Visa Bulletin Explained: How to Read It Without Going Crazy

Updated Apr 25, 2026Not legal advice

The short answer

The Visa Bulletin is the monthly U.S. State Department chart that tells you when you can move forward on a green card. It has two charts: Final Action Dates, when a case can be approved, and Dates for Filing, when you can submit your I-485.

2 chartsFinal Action Dates and Dates for Filing

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The details, from official sources

Compare your priority date to your category and country row, and if your date is earlier than the listed date you are current. Each month USCIS announces which of the two charts it will accept.

The U.S. Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin around the 10th of each month. It's the single document that tells you whether you can file I-485 next month and whether your green card is actually approvable. The two date charts (Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing) confuse almost everyone the first time. This guide walks them in plain English with examples.

Every Visa Bulletin has TWO charts per category (Family-Based and Employment-Based):

Chart A: Final Action Dates
This is the date USCIS uses to actually APPROVE green card cases. If your priority date is BEFORE the chart's listed date, your visa number is available and your I-485 (or consular case) can be approved.

Chart B: Dates for Filing
This is the date that, IF USCIS announces they'll honor it for the month, lets you FILE I-485 (and obtain EAD/AP work and travel documents), even though final approval can't happen until your date becomes current on Chart A.

USCIS announces around the same time the bulletin drops which chart they'll honor for filing that month. They publish this on the USCIS Visa Bulletin Info page.

Your priority date is the date USCIS or DOL accepted the FIRST step toward your green card:

  • Family-based (F1-F4): the date USCIS received your I-130 petition
  • Employment-based EB-2/EB-3: the date DOL received your PERM labor certification (or, for cases without PERM like EB-1A or EB-2 NIW, the date USCIS received your I-140)
  • EB-1, EB-4, EB-5: the date USCIS received your I-140 / I-360 / I-526

It's printed on your I-797 receipt notice. It does NOT change unless your case is converted to a different category.

Visa numbers are capped per country at 7% of total annual issuances. For India and China, where green card demand vastly exceeds the cap, the per-country waiting times are massively longer than the rest of the world. EB-2 India in 2025 has Final Action Dates more than 12 years behind; EB-3 India is currently retrogressed past 2013. China EB-2 sits around 2020. Other countries (Mexico, Philippines, every other country combined) are generally current or close to it.

If your spouse is born in a different country, you may be able to use 'cross-chargeability' to use their country of birth, sometimes saving years.

Mistake 1: Comparing your priority date to the wrong chart. If USCIS says they'll honor 'Dates for Filing' this month, you compare against Chart B. If they say 'Final Action Dates,' compare against Chart A. The same priority date can be 'current' under one chart and not the other in the same month.

Mistake 2: Filing I-485 before your date is current under the chart USCIS announced. The petition will be rejected and you waste filing fees + time.

Mistake 3: Assuming retrogression is permanent. Categories regularly retrogress (move backward) and progress (move forward). Always check the latest bulletin.

Mistake 4: Missing the EB-2/EB-3 downgrade window. India EB-3 sometimes runs ahead of EB-2; in those windows, an I-140 'downgrade' from EB-2 to EB-3 can shave years.

Common questions

The U.S. Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin around the 10th of each month for the following month. USCIS announces which chart (Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing) it will honor for filing I-485 within a few business days of the bulletin's release.

Chart A (Final Action Dates) is the date used to APPROVE green card cases. Chart B (Dates for Filing) is the date that, if USCIS honors it, lets you FILE I-485 and obtain EAD/AP. Filing under Chart B doesn't speed up your green card; it just lets you start working under EAD and travel under AP while waiting.

Per-country caps limit each country to 7% of annual visa issuances. India and China have demand that vastly exceeds 7% of total green cards, creating multi-decade backlogs in heavily oversubscribed categories. As of 2025, EB-2 India is more than 12 years behind. Cross-chargeability to a spouse's country of birth can sometimes shorten this.

Yes, this is called retrogression. It happens when USCIS issues more visas than expected in a category and the Department of State pulls dates backward to slow demand. Retrogression usually corrects within 1-3 months but can persist longer. Filing windows that close due to retrogression don't lose your priority date; you just wait for it to become current again.

Yes. If you're chargeable to one country (say India) but your spouse was born in a different country (say Mexico, current), you can cross-charge to your spouse's country and use the faster line. This requires marriage to be legitimate and ongoing through the I-485 stage. It can save 5-15 years for India and China-born applicants.

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