When will your green card actually be available?
Enter your category, country of birth and priority date. We project when your date may become current, based on the latest Visa Bulletin and how the cutoff has actually been moving. Free.
Estimate my wait ↓Updated with the U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin · Informational, not legal advice
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Green card wait estimator
For employment-based green cards (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3). Select your category and country of birth, then your priority date. Your result is free to unlock.
How we calculate your wait
- We find your line. Your wait depends on two things: your category (EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3) and your country of birth. U.S. law caps how many green cards each country can get per year, so applicants from high-demand countries (India, China) wait far longer than everyone else.
- We read the trend. Each month the State Department publishes a cutoff date (the "Final Action Date") for your category and country. We track how that cutoff has moved over the last year and measure its average pace.
- We project it forward. We measure the gap between your priority date and today's cutoff, then estimate how long it will take the cutoff to reach you at that pace. Because movement is uneven (and sometimes backward), we show a best / likely / worst-case range, not a single fake date.
- We don't guess. When a category has stalled or retrogressed, we say the timeline is uncertain rather than invent a number. And a new Visa Bulletin each month can change your estimate, so check back.
Key terms, in plain English
Priority date
Your place in line. It's the date the government received the first step of your green card case (your PERM labor certification, or your I-140 if PERM isn't required). You'll find it on your I-140 approval notice.
Final Action Date
The cutoff date in the monthly Visa Bulletin. When this date moves past your priority date, a green card can be approved for you.
Visa Bulletin
The monthly report from the U.S. Department of State that lists those cutoff dates for every category and country.
Current ("C")
No backlog right now, so numbers are available. "U" means unavailable, none being issued this month.
Retrogression
When a cutoff moves backward instead of forward, because demand outpaced supply. It can add years to a wait.
Per-country cap
By law no single country can take more than 7% of a category's green cards each year. This is what creates the long India and China backlogs.
EB-1 / EB-2 / EB-3
Employment green card categories. EB-1 is for top-priority workers (extraordinary ability, multinational managers); EB-2 needs an advanced degree or exceptional ability; EB-3 is for skilled workers and professionals.
Country of birth
Your backlog is charged to where you were born, not your citizenship. (In some cases you can "cross-charge" to a spouse's country.)
Want the full walkthrough? Read How to read the Visa Bulletin.
Talk to an immigration attorney
Backlog questions, a job change, a layoff, an EB-1/NIW upgrade, or H-1B alternatives — these are the moments a good attorney earns their fee. Tell us a little and we'll connect you with a partner immigration law firm.