The Visa Bulletin is a monthly report from the U.S. Department of State that acts as the waiting line for green cards in categories that have annual numerical limits. It sets "cutoff dates" that tell applicants in each family-sponsored and employment-based preference category — and, where applicable, each separately listed country of chargeability — whether a visa is available that month. Whether a person can move forward depends on their priority date: their place in that line.
Status as of July 2026. Each month, USCIS decides separately whether adjustment-of-status applicants may use the Dates for Filing chart or must use the Final Action Dates chart, and the answer can differ by category. For the July 2026 bulletin, family-sponsored applicants were directed to Dates for Filing and employment-based applicants to Final Action Dates. Several heavily backlogged categories — including India EB-2 and India EB-5 Unreserved — reached their fiscal-year limits and were listed "unavailable" for the rest of fiscal year 2026, with movement expected to resume when the new fiscal year begins on October 1. Cutoff dates change every month.
What the Visa Bulletin is and who it affects
The bulletin governs the immigrant categories that Congress caps each year: the family-sponsored preferences (F1 through F4, for certain relatives of citizens and permanent residents), the employment-based preferences (EB-1 through EB-5), and the Diversity Visa program. It exists because demand in these categories regularly exceeds the annual supply — for fiscal year 2026, roughly 226,000 family-sponsored and at least 140,000 employment-based visas — and because immigration law sets a per-country limit of 7% of the combined family-sponsored and employment-based total. When more people qualify than there are numbers, a line forms, and the bulletin is how that line is tracked. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — spouses, parents, and unmarried children under 21 — are not subject to these caps and do not wait in the bulletin.
Priority dates and how the line works
A priority date is generally the day the immigrant petition (such as Form I-130 or I-140) was properly filed with USCIS. Where a labor certification is required first, it is the date the Department of Labor accepted that application. The priority date is assigned to the petition and generally marks the applicant's place in line. Each applicant is also assigned a country of chargeability — usually the country of birth, not citizenship — because the per-country limits are applied by birthplace. A visa becomes available when the applicant's priority date is earlier than the applicable cutoff date; while the cutoff sits before the priority date, the case waits. This is why two people who filed on the same day can wait very different lengths of time if they are charged to different countries.
Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing
Since 2015 the bulletin has carried two charts for each category, and reading it correctly means knowing which one applies. The Dates for Filing chart shows the earliest point at which applicants may take action — submitting an adjustment-of-status application (Form I-485) or, for consular processing, the point at which the National Visa Center may begin requesting and accepting documents. The Final Action Dates chart shows when a visa may actually be issued and the green card approved. The two are separate steps: reaching the filing date lets the paperwork begin, while the final action date is when the case can be completed. Each month USCIS announces on its website which chart adjustment applicants may use — so the same category can be read from different charts depending on the month and on whether the case is at USCIS or a consulate. The full green card process sits within the broader green card path.
Why categories move, stall, or retrogress
Movement in the bulletin is driven by supply and demand within each category and country. Because oversubscribed countries — most often India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines — generate far more demand than their 7% share allows, they carry their own, later cutoff dates while the rest of the world may be further ahead or "current." A category marked current (shown as "C") has no wait: everyone in it may proceed regardless of priority date. A category marked unavailable ("U") has hit its annual limit, and no cases move until numbers return. A cutoff date can also retrogress — move backward — when demand outpaces the numbers left for the year. Because the fiscal year resets on October 1, categories often jump forward at the start of a new year and then slow as demand catches up. Independent "predictions" of future movement are estimates based on past patterns, not guarantees; the official cutoffs are only those in the current bulletin. Applicants selected in the Diversity Visa lottery follow their own regional cutoffs, described under the diversity visa lottery.
What is a priority date?
A priority date is the marker for an applicant's place in the green card line. It is usually the date the sponsoring petition was properly filed with USCIS, or the date the Department of Labor accepted a required labor certification. The applicant's case can move forward once the Visa Bulletin's cutoff date for their category and country of chargeability advances beyond that priority date.
What is the difference between Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing?
They mark two different stages. The Dates for Filing chart shows the earliest date an applicant may submit or assemble the application. The Final Action Dates chart shows when a visa may finally be issued and the green card granted. A case can often be filed months before it can be approved, which is why the filing date is typically earlier than the final action date. USCIS states each month which chart adjustment-of-status applicants should use.
What does "current" mean in the Visa Bulletin?
A category is "current," shown as the letter "C," when there is no backlog and enough visa numbers are available for everyone in it. Applicants in a current category may proceed regardless of their priority date. The opposite is "unavailable," shown as "U," which means the category has reached its limit for now and no cases can move until numbers become available again.
Why did a priority date move backward?
A cutoff date moving backward is called retrogression. It happens when demand in a category or country exceeds the visa numbers remaining for the fiscal year, forcing the Department of State to pull the cutoff back so that issuance stays within the annual limit. Retrogression is most common late in the fiscal year, and categories often recover after October 1, when a new year's numbers become available.
How often is the Visa Bulletin published?
The Department of State releases a new Visa Bulletin once a month, usually in the second week, for the following month. Each bulletin controls visa availability for its stated month, so applicants use the edition for the month in question. USCIS then posts, generally within about a week of the bulletin's release, which chart adjustment-of-status applicants may use for that month.
Which chart is used to file a green card application?
It depends on the month and the type of case. For adjustment of status inside the U.S., USCIS designates each month whether applicants use the Dates for Filing or the Final Action Dates chart, and it may set different answers for family-sponsored and employment-based cases. For consular processing abroad, the National Visa Center uses the Dates for Filing chart to invite documents and the Final Action Dates chart for visa issuance.
Sources we track: USCIS, DHS, EOIR, the Federal Register, and federal courts.