How the Visa Bulletin Works

Final Action Dates, Dates for Filing, chargeability, and retrogression — the monthly table that decides when your green card can move.

What the Visa Bulletin is

The Visa Bulletin is the US Department of State's monthly table of cut-off dates for capped green-card categories. It is published around the middle of each month and applies to the following month.

Our archive holds every bulletin since November 2022, with the full history for each category and country.

Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

Final Action Dates are the dates that decide when a visa can actually be issued or a green card approved. If your priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date for your category and country, your case can be finalized.

Dates for Filing are earlier in many categories: they decide when you may file an adjustment of status application (I-485) while waiting. Each month USCIS announces whether adjustment applicants should use the Final Action Dates chart or the Dates for Filing chart.

Your priority date is usually the date your petition (I-130 or I-140) or labor certification (PERM) was filed.
"C" means current: no wait in that category and country.
"U" means unavailable: no visas can be issued that month.

Chargeability: which country's line you stand in

Your place in line is normally set by your country of birth, not your citizenship or residence. That is why applicants born in India and China face separate, much longer lines in the employment categories.

If your spouse was born in a country with a shorter line, cross-chargeability may let you use your spouse's country instead — a rule worth checking with an attorney, since it can change a wait by years.

Retrogression

Cut-off dates usually move forward, but they can also move backward — retrogression. It happens when visa demand exceeds the year's supply, and it can pause cases that were nearly ready.

A retrogressed priority date does not cancel your petition. Your place in line is kept; you wait until the date moves forward past your priority date again.

How to use this site with the bulletin

Find your category and country in the Categories section for the full cut-off history and movement chart, or use the estimator to project your wait from how the line actually moved.

Always confirm the current month's table at travel.state.gov — the official bulletin is authoritative if anything differs.