Visa Bulletin Explained: Priority Dates, Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

The Visa Bulletin is the State Department’s monthly chart that tells you whether your green card category has a visa available. You compare your priority date to the cutoff date for your category and country: if your date is earlier than the cutoff, you can move forward. There are two charts, Final Action Dates (when a green card can be approved) and Dates for Filing (when you can submit your application), and USCIS announces each month which one it accepts.

Key points

• Only capped categories use the bulletin: family preference (F1 to F4) and employment-based (EB-1 to EB-5). Immediate relatives of US citizens do not.
• Your priority date is usually your PERM filing date, or your I-130/I-140 receipt date.
• Final Action Dates control approval. Dates for Filing control when you can file an I-485 if USCIS allows it.
• “C” means current, “U” means unavailable, and dates can move backward (retrogression).
• Check the official State Department bulletin and the USCIS chart page every month.

Why the Visa Bulletin exists

US law caps the number of preference green cards issued each year: 226,000 for family preference categories and at least 140,000 for employment-based categories. On top of that, no single country can receive more than 7% of the combined preference total. When more people qualify than there are visas, a line forms. The bulletin is how the State Department manages that line, month by month.

People who are not subject to the caps never need the bulletin. That includes spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of adult US citizens.

Step 1: Find your priority date

Case type	Your priority date is
Family-based (I-130)	The date USCIS received the I-130
Employment-based with PERM (most EB-2 and EB-3)	The date the PERM labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor
Employment-based without PERM (EB-1, EB-2 NIW)	The date USCIS received the I-140
EB-5 investor	The date USCIS received the I-526 or I-526E

The date is printed on your I-797 receipt or approval notice. In many cases, a priority date from an approved I-140 can be kept if you later file a new I-140 with a new employer or in a higher category, so long as the first petition was not revoked for fraud or error.

Step 2: Find your category and chargeability country

Your category is the preference on your petition (for example, EB-2 or F4). Your chargeability is normally your country of birth, not citizenship. That matters: a person born in India but holding another citizenship is still charged to India.

There are limited exceptions (called cross-chargeability). For example, you may be able to use your spouse’s country of birth if you are immigrating together. An attorney can tell you if this applies.

Step 3: Read the right chart

Each bulletin has four main tables: Family Final Action, Family Dates for Filing, Employment Final Action, and Employment Dates for Filing.

Chart	What it controls	Who uses it
Final Action Dates (Chart A)	When USCIS can approve an I-485 or a consulate can issue an immigrant visa	Everyone, for the final approval
Dates for Filing (Chart B)	When you can submit documents to the National Visa Center, or file an I-485 if USCIS allows it	Consular applicants (document stage); adjustment applicants only in months when USCIS announces it

USCIS decides each month whether adjustment applicants use Chart A or Chart B to file. For October 2026, USCIS said both family and employment applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart. From May to September 2026, it had required employment applicants to use Final Action Dates. That switch can open the door to an I-485 filing, with work and travel permits, months or years before final approval.

Step 4: Compare

Your priority date must be earlier than the cutoff date shown. A date that matches the cutoff exactly is not yet current.

Symbol	Meaning
A date (e.g., 01JAN25)	Priority dates before January 1, 2025 can move forward
C	Current: no wait for that category and country
U	Unavailable: no visas can be issued that month

A worked example with real dates

These are hypothetical applicants, used to show how the comparison works.

Priya was born in India. Her employer filed PERM on March 1, 2014, then an EB-2 I-140, which was approved. She is in the US on H-1B.

In the October 2026 bulletin:

• EB-2 India Final Action Date: November 1, 2013. Her date (March 2014) is later, so she cannot yet be approved.
• EB-2 India Dates for Filing: January 15, 2015. Her date is earlier, so she can file her I-485 in October 2026, because USCIS is accepting the Dates for Filing chart this month.

Once filed, she can apply for a work permit and advance parole while the I-485 waits for the Final Action Date to pass March 1, 2014.

Now compare Daniel, born in Germany, PERM filed June 1, 2025, EB-2:

• EB-2 rest of world Final Action Date: January 1, 2025. Not current for approval.
• EB-2 rest of world Dates for Filing: March 15, 2026. His date is earlier, so he can file the I-485.

Figures from the October 2026 bulletin as transcribed by law firms; confirm on the official bulletin. For the full October tables and what changed, see our October 2026 Visa Bulletin summary.

How consular processing uses the bulletin

If your relative or you will get a green card through a US embassy rather than inside the US, the steps are a little different:

1. After USCIS approves the petition, the case moves to the National Visa Center (NVC).
2. When your priority date is earlier than the Dates for Filing cutoff, NVC invites you to pay fees and submit civil documents and the Affidavit of Support (family cases).
3. Once your file is complete and your priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date, NVC can schedule your embassy interview, subject to appointment availability.

In other words, consular applicants use Dates for Filing to get their paperwork ready and Final Action Dates for the interview. USCIS’s monthly chart choice does not control consular cases.

Why dates move, stall, or go backward

• Demand vs supply. If many applicants become documentarily qualified, the State Department slows or reverses movement.
• Fiscal year timing. The fiscal year starts October 1. Dates often jump in October and can retrogress late in the year, around July to September, as annual numbers run out.
• Spillover. Unused family numbers from one year can be added to employment categories the next year, and unused numbers can flow between EB categories.
• Retrogression. A cutoff moves backward. In October 2026, EB-2 rest of world Final Action Dates retrogressed about 21 months to January 1, 2025, and EB-3 rest of world moved back to May 15, 2024.

If your date retrogresses after you have filed an I-485, your application stays pending. You keep your work permit and advance parole eligibility, but USCIS cannot approve the case until your date is current again.

Common mistakes

1. Using country of citizenship instead of country of birth.
2. Reading the wrong chart for the month, especially when USCIS switches between charts.
3. Assuming a date equal to the cutoff is current. It must be earlier.
4. Treating predictions as promises. Bulletins can change direction with no warning.
5. Ignoring age-out risk. Children nearing 21 may be protected by the Child Status Protection Act, but the calculation depends on bulletin dates. Get legal advice if a child is close to 21.

What to do next

1. Write down your priority date, category and chargeability country.
2. Each month, check the State Department bulletin and then the USCIS chart page to see which chart applies.
3. Compare categories in our employment-based green card guide if you might qualify for a faster one.
4. Follow our US hub and updates page for monthly changes.