. This site tracks Final Action Dates, because that is the chart that determines when your case can be approved.

Your priority date is your place in the visa queue. For family-based cases it is the date USCIS received the I-130 petition; for most employment-based cases it is the date the PERM labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor (or the I-140 filing date if no labor certification is required). You can find it on your I-797 receipt or approval notice.

Your date is "current," which means a visa number is available. If you are in the U.S. and eligible to adjust status, you can file Form I-485 (or USCIS will act on an already-pending one). If you are processing abroad, the National Visa Center will schedule your consular interview. Being current does not approve the case by itself — background checks and interviews still follow.

Retrogression happens when more people with early priority dates apply than the State Department expected, so it pulls the cutoff back to keep visa issuance within the annual limit. It is common near the end of the fiscal year (July–September) when annual limits run out. Retrogressed dates usually recover after the new fiscal year begins on October 1, but there is no guarantee of how quickly.

"C" (Current) means there is no backlog — every priority date can move forward that month. "U" (Unavailable) means the annual limit for that category and country has been used up, so no visas can be issued for the rest of the fiscal year, regardless of priority date. "U" categories normally reopen in October, when the new fiscal year's quota becomes available.

U.S. law limits each country to about 7% of the total immigrant visas per year, no matter its population or demand. China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have far more applicants than that ceiling allows, so they develop their own — usually much longer — backlogs. Everyone else falls under the "All Chargeability Areas" column. Chargeability is normally determined by country of birth, not citizenship.

They are honest extrapolations, not predictions. We take the average pace at which a cutoff moved over recent bulletins and project it forward — then deliberately widen the result into a range, because cutoff movement depends on demand data and policy decisions nobody outside the government can see. Real waits can be shorter (big October jumps) or much longer (stalls and retrogression). Treat the range as orientation, not a promise.

Yes. If a category retrogresses after you become current but before your case is approved, your case goes back to waiting until the cutoff passes your date again (USCIS holds the case; you do not lose your place). This is one more reason to act promptly in a month when you are current — and why our estimates always mention retrogression risk.

The State Department typically publishes each month's bulletin around the middle of the previous month — usually between the 8th and the 18th. For example, the August bulletin normally appears in mid-July. We update this site shortly after each release.