How to Read the Visa Bulletin (Priority Dates Explained)

Updated 2026-06-07

If you have an employment green card in progress, the Visa Bulletin is the single document that decides when you can move forward. The U.S. Department of State publishes a new one every month. Here is how to read it without the jargon.

Your priority date is your place in line

Your priority date is the day the government received the first step of your case (usually your PERM labor certification, or your I-140 if no PERM is required). It is your spot in a very long line. You can look it up on your I-140 approval notice.

The two charts: Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

• Final Action Dates (Chart A): when a green card can actually be approved. Your priority date must be before the listed cutoff for your category and country.
• Dates for Filing (Chart B): when you may be allowed to submit your adjustment-of-status (I-485) paperwork, which is often earlier. Each month USCIS announces which chart you may use.

Why your country of birth matters

By law, no single country can take more than 7% of the green cards in a category each year. Because so many applicants were born in India and China, those columns have far older cutoffs than "All Other Countries." This is why two people who filed on the same day can have wait times decades apart.

What "Current" (C) means

If your category and country show C, there is no backlog right now and numbers are available. U means unavailable (none being issued this month). A date means you must wait until the cutoff passes your priority date.

Dates can move backward

Cutoffs do not only move forward. When demand outpaces supply, the State Department can retrogress a date, pushing it years into the past. That is why checking every month matters.

Official source: U.S. Department of State, Visa Bulletin. Informational only, not legal advice.