Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing for every family-sponsored and employment-based preference category, published monthly by the U.S. Department of State since 2020. Updated automatically each month.
To live permanently in the United States, an immigrant needs a green card. There are two primary paths to get one: employment-based sponsorship and family-based sponsorship.
Each of these categories is further divided into sub-categories. For employment-based cases, your sub-category depends on the type of job being offered and your qualifications. For family-based cases, it depends on your relationship to the U.S. citizen or green card holder sponsoring you.
Congress sets an annual numerical limit for each sub-category, and it also caps how many green cards can go to applicants from any single country in a given year. Because that per-country cap is the same regardless of population size, applicants from countries with very high demand — such as India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines — often face much longer waits than applicants from countries with lower demand.
To help applicants track their place in line, the U.S. Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin every month. It lists cutoff dates for each category and country, showing whose case can move forward with final green card processing.
These cutoff dates are tied to your priority date — generally the date your qualifying petition (Form I-130 for family cases, or Form I-140 for employment cases) was properly filed. In simple terms: if your priority date falls before the cutoff date listed for your category and country, you're considered "current," and you can proceed with the next step of your green card process that month.
See how a specific category and country's cutoff date has moved from month to month across the full archive. Visa bulletin movement varies for each category and chargeability country, shifting forward, holding steady, or occasionally retrogressing based on demand and annual visa limits. Reviewing this movement over time makes it easier to spot patterns — such as how quickly a category has historically advanced or how often it has stalled. This can help you set realistic expectations for when your own priority date might become current. Select a chart type, preference category, and country below to view the full month-by-month trend.
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