Visa Bulletin & Priority Date Tracker
Live U.S. State Department Visa Bulletin cutoffs, priority-date calculator with movement trends, and free email/WhatsApp alerts when your category advances.
What is this tool
The State Department publishes the Visa Bulletin once a month with the priority-date cutoffs for every family (F1–F4) and employment (EB1–EB5) preference category, broken down by country of birth. This tracker pulls those cutoffs live, calculates how fast your category has been moving, and alerts you the moment your priority date becomes current — by email or WhatsApp, free.
Who should use this
- •Beneficiaries of an approved I-130 (family) or I-140 (employment) petition waiting on a backlog.
- •Petitioners and joint sponsors trying to plan the timing of consular processing or adjustment.
- •F2A spouses and children of green-card holders watching for monthly movement.
- •EB-2 and EB-3 applicants from India, China, Mexico, or the Philippines tracking the country-specific column.
- •Anyone whose priority date just retrogressed and wants to see the trend before deciding next steps.
- •Attorneys batching consultations the month a category becomes current.
What this tool does NOT tell you
It tells you whether you are current today and what the trailing-six-month movement looks like. It does not predict when a category will become current with certainty (no one can — Congress could change the law tomorrow), and it does not decide whether your specific case is ready to file the day you do become current. Bring the bulletin reading and your priority date to a free attorney consultation before you file.
- •Whether your case is actually ready to file (medical, sponsor income, evidence, criminal record).
- •Whether a derivative child will age out before you become current (use our CSPA Age Calculator).
- •Whether you should adjust status inside the U.S. or process at the consulate.
- •Whether to convert from F2A to F2B (or vice versa) when status changes.
What is a priority date, in plain English?
Imagine an enormous waiting room. The day USCIS receives your immigrant petition (the I-130 for family or the I-140 for employment), they hand you a numbered ticket — that's your priority date.
The waiting room has multiple lines, one per preference category (F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4, EB-5). Each line moves at its own pace, and there are separate, slower lines for people born in India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines because Congress capped each country at 7% of the annual visas.
Once a month, the State Department posts the ticket number it is currently calling in each line. That posted number is the priority-date cutoff. When the cutoff passes your ticket number, you are "current" — you can move forward with adjustment of status (I-485) inside the U.S. or consular processing (DS-260) abroad.
Your spot never gets lost. If your category retrogresses (the cutoff jumps backward), your ticket is still valid — you just go back into the line until the cutoff passes you again.
How to read the Visa Bulletin
Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing
Final Action Dates govern green-card approval — both at USCIS and at the consulates. Dates for Filing govern only when you can submit your I-485 (or your DS-260 documents to the National Visa Center). Each month USCIS announces which Dates for Filing chart they will accept. Always check uscis.gov before you file.
Current (C) vs retrogressed
A 'C' or 'Current' means visas are immediately available — no backlog. A specific date in the cell means only priority dates on or before that date can move forward. If a date is earlier than last month's, the category retrogressed: demand outpaced supply and your case pauses until the date moves forward again.
Country chargeability
You're charged to your country of birth, not your country of citizenship. Because each country is capped at 7% of annual visa numbers, India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines have their own (typically much slower) columns. A spouse born in a faster-moving country can sometimes 'cross-charge' you to their country.
Unavailable (U)
'U' means the category is closed for the month — usually the annual quota is exhausted. The category typically reopens at the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, but with a fresh (often less favorable) cutoff date.
Worked example scenarios
Real fact patterns we see at intake. Cutoff phrases are pulled live from this month's bulletin — use the calculator above for your specific dates.
Mexican F2A applicant with priority date of January 2022
Example updates monthlyF2A is the spouse or minor child of a U.S. lawful permanent resident. F2A typically moves quickly compared to other family categories. If the bulletin cutoff for Mexico in F2A is around April 2024, your January 2022 priority date sits roughly against that cutoff — compare them on the calculator above to confirm whether you are 'current' and can file the I-485 (if you're inside the U.S. and otherwise eligible) or proceed to consular processing. Watch retrogression risk: F2A has retrogressed several times in the last decade.
Indian EB-2 applicant with priority date of March 2012
Example updates monthlyIndia EB-2 is one of the most backlogged categories on the bulletin. If the current Final Action cutoff is around July 2012, compare your March 2012 priority date — if you are current you should not delay filing. Run the trailing six-month movement column above — at typical movement of 0–30 days per month, even small priority-date differences can mean another year of waiting.
F4 sibling petition from the Philippines, priority date of November 2003
Example updates monthlyF4 (sibling of a U.S. citizen) for the Philippines is one of the longest waits in the system, often 20+ years. With the Final Action cutoff around November 2003, run the CSPA Age Calculator immediately for any derivative children whose date may now be current — if a child has aged out, you may need to evaluate the F2B opt-in or the February 2023 USCIS opt-in update. Then file the DS-260 within the one-year sought-to-acquire deadline.
EB-3 applicant born in India tracking month-to-month movement
Example updates monthlyIndia EB-3 has retrogressed several times in recent years. With the Final Action cutoff around the current month, compare your priority date carefully — if you were current last month and the bulletin retrogressed, your I-485 cannot be filed until the cutoff moves back past your priority date. If you already filed, USCIS holds the case and adjudicates when the date is current again. Subscribe to alerts above so you don't miss the re-opening.
Related free tools
- CSPA Age Calculator
Run this in parallel with the Visa Bulletin — you need both to see whether a derivative child will age out before the priority date is current.
- Affidavit of Support (I-864) Calculator
When your priority date becomes current, your sponsor must show 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Run this before you book the consular interview.
Frequently asked
What is a priority date?
Your priority date is the day USCIS received your I-130 (family) or I-140 (employment) petition. It's effectively your spot in line. The Visa Bulletin publishes the priority-date cutoff for each preference category every month — when your priority date is on or before the cutoff, you are 'current' and can move forward with adjustment of status (I-485) or consular processing (DS-260).
Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing — which chart applies to me?
Final Action Dates govern green-card approval — both USCIS and the consulates. Dates for Filing govern only when you can submit your I-485 (or DS-260 documents to the National Visa Center). Each month USCIS publishes which Dates for Filing chart they will accept for I-485 adjustments. Always confirm the current month's USCIS choice on uscis.gov before filing — and use the toggle above to view both charts in this tracker.
What does 'current' (C) mean?
'Current' means there is no priority-date backlog for your category and country — visas are immediately available, regardless of when your petition was filed. Most EB-1 categories for most countries are routinely current.
What does 'unavailable' (U) mean?
'Unavailable' means the State Department has stopped issuing visas in that category for that country this month, usually because the annual quota is exhausted. The category typically reopens at the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, often with a different cutoff date.
What is retrogression?
Retrogression happens when a cutoff date moves backward instead of forward — usually because demand spiked or the State Department over-allocated visas earlier in the year. If your priority date was current last month and is now before the cutoff, your case pauses until the date moves past your priority date again.
Why are India and China backlogs so much longer?
Each country is capped at 7% of the annual employment-based and family-based visa numbers. Because India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines have far more demand than that 7% cap, they get a separate priority-date column on the bulletin and the cutoff dates are typically years (sometimes more than a decade) earlier than 'All Other Chargeability'.
Whose country of birth controls — mine or my spouse's?
Generally yours, by 'country of chargeability'. But if your spouse was born in a country with faster movement, you may be able to 'cross-charge' to their country and immigrate together using the better cutoff. The same applies to derivative children using a parent's country of birth in some cases.
Are alerts free?
Yes — email and WhatsApp alerts are completely free, with no signup fee and no commitment. We will email or WhatsApp you when your category cutoff moves past your priority date. We may follow up with a free 15-minute consultation when you become current, but you are never required to take it.
What is a Final Action Date 'extra' priority date system?
There isn't one. The State Department only uses two charts (Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing). What changes is which one USCIS will accept for I-485 filings in a given month — that decision is announced separately on uscis.gov around the 8th of each month after the bulletin is published.
I am inside the U.S. — should I file I-485 the moment I am current?
Often yes, but not always. Filing while current locks in important benefits (work authorization, advance parole, age-out protection for derivative children under CSPA). But there are reasons to wait — pending criminal cases, a recent unlawful-presence period, or strategic timing of a new I-130. Run our CSPA Age Calculator and Unlawful Presence Calculator first, then bring the result to a consultation.
Are these dates really attorney-reviewed?
The data feed is the State Department's own monthly publication. Our attorneys review the bulletin each month, write the case-strategy notes that appear in attorney consultations, and update our calculators when the rules around CSPA and visa availability shift (most recently, the February 2023 USCIS Policy Manual change).