Updated November 11, 2026

DOS Visa Bulletin: how to read priority dates, filing charts, and retrogression

The Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin is a monthly publication that regulates immigrant visa availability based on your preference category, priority date, and country of birth. According to USCIS, annual statutory limits cap family-sponsored preference visas at a minimum of 226,000 per year and employment-based preference visas at a minimum of 140,000 per year. A visa is available when your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date shown on the chart for your category and country, or when the chart lists a C for current.

What is the DOS Visa Bulletin and who needs it?

The Immigration and Nationality Act limits how many people can become lawful permanent residents each year under preference categories. To manage these statutory limits, the Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin each month. It serves as the waiting list for applicants going through consular processing at overseas embassies and consulates and for applicants filing Form I-485 for adjustment of status inside the United States.

Congress divides preference visas into distinct categories, each subject to numerical limits and per-country caps. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are exempt from these limits, meaning a visa number is always immediately available for them.

• Family-sponsored preferences: Relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who qualify under numerical limits, including unmarried adult sons and daughters, married sons and daughters, brothers and sisters of adult citizens, and spouses and unmarried children of permanent residents.
• Employment-based preferences: First preference (EB-1) for priority workers, Second preference (EB-2) for advanced degree professionals or exceptional ability, Third preference (EB-3) for skilled workers, professionals, and other workers, Fourth preference (EB-4) for special immigrants, and Fifth preference (EB-5) for immigrant investors.
• Immediate relative exemption: Spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens, parents of adult U.S. citizens, and qualifying widow(er)s who file within two years of the citizen's death.
• Humanitarian exemptions: Applicants adjusting based on refugee status, asylee status, or U nonimmigrant status, alongside limited caps of up to 5,000 T nonimmigrants and 50 Section 13 applicants per year.

Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing: the two charts explained

Since October 2015, the monthly DOS Visa Bulletin has published two separate charts for family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories. Understanding the distinction between these charts prevents premature filings.

When demand for visas in a particular category and country exceeds supply, the category becomes oversubscribed and DOS publishes a cut-off date. An applicant qualifies only when their priority date is strictly earlier than the cut-off date.

• C (Current): Visa demand is lower than supply. Immigrant visa numbers are immediately available to all qualified applicants in that category and country.
• U (Unavailable): Immigrant visas are temporarily unavailable to all applicants in that category and country.
• Cut-off date (such as 15DEC07): Immigrant visa numbers are available only to applicants whose priority date is strictly earlier than the printed date.

How the two DOS Visa Bulletin charts work (from USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7)

How the DOS Visa Bulletin tracks availability across categories and countries

The Department of State allocates immigrant visas based on an applicant's preference category, priority date, and country of chargeability (usually the country of birth). When the demand for immigrant visas exceeds the supply for a given category and country, DOS considers the category oversubscribed and imposes a cut-off date to keep allocations within statutory limits.

Visas are available when an applicant's priority date is earlier than the cut-off date shown for their preference category and country of chargeability in the applicable chart. If demand is less than supply, the category is listed as C, meaning visas are currently available to all qualified applicants. If listed as U, visas are temporarily unavailable.

• Country of chargeability: Visas are generally charged to an applicant's country of birth rather than citizenship or residence, subject to statutory percentage limitations.
• Cut-off date (such as 15DEC07): Immigrant visa numbers are available only to applicants whose priority date is strictly earlier than the printed date.
• Current status (C): Demand is lower than supply, meaning immigrant visa numbers are immediately available to all qualified applicants in that category and country.
• Unavailable status (U): Immigrant visas are temporarily unavailable to all applicants in that preference category and country.

Consular processing workflow vs USCIS adjustment of status

The way you track the Visa Bulletin depends on whether you apply abroad through the Department of State or adjust status inside the United States through USCIS.

For immigrant visa applicants outside the United States, the Dates for Filing chart indicates when applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center. The Application Final Action Dates chart provides the dates when immigrant visas may finally be issued at overseas consulates and embassies.

For adjustment of status, you must be physically present in the United States and verify which chart USCIS has authorized for that month. While you may submit Form I-485 under Dates for Filing when permitted, USCIS cannot approve permanent resident status until an immigrant visa is available under the Final Action Dates chart.

How to find your priority date and country of chargeability

Your place in the visa queue depends on three factors: your preference category, your priority date, and your country of chargeability. You can find your priority date printed on Form I-797, Notice of Action, issued by USCIS for your underlying immigrant petition.

If you are the beneficiary of multiple approved employment-based petitions under the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd preference categories, you are entitled to the earliest priority date, unless the earlier petition was revoked for fraud, willful misrepresentation, material error, or an invalidated labor certification.

Visas are charged to your country of birth rather than your citizenship or residence. However, cross-chargeability rules allow you to use a spouse's or parent's country of birth in specific circumstances to prevent family separation when one country is backlogged.

• Family-sponsored cases: The priority date is the date Form I-130 (or Form I-360 in certain cases) is properly filed with USCIS.
• Employment-based cases requiring labor certification: The priority date is the date the Department of Labor accepts the PERM application. To keep this date, the petitioner must file Form I-140 within 180 days of the Department of Labor approval date.
• Employment-based cases not requiring labor certification: The priority date is the date USCIS accepts Form I-140 for processing.
• Special immigrants and investors: The priority date is the date USCIS accepts Form I-360 (for EB-4) or Form I-526 (for EB-5) for processing.
• Spousal cross-chargeability: A principal applicant can cross-charge to a derivative spouse's country of birth, and a derivative spouse can cross-charge to the principal's country. Both must be eligible to adjust status, and both applications must be approved together.
• Child cross-chargeability: Derivative children can cross-charge to either parent's country of birth, but parents may never cross-charge to a child's country of birth.

How USCIS uses the Visa Bulletin for Form I-485 adjustment of status

Applicants physically present in the United States who want to file Form I-485 cannot rely on the DOS Visa Bulletin alone. Within one week of DOS publishing each bulletin, USCIS designates on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts webpage which of the two charts applies for the month.

USCIS compares remaining visas for the fiscal year against documentarily qualified applicants reported by DOS, pending Form I-485 filings, and historical drop-off rates. When USCIS determines that available visas exceed known applicants, it allows applicants to file using the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart. For example, for November 2026, USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for all family-sponsored and employment-based preference filings.

When an immigrant visa is immediately available under the designated chart, certain categories permit concurrent filing. Concurrent filing allows you to submit Form I-485 alongside your underlying petition before the petition is approved. Concurrent filing is never available for consular processing overseas.

• Categories permitting concurrent filing when a visa is available: Immediate relatives, family-sponsored preference categories, employment-based 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th preference categories, VAWA self-petitioners, Special Immigrant Juveniles (when an EB-4 visa is available), Amerasians, and G-4 or NATO-6 employees.
• Properly filed requirements: Form I-485 must be sent to the correct location or submitted online, include the required fee, carry a valid handwritten signature, and have an immigrant visa immediately available on the filing date.
• Rejection rule: If you submit Form I-485 before a visa is available under the designated chart, USCIS rejects and returns the package. Rejected applications do not keep a filing date.

Checklist: 6 steps to check visa availability and prepare your filing

Our team organized this six-step checklist based on USCIS instructions so you can verify your visa availability and prepare your filing package before your priority date becomes current.

• Step 1. Identify your exact priority date and preference category on your Form I-797 notice, or check your Department of Labor labor certification acceptance date for PERM cases.
• Step 2. Confirm your country of chargeability based on your country of birth. Check if your spouse was born in a country with a faster cut-off date for cross-chargeability.
• Step 3. Check the DOS Visa Bulletin around the middle of the month (or call the DOS recorded line at 202-663-1541), then review USCIS's Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page within one week to see which chart is designated.
• Step 4. Confirm that your priority date is strictly earlier than the cut-off date on the designated chart, or that the chart lists C.
• Step 5. Gather required primary documents for Form I-485: two identical passport-style color photos, a copy of a government-issued photo ID, and a birth certificate listing at least one parent. Add proof of inspection and admission or parole (such as Form I-94 from cbp.gov), petition approval notices, evidence of continuous lawful status, and certified English translations.
• Step 6. Complete your medical examination (Form I-693) with a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. If required, have your sponsor complete Form I-864 with their most recent federal tax return or IRS transcript showing income at or above 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (100 percent for active-duty military petitioning for a spouse or child).

What happens during visa retrogression?

While cut-off dates usually advance over time, heavy demand from applicants with earlier priority dates can cause dates to slow down, stop, or move backward. This backward movement is known as visa retrogression. Retrogression happens most frequently toward the close of the federal fiscal year as visa issuance nears annual caps. When the new fiscal year starts on October 1, a fresh supply of visa numbers opens, which usually, though not always, returns cut-off dates to where they stood before retrogression.

A visa must be available to you at two distinct times: when you file Form I-485 and when USCIS adjudicates your case. If your priority date was current when you properly filed Form I-485 but retrogresses before final approval, USCIS does not deny your application. Instead, USCIS holds your case in abeyance until your priority date becomes current again on the Final Action Dates chart.

• Where retrogressed cases are held: Cases not requiring an interview remain at the USCIS Service Center where they were filed. Family-sponsored and employment-based cases that finished an interview at a field office are held at the National Benefits Center until a visa is available.
• Work and travel authorization: Applicants who properly filed Form I-485 before retrogression can apply for work authorization using Form I-765 and travel permission using Form I-131. Leaving the country without advance parole generally abandons a pending Form I-485.
• Job portability under INA 204(j): If an employment-based Form I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, you may change jobs or employers if the new role is in the same or a similar occupational classification.
• Address updates: You must report an address change to USCIS within 10 days of moving so you do not miss requests for evidence or interview notices.
• Case follow-up: If 30 days pass after your priority date becomes current again on the Final Action Dates chart without word from USCIS, you can call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833).

How the Visa Bulletin affects Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a child must be unmarried and under 21 years of age. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), which took effect on August 6, 2002, prevents children from aging out because of petition processing delays. Immediate relatives freeze their age on the date Form I-130 is filed. Preference categories use a formula tied to petition pending time and the Visa Bulletin.

For adjustment of status applications filed on or after August 15, 2025, USCIS calculates CSPA age using the Final Action Dates chart. Even when USCIS permits you to file Form I-485 early under Dates for Filing, your CSPA age is not calculated or locked until your priority date becomes current on the Final Action Dates chart. For adjustment applications filed before August 15, 2025, USCIS calculated CSPA age using the chart designated for filing that month.

USCIS Policy Manual worked example: An applicant's mother filed a family preference petition on February 1, 2016, and USCIS approved it on August 1, 2016. The petition pending time was 6 months (182 days). When the priority date became available on the first day of the month on the Final Action Dates chart, the applicant was 21 years and 4 months old. Subtracting the 6 months of pending time from 21 years and 4 months yields a CSPA age of 20 years and 10 months. Because the resulting age is under 21, the applicant qualifies as a child, provided they stay unmarried and satisfy the 1-year sought to acquire requirement.

• Pending time formula: Petition Approval Date minus Petition Filing Date equals Pending Time.
• CSPA age formula: Age at Visa Availability (the later of petition approval or the first day of the month the priority date is current on the Final Action Dates chart) minus Pending Time equals CSPA Age.
• The 1-year sought to acquire rule: Once a visa becomes available on the Final Action Dates chart for a continuous 1-year period, the applicant must seek to acquire permanent residence within one year. This is satisfied by filing Form I-485, submitting Form DS-260 Part I, paying the visa or Form I-864 fee to DOS, or filing Form I-824.
• Filing early under Dates for Filing: Submitting Form I-485 under Dates for Filing satisfies the sought to acquire rule in advance, but the applicant still ages out if their CSPA age reaches 21 before the Final Action Dates chart becomes current.
• Retrogression before one continuous year: If a visa is available on the Final Action Dates chart for only 4 months before retrogressing and the applicant did not file, the applicant receives a fresh 1-year window when the visa next becomes available, and CSPA age is recalculated using the new date.

Practice example

Your Form I-485 has been pending during visa retrogression, and you are claiming an earlier priority date from a prior employer's Form I-140 (or cross-chargeability through your spouse). Can you explain how your priority date is current today and confirm whether your job offer or qualifying marriage has changed?

A strong, honest answer states the exact basis for your visa availability in two or three calm sentences and hands the officer the matching primary documents. If you are retaining an earlier priority date from a previously approved EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition, state the priority date on that first Form I-797 approval notice, confirm that USCIS never revoked that petition for fraud or error, and hand over both Form I-797 notices. If you changed employers after your Form I-485 was pending for 180 days or more, state the date you moved, explain how the new role is in the same or a similar occupational classification, and present your Form I-485J and current employment verification letter. If you are using cross-chargeability, point to your spouse's birth certificate and marriage certificate so the officer can verify your spouse's country of birth and confirm your marriage remains intact.

Under USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 6, the officer must verify before final approval that a visa number is available on the current Final Action Dates chart, that any retained priority date or cross-chargeability claim is valid, and that your underlying employment offer or qualifying family relationship still exists.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.