How to Read the Visa Bulletin, Step by Step

The Visa Bulletin is a monthly list from the U.S. Department of State that shows whose turn it is to move forward on a family-based or employment-based green card. To read it, find your category and your country in the right chart and compare that date with your priority date. If your priority date is earlier than the date shown, or the box says “C”, a visa number is available to you that month.

What the Visa Bulletin is

Each year only a limited number of green cards are available in the family and employment “preference” categories, and each country has a per-country limit. When more people apply than there are visas, a line forms. The Visa Bulletin tells you where that line is this month. USCIS explains that it has two charts: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing.

Not everyone needs it. Spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents of U.S. citizens (when the citizen is 21 or older) are immediate relatives. USCIS says visas for them are unlimited, so they do not wait for a date in the bulletin.

Step 1: Find your priority date

Your priority date is your place in line. According to USCIS:

• Family cases: the date the Form I-130 was properly filed with USCIS. A USCIS fact sheet says to look for the “Receipt Date” on the Form I-797.
• Employment cases: usually the date the Department of Labor accepted the labor certification. When no labor certification is needed, it is the date USCIS accepted the Form I-140.

Step 2: Find your category

Family categories, as USCIS defines them:

Employment categories run from EB-1 to EB-5. They include people with extraordinary ability and certain managers (EB-1), advanced-degree professionals (EB-2), skilled workers and professionals (EB-3), certain special immigrants such as religious workers (EB-4), and investors (EB-5). See USCIS for details. If you are not sure which category you are in, check your approval notice or ask your attorney.

Step 3: Find your country column

Visas are counted by your country of chargeability, which USCIS says is usually your country of birth, not your citizenship. In recent bulletins, the charts have a column called “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed” plus separate columns for countries with very high demand, such as China (mainland born), India, Mexico and the Philippines. If your country does not have its own column, use the “All Chargeability Areas” column.

Step 4: Use the right chart

• Final Action Dates show when a visa can actually be issued, or a green card approved.
• Dates for Filing are usually later dates that let people get ready sooner. For people outside the U.S., they show when you can start sending documents to the National Visa Center, after it contacts you.

If you are applying for a green card from inside the United States (adjustment of status), USCIS decides each month which chart it will accept. It posts the answer on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page, usually within a week after the bulletin comes out. For October 2026, USCIS says to use the Dates for Filing chart for both family and employment cases. USCIS also says that if your category is current on the Final Action Dates chart, or its date there is later than on the Dates for Filing chart, you may use the Final Action Dates chart that month.

Step 5: Read the box

• A date (written like 01JAN20) is the cutoff. Your priority date must be earlier than it.
• C means current: visa numbers are available to every qualified applicant, whatever their priority date.
• U means unauthorized: no visa numbers are authorized for that category that month.

A worked example

These dates are made up for practice. Always use the current bulletin.

Ana was born in Mexico. Her husband, a permanent resident, filed a Form I-130 for her, and the Receipt Date on her I-797 is June 1, 2025. That makes her F2A, and her column is Mexico.

1. Suppose this month’s chart shows 01JAN25 for F2A, Mexico. June 1, 2025 is later than January 1, 2025, so it is not her turn yet.
2. Months later, suppose it shows 15JUL25. June 1, 2025 is earlier, so her date is now current.
3. If she lives in the U.S. and can adjust status, she checks which chart USCIS accepts that month before filing Form I-485. If she lives abroad, she follows the National Visa Center’s instructions.

Why dates sometimes move backward

Dates usually move forward, but they can also go backward. This is called retrogression, and it happens when more people apply than there are visas that month. USCIS says that a pending case whose date is no longer current is put on hold until a visa is available again. A new fiscal year starts every October 1 with a new supply of visas.

The bulletin comes out every month, so it helps to check regularly. The Immigratus USCIS Case Status app shows the current Visa Bulletin and lets you look back at past ones, which makes it easier to see how your category has moved.

When to talk to an attorney

Get help from an immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative if:

• You are not sure of your category, priority date or country of chargeability.
• Your date became current and you need to know whether you can apply inside the U.S. or must go through a consulate.
• Your category retrogressed while your application was pending.
• You need to travel. USCIS warns that if you leave the U.S. with a pending Form I-485 and no advance parole document, you will have abandoned your application.

Be careful with notarios and “immigration consultants.” USCIS says only an attorney or an accredited representative of a DOJ-recognized organization can give you legal advice.

Follow the bulletin in the app

The Department of State’s bulletin and USCIS’s chart page are always the official sources. To read the current bulletin and past ones on your phone, alongside your USCIS case, try Immigratus USCIS Case Status. It is an independent app and is not affiliated with USCIS, the Department of State or any government agency.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed September 30, 2026.

Our apps are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to USCIS, EOIR, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, or any other government agency. They do not provide legal advice.