Updated November 12, 2026

Visa bulletin board: how to read priority dates, filing charts, and retrogression

The Department of State's monthly Visa Bulletin board tracks immigrant visa queues and cutoff dates for green card applicants under annual caps. USCIS limits family-sponsored preference visas to at least 226,000 per year and employment-based preference visas to at least 140,000 per year. Compare your Form I-797 priority date against USCIS's monthly filing chart designation before filing Form I-485.

How the Visa Bulletin board and annual green card caps work

The Immigration and Nationality Act sets annual limits on preference immigrant visas allocated by the Department of State. Under USCIS visa availability guidance, family-sponsored preference visas have a statutory minimum cap of 226,000 per year under INA 201(c). Employment-based preference visas have a statutory minimum cap of 140,000 per year under INA 201(d).

Unused visa numbers from the prior fiscal year can raise those statutory limits, and INA 202(a)(2) limits the percentage of visas allotted to any single country of birth.

When demand exceeds supply for a category and country, the category becomes oversubscribed and a backlog forms. The Department of State publishes the monthly Visa Bulletin on travel.state.gov to allocate visas by preference category, country of chargeability, and priority date. Immediate relatives of US citizens and specific humanitarian groups face no preference queue.

• Immediate relatives of US citizens: spouses, unmarried children under 21, parents of citizens age 21 or older, and qualifying widow(er)s filing within 2 years.
• Refugees and asylees adjusting status under INA 209, plus U nonimmigrant crime victims.

Annual immigrant visa limits and Visa Bulletin rules by category

How to find and lock in your priority date by category

Your priority date sets your exact place in the immigrant visa waiting line. Once a relative or employer files a petition for you, USCIS prints your priority date on Form I-797, Notice of Action. During Form I-485 adjudication, an officer checks that date against the actual petition or labor certification in your A-file.

Employment-based preference categories include the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preferences, 4th preference special immigrants (including religious workers), and 5th preference immigrant investors. When an employment-based preference category requires a Department of Labor (DOL) permanent labor certification, the petitioner must file Form I-140 within 180 days of the DOL approval date or the labor certification is no longer valid.

Some applicants hold multiple approved petitions and can claim an earlier priority date by attaching the prior Form I-797 notice. Beneficiaries of multiple approved employment petitions in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd preferences keep the earliest priority date under 8 CFR 204.5(e). Family applicants keep an earlier date when the same petitioner refiles for the same classification under 8 CFR 204.2(h), and recreated lost petitions carry no extra fee.

You cannot retain an earlier priority date if USCIS or DOL revoked or invalidated the prior petition for fraud, willful misrepresentation, or material error. You also lose the date if the Department of State terminated registration under INA 203(g) for untimely filing, or if you already immigrated on that petition.

How priority dates are set and preserved across preference categories

Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing: how to read both charts

Every monthly Visa Bulletin divides family-sponsored and employment-based preferences into two charts: Application Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing Applications. Consular applicants abroad use Dates for Filing to know when the National Visa Center requests documents. Final Action Dates control when a consulate can issue the visa or USCIS can approve Form I-485.

Inside the United States, you cannot automatically use Dates for Filing to submit Form I-485. Within one week after the Department of State posts the Visa Bulletin, USCIS updates its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts webpage. When fiscal-year visa supply exceeds known applicants, USCIS authorizes Dates for Filing. Otherwise, you must use Final Action Dates.

For November 2026, USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for all family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories, continuing a monthly archive dating back to October 2015. If your category is current on Final Action Dates, or shows a later date on Final Action Dates than on Dates for Filing, you may file using Final Action Dates.

To check your place in the queue, match your preference category and country of chargeability on the applicable Visa Bulletin chart. Check whether USCIS authorized Dates for Filing or Final Action Dates for your filing month before assembling your packet. In the November 2026 Visa Bulletin, both family-sponsored and employment-based applicants use the Dates for Filing chart to submit Form I-485 to USCIS.

Cutoff dates apply strictly. Your priority date must fall earlier than the listed cutoff date, never on the exact same date. For a China family first preference (F1) cutoff of 15DEC07, only applicants with priority dates before December 15, 2007 qualify, including for concurrent Form I-485 filings with Form I-130 or Form I-140.

How Final Action Dates, Dates for Filing, and chart symbols work

Worked examples: checking cutoffs and using spouse cross-chargeability

Your visa normally charges to your country of birth rather than your country of citizenship. When one spouse was born in a backlogged country and the other was born in a current country, INA 202(b) cross-chargeability lets both immigrate together using the favorable birth country.

A principal applicant can cross-charge to a derivative spouse's birth country, and a derivative spouse can cross-charge to the principal's birth country. Derivative children can cross-charge to either parent's birth country. Parents can never cross-charge to a child's birth country.

When a principal uses a derivative spouse's birth country, both spouses must be eligible to adjust status. USCIS treats both as principals, keeps their files together in a family pack with a cross-chargeability note, and approves both Form I-485 applications simultaneously.

The two worked scenarios below were created by our team using USCIS cutoff, PERM, and cross-chargeability rules. All applicants and dates are invented.

• Invented Scenario 1 (Exact-day cutoff and 180-day PERM check): DOL accepts a PERM application on December 15, 2007 and approves it later, and the employer files Form I-140 within 180 days. If the active chart lists 15DEC07, the worker cannot file Form I-485 yet because December 15, 2007 is not earlier than December 15, 2007.
• Invented Scenario 2 (Spouse cross-chargeability): A principal employment-based 2nd preference worker born in an oversubscribed country marries a spouse born in a country marked C on USCIS's active chart. By requesting cross-chargeability upfront and filing both Form I-485 packets together, both spouses use the C column together.

USCIS cross-chargeability rules for spouses and children

Visa retrogression: what happens to pending Form I-485 cases

Cutoff dates do not always advance. When monthly demand exceeds available visas or nears annual caps, cutoffs can slow, stop, or move backward. USCIS visa retrogression guidance notes this usually happens near the end of the fiscal year.

Under INA 245(a)(3), a visa must be available both when you file Form I-485 and when USCIS approves it. Even if the Department of State reports a category became fully subscribed within days of a Visa Bulletin's release, 8 CFR 245.1(g)(1) prevents USCIS from rejecting valid filings during that month.

If your date retrogresses before final approval, USCIS holds an otherwise approvable Form I-485 in abeyance rather than denying it for lack of a visa. New visa numbers arrive every October 1 for the new fiscal year, which often returns cutoffs to prior dates, though not always.

• Where retrogressed files wait: cases not needing an interview stay at the filing USCIS Service Center, while interviewed family and employment cases wait at the National Benefits Center (NBC).
• Work and travel benefits: applicants who properly filed Form I-485 before retrogression can apply for Form I-765 employment authorization and Form I-131 travel documents.
• Job portability after 180 days: under INA 204(j), employment-based applicants with a Form I-485 pending 180 days or more can move to a same or similar permanent job.
• Final review when current again: once a visa becomes available, USCIS updates expired security checks and may issue a Request for Evidence to confirm ongoing eligibility.

Derivatives, following to join, and Child Status Protection Act checks

Under INA 203(d), a preference immigrant's spouse and unmarried children under 21 share the principal's priority date and category as derivatives. Except for U nonimmigrants, refugees, and asylees, USCIS cannot approve a derivative's Form I-485 before granting permanent residence to the principal.

Under 22 CFR 40.1(a)(1), derivatives accompany the principal when they adjust or receive a visa within six months. Following to join after six months has no time limit if the qualifying relationship existed before the principal became a resident, continues through adjudication, and the principal remains a permanent resident without naturalizing.

During adjudicative review, officers may use Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age calculations under Pub. L. 107-208 to confirm whether an applicant continues to qualify as a child beyond the statutory unmarried-under-21 definition. Two special derivative rules also preserve family unity.

• After-born natural child: a child born after the principal's permanent resident admission or adjustment derives the principal's priority date if born of a marriage that existed when the principal became a resident.
• Adopted child following later: an adopted child who had not yet met the two-year legal custody and joint residence rule when the principal immigrated can follow to join once met, if still qualifying as a child.

A 6-step checklist when your priority date becomes current

Filing errors during a brief cutoff advance can trigger a Lockbox rejection right before dates retrogress. Follow this 6-step checklist created by our team from USCIS filing, fee, and policy rules.

• Step 1: Check the Department of State Visa Bulletin and USCIS's filing charts page, or call 202-663-1541 around mid-month for next month's recorded cutoff dates.
• Step 2: Confirm lawful admission and continuous status under INA 245(a) and INA 245(c), or verify INA 245(k) relief for eligible employment categories.
• Step 3: Flag cross-chargeability or priority-date retention on top of your packet with your spouse's birth record or your earlier Form I-797 approval notice.
• Step 4: Include Form I-693 and, when required, Form I-864 showing sponsor income at 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Active-duty military sponsors petitioning for a spouse or child need only 100%. You are exempt from Form I-864 if you have 40 Social Security quarters or apply in an employment category where no relative filed Form I-140 or owns 5% or more.
• Step 5: Submit separate electronic fee forms for Form I-485, Form I-765, and Form I-131. Use either Form G-1450 for a US card or Form G-1650 for US bank ACH without mixing both in one package. Include Form G-1651 only if you qualify for a paper check exemption.
• Step 6: Update every address on Form AR-11 (and with NVC if abroad), and call USCIS at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833) if 30 days pass after Final Action Dates become current with no update.

Questions officers ask about priority dates and ongoing eligibility

Whether you interview before approval or wait through retrogression, officers verify that your underlying basis remains intact through final adjudication. Keep short factual answers and original documents ready for these four checks.

• Are you still with your Form I-140 employer, or did you change jobs? Checks business viability, licensing, and ability to pay, or INA 204(j) portability to a same or similar role after Form I-485 stayed pending 180 days.
• Where were you and your spouse born, and are you still married? Confirms intact family relationships and verifies INA 202(b)(2) spouse cross-chargeability for simultaneous approval.
• How old are your derivative children, and are any married? Confirms each child remains unmarried and qualifies under age 21 or under CSPA calculations.
• Have you ever worked without authorization or fallen out of status? Checks INA 245(c) adjustment bars and whether eligible employment applicants qualify under INA 245(k).

Practice example

Your Form I-485 has been pending during visa retrogression and you changed employers. What is your current job, and how does it match your Form I-140 petition?

State your current job title, employer name, start date, and daily duties in two or three plain sentences. Give the exact receipt date on your Form I-485 receipt notice (Form I-797) so it is clear your application stayed pending for 180 days or more under INA 204(j) portability. Explain directly how your new permanent role fits the same or a similar occupational classification as the job approved on your Form I-140. Bring your Form I-140 approval notice, your Form I-485 receipt notice, a signed employment letter confirming your permanent job offer and pay, recent pay stubs, and records showing your new employer is an active, licensed business able to pay your offered wage.

When reviewing a delayed or retrogressed employment-based case, the officer must confirm a valid job offer still exists with a viable, licensed business. Clear facts about your duties, your 180-day pending timeline, and your new employer's records establish ongoing eligibility under INA 204(j).

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.