Updated November 11, 2026

US immigration Visa Bulletin: how to check your priority date, read the charts and file Form I-485

The US immigration Visa Bulletin is a monthly release from the Department of State that shows when immigrant visa numbers are available for applicants in numerically capped categories. By law, USCIS notes that family-sponsored preference visas are capped at 226,000 per year and employment-based preference visas at 140,000 per year. You can apply for your Green Card when your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date for your preference category and country of birth, or when your category shows C for Current.

What is the US immigration Visa Bulletin and who needs it?

The Immigration and Nationality Act sets annual limits on how many immigrant visas the Department of State can issue to people seeking lawful permanent resident status (a Green Card). Because demand in many categories exceeds the yearly supply, a waiting list (or visa queue) forms.

The Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin every month to show the cut-off dates that govern visa availability across family-sponsored, employment-based, and diversity (lottery) categories. It also provides a recorded phone message with cut-off dates at 202-663-1541, normally updated by the middle of each month with the dates for the following month.

Not every Green Card applicant waits in this queue. Immigrant visas for immediate relatives of US citizens are unlimited and always available, so they never wait for a Visa Bulletin date. Under USCIS rules, immediate relatives are:

• Spouses of US citizens
• Unmarried children under 21 years of age of US citizens
• Parents of US citizens who are at least 21 years old
• Widows or widowers of US citizens if the citizen filed a petition before dying, or if the widow or widower files a petition within two years of the citizen's death

How priority dates and country of chargeability work

To distribute the 226,000 annual family-sponsored preference visas and 140,000 annual employment-based preference visas (which by statute may be exceeded when certain visas from the previous fiscal year were not fully used), the Department of State allocates numbers by three factors: your preference category, your country of chargeability, and your priority date. Your country of chargeability is determined by your country of birth rather than your country of citizenship or passport, so you must look up the column for where you were born.

Your priority date is your place in line. You can find it printed on Form I-797, Notice of Action, for the immigrant petition filed on your behalf. How that date is set depends on your category:

• Family-sponsored preference petitions: the date Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative (or in certain instances Form I-360), is properly filed with USCIS.
• Employment-based categories requiring a Department of Labor (DOL) labor certification: the date DOL accepts the labor certification application for processing. To keep that priority date, the petitioner must file Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with USCIS within 180 days of the DOL approval date on the labor certification, or the certification is no longer valid.
• Employment-based categories not requiring a labor certification: the date USCIS accepts Form I-140 for processing.
• Fourth preference special immigrants (including religious workers): the date USCIS accepts Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, for processing.
• Fifth preference investors: the date USCIS accepts Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, for processing.

Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing: the two Visa Bulletin charts

Since USCIS and the Department of State revised their procedures following a November 20, 2014 homeland security directive and a July 2015 report, the monthly Visa Bulletin includes two charts per visa preference category:

1. Application Final Action Dates: the dates when immigrant visas may finally be authorized for issuance or a Green Card application may be approved.

2. Dates for Filing Applications: the earliest dates when applicants may be notified to assemble and submit required documents to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC), or file Form I-485 with USCIS if USCIS authorizes this chart for the month.

When you look up your preference category in the left column and move right to the column for your country of birth, you will see one of three entries:

• A specific cut-off date (formatted as DDMMMYY, such as 15DEC07): a visa is available to you only if your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date shown.
• C (Current): demand is less than supply in that category and country, so immigrant visas are immediately available to all qualified applicants regardless of priority date.
• U (Unauthorized): immigrant visas are temporarily unavailable to all applicants in that preference category and country of chargeability.

Which chart to use when filing Form I-485 with USCIS

If you are physically present in the United States and applying for adjustment of status on Form I-485, you cannot simply pick whichever Visa Bulletin chart has the better date. By default, you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart unless USCIS explicitly states otherwise on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts webpage.

Within one week of the Department of State publishing each month's Visa Bulletin, USCIS posts which chart family-sponsored and employment-based applicants must use for that month. When USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants, it allows you to use the Dates for Filing chart. For example, in both October 2026 and November 2026, USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for all family-sponsored and employment-based preference filings.

Even in a month when USCIS designates the Dates for Filing chart, if a particular category is marked C on the Final Action Dates chart, or if the cut-off date on the Final Action Dates chart is later than the date on the Dates for Filing chart, applicants in that category may file using the Final Action Dates chart.

To decide whether visa supply exceeds demand for the remainder of the fiscal year, USCIS compares remaining visa numbers against three figures: documentarily qualified visa applications reported by the Department of State, pending adjustment of status applications reported by USCIS, and the historical drop-off rate of adjustment applicants (such as denials, withdrawals, and abandonments).

Sample cut-off movement: January 2026 vs. October 2026 Dates for Filing

To see how cut-off dates move across a year and how country caps create different queues, the table below compares USCIS's published Dates for Filing charts from January 2026 and October 2026 (the start of the new federal fiscal year). Family preference codes cover unmarried adult sons and daughters of US citizens (F1), spouses and children of permanent residents (F2A), unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents (F2B), married sons and daughters of US citizens (F3), and brothers and sisters of adult US citizens (F4). Employment preference codes cover priority workers (EB-1), advanced degree professionals or exceptional ability individuals (EB-2), and skilled workers or professionals (EB-3). By our calculation from USCIS's January 2026 and October 2026 filing charts, the All Chargeability Areas EB-2 Dates for Filing cut-off advanced by 17 months (from 15OCT24 to 15MAR26) over that nine-month span, while EB-2 India advanced by 13.5 months (from 01DEC13 to 15JAN15).

Selected Dates for Filing cut-off dates from uscis.gov (January 2026 and October 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts)

Worked example: checking whether you can file Form I-485

Here is how a reader applies the three-step chart check using the October 2026 Dates for Filing table above (the applicant is invented for this example):

Suppose you were born in India and your US employer sponsored you for an EB-2 position requiring a labor certification. The Department of Labor accepted your labor certification for processing on January 10, 2015, and your employer timely filed Form I-140 within 180 days of DOL approval. Your Form I-797 approval notice shows a priority date of January 10, 2015.

Step 1: Check USCIS's Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page for October 2026. USCIS states that employment-based preference applicants must use the Dates for Filing chart.

Step 2: Find the 2nd (EB-2) row on the Employment-Based Dates for Filing chart and move right to the INDIA column. The cut-off date listed is 15JAN15 (January 15, 2015).

Step 3: Compare your priority date to the cut-off date. Because January 10, 2015 is earlier than January 15, 2015, a visa number is available for filing under that chart, and you may submit Form I-485 if you meet all other adjustment requirements. If your priority date were January 15, 2015 or later, you could not file yet, because your priority date must be strictly earlier than the listed cut-off date.

Concurrent filing of Form I-485 vs. consular processing

Concurrent filing is when you file Form I-485 before USCIS approves your underlying immigrant visa petition. You can mail the petition and Form I-485 together with all required fees and evidence to the same location, or file Form I-485 while the petition remains pending.

Concurrent filing is only available to applicants physically present in the United States adjusting status with USCIS. It cannot occur in consular processing cases abroad, because the immigrant petition is filed with USCIS while the immigrant visa application is handled by the Department of State.

Under USCIS rules, you may file concurrently if you are in one of these groups and a visa number is immediately available at the time of filing:

• Immediate relatives of US citizens (always eligible to file Form I-485 concurrently with Form I-130 because there are no numeric limits)
• Family-sponsored and most employment-based preference applicants (and eligible family members) when their priority date is earlier than the cut-off date on the applicable chart (Final Action Dates, or Dates for Filing when permitted by USCIS), or when the chart shows C
• Widows or widowers of a US citizen
• Special Immigrant Juveniles if an EB-4 visa number is immediately available
• Self-petitioning battered spouses or children if the abusive spouse or parent is a US citizen, or if an immigrant visa number is immediately available
• Certain members of the armed forces applying for a special immigrant visa under INA Section 101(a)(27)(K)
• Special Immigrant International Organization Employees or family members

Visa retrogression: what happens if your cut-off date moves backward

To adjust status to lawful permanent resident, an immigrant visa must be available to you both at the time you file Form I-485 and at the time USCIS adjudicates (approves) it. Sometimes a priority date that meets the cut-off date one month no longer meets it the next month because the cut-off date moves backward. This is called visa retrogression.

Retrogression happens when more people apply for a visa in a particular category or country than there are visas available for that month, typically toward the end of the federal fiscal year as visa issuance approaches the annual category or per-country limits. When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, a fresh supply of visa numbers becomes available, which usually, though not always, returns cut-off dates to where they were before retrogression.

If you properly filed Form I-485 before your category retrogressed, USCIS does not reject or deny your case because of the retrogression. Instead, USCIS holds your case in abeyance until a visa becomes available again under the current month's Visa Bulletin:

• Where your file waits: if your Form I-485 does not require an in-person interview, it is held at the USCIS Service Center where you initially filed. If you have already been interviewed at a USCIS office and no visa is available, both employment-based and family-sponsored retrogressed cases are held at the National Benefits Center (NBC) after the interview and other processing steps are completed.
• Work and travel permits while you wait: applicants who properly filed Form I-485 before retrogression can generally apply for employment authorization using Form I-765 and permission to travel outside the United States (advance parole) using Form I-131.
• When your date becomes current again: if you have not heard from USCIS within 30 days of your visa becoming available again, you can contact the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833).

Checklist: what to prepare when your priority date is about to become current

When the Visa Bulletin shows your priority date is current (or about to cross the cut-off date), your next steps depend on whether you are inside the United States filing Form I-485 or outside the United States using consular processing. Use this checklist built from USCIS's Form I-485 Instructions and Consular Processing guidance:

• Confirm physical presence and lawful status (Form I-485 filers): you must be physically present in the US to file Form I-485. Family-sponsored and employment-based preference applicants, special immigrant religious workers, international broadcasters, and Diversity Visa selectees must submit evidence of continuously maintaining lawful status since arriving in the US. Acceptable proof includes Form I-797 extension or change of status notices, Form I-94 arrival and departure records from cbp.gov, Form I-20 documents, or Form DS-2019 forms.
• Gather identity and civil documents: two recent 2x2-inch color passport photos, a photocopy of a government-issued photo ID, your birth certificate listing at least one parent (plus a certified full English translation if in a foreign language), and marriage or divorce certificates if filing as or with a spouse.
• Include proof of inspection and admission or parole: copies of your passport page with your admission or parole stamp, nonimmigrant visa page, and Form I-94 related to your most recent US arrival.
• Attach petition proof: a photocopy of Form I-797 (approval or receipt notice) for the underlying immigrant petition, or the petition packet itself if filing concurrently.
• Include the sealed medical exam (Form I-693): USCIS Form I-485 Instructions state that if you are required to submit Form I-693 (Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record) or a partial Form I-693 signed by a civil surgeon, you must submit it with your Form I-485, or your Form I-485 may be rejected.
• Check the religious worker sunset rule if applicable: under Form I-485 Instructions, all non-minister special immigrant religious workers and their derivatives must have their Form I-485 approved on or before the statutory sunset date of that program.
• Keep originals ready for the interview: submit legible photocopies with your application unless originals are specifically required (USCIS or the Immigration Court may destroy unrequested originals), and bring all originals, including expired passports and Form I-94s, to your adjustment or consular interview.
• Report any address, age, or marital changes immediately: adjustment applicants must report an address change to USCIS within 10 days of moving. Consular processing applicants must notify the National Visa Center if they change their address, turn 21, or change their marital status, and must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee before or after traveling so USCIS will mail their Green Card within 90 days of US arrival.

Practice example

Walk me through your immigration status history since your most recent entry into the United States, and show me the documents that cover your stay while you waited for your priority date to become current.

When the officer asks about your status timeline at your Form I-485 interview, state the exact date and port of your most recent US arrival, your entry visa classification, and every extension or change of status held up to your filing date. Keep your explanation chronological and match your Form I-485. Have your original documents ready to hand over: your passports with admission stamps, your electronic Form I-94 record from cbp.gov, every Form I-797 approval notice for extensions or status changes, and any Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 documents if you held student or exchange status. Also bring your original Form I-797 petition approval notice confirming your priority date.

Under Form I-485 instructions, family-sponsored and employment-based preference applicants must prove they continuously maintained lawful status in the United States to avoid the adjustment bar in INA section 245(c)(2). USCIS also requires you to bring the originals of every document submitted with your Form I-485, including expired passports and Form I-94 records, to the interview.

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.