Visa Bulletin Explained: Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

Life in the USOct 18, 2026 · 8 min read

If you are waiting for an employment- or family-based green card, the Visa Bulletin decides when you can move forward. It looks like a dense grid of dates, and it comes with two charts that confuse almost everyone the first time. This guide explains how to read it, what your priority date is, and how to tell which chart applies to you this month. If you want to skip the manual lookup, our free Visa Bulletin Tracker shows the current cutoffs for your category and compares them with your priority date.

What the Visa Bulletin is

Most green card categories have an annual cap set by law: at least 140,000 employment-based and 226,000 family-sponsored preference visas per fiscal year, with no single country allowed more than 7% of the total in the preference categories. When more people qualify than there are visa numbers, applicants wait in line by priority date. The U.S. Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin each month to say how far that line has moved. It usually appears around the middle of the month before it takes effect, and the federal fiscal year starts on October 1, so the October bulletin is the first of each new year of visa numbers.

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens who are at least 21) are not subject to these caps and do not need the bulletin at all.

Your priority date

Your priority date is your place in line. It is printed on your I-797 receipt or approval notice for the petition that started your case:

• Employment cases with PERM labor certification (most EB-2 and EB-3): the date the Department of Labor received the labor certification application.
• Employment cases without PERM (EB-1, EB-2 National Interest Waiver): the date USCIS received the I-140.
• Family cases: the date USCIS received the I-130.
• EB-5 investors: the date the I-526 or I-526E petition was filed.

In general, if you have an approved I-140 and later file a new one (for example with a new employer), you can keep the earlier priority date, as long as the first petition was not revoked for certain reasons such as fraud. Ask your attorney before relying on this.

Country of chargeability

The columns are countries: "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed" (often called ROW, rest of world), then China (mainland-born), India, Mexico and the Philippines. You are charged to your country of birth, not your citizenship. Someone born in Shanghai who is now a Canadian citizen still uses the China column; someone born in Hong Kong or Taiwan generally does not. There are narrow exceptions, such as using a spouse's country of birth, that an attorney can check for you.

How to read the chart

Each cell holds one of three things:

Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

Each bulletin has two charts for both family and employment categories.

Final Action Dates (FAD)

This is the chart that matters for approval. When your priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date, a visa number is available and USCIS (or a consulate) can approve your green card.

Dates for Filing (DFF)

This chart is usually a bit ahead of the Final Action chart. It tells you when you can get in line with paperwork: submit documents to the National Visa Center if you are processing abroad, or file Form I-485 if you are adjusting status in the U.S. Filing early lets you apply for a work permit (EAD) and travel document (advance parole) while you wait.

Which chart USCIS uses this month

For adjustment of status, the bulletin alone does not decide. USCIS posts a separate page, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin, within about a week of each bulletin, saying whether family and employment filers must use Dates for Filing or Final Action Dates that month. USCIS also says that if a category is current on the Final Action chart, or its Final Action date is later than its Filing date, you may file using the Final Action chart.

For October 2026, USCIS says both family-sponsored and employment-based filers must use the Dates for Filing chart. Check the page again every month, since USCIS can switch.

Example: the October 2026 bulletin

Here are the employment-based cutoffs for China, India and ROW from the State Department's October 2026 Visa Bulletin, as recorded in our tracker's data:

Say you were born in China and have an EB-2 priority date of June 1, 2022. In October 2026 that date is earlier than the China EB-2 Filing date (Jan 1, 2023), and USCIS says to use the Filing chart, so you can file your I-485 this month. It is later than the Final Action date (Oct 1, 2021), so your green card cannot be approved yet. You wait, with an EAD and advance parole, until the Final Action date passes June 1, 2022.

Always confirm the numbers on the official bulletin before acting. Bulletins sometimes carry notes that change how a row applies.

Why China and India wait longer

Because of the 7% per-country limit, countries with very high demand get their own column with an earlier cutoff. In October 2026, EB-2 ROW sits at Jan 1, 2025 while China EB-2 is at Oct 1, 2021 and India EB-2 is at Nov 1, 2013. That gap is the per-country backlog, not a difference in processing speed. It also explains why some people born in China compare EB-2 and EB-3: in this bulletin the China EB-3 Final Action date (Jan 8, 2022) is a little ahead of China EB-2. Filing a second I-140 in a lower category is a strategy to discuss with an attorney, not a default move.

Retrogression: when dates go backward

Cutoff dates usually move forward, but they can stall or retrogress (move backward) when demand outpaces the numbers left. It often happens late in the fiscal year or right at the October reset. Compare September and October 2026 on the Final Action chart:

• EB-2 ROW went from C in September to Jan 1, 2025 in October.
• EB-3 ROW moved back from Sep 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024.
• EB-2 India went the other way, from U in September to Nov 1, 2013 in October, once new fiscal-year numbers arrived.

If your date retrogresses after you file an I-485, your application generally stays pending. It just cannot be approved until your date is current again.

Family categories in brief

Family rows work the same way. In October 2026, for example, the F2A Filing chart is current for every country, while the F2A Final Action date for most countries is Sep 22, 2026.

How to check each month

1. When the new bulletin is out on travel.state.gov, find your category row and your country column on both charts.
2. Open the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page to see which chart applies if you are filing in the U.S.
3. Compare with your priority date: earlier than the cutoff means current.
4. Read the notes at the end of the bulletin. They sometimes warn of likely retrogression or explain unusual moves.

This is exactly what the Visa Bulletin Tracker automates. Enter your category, country and priority date (saved only in your browser), and it shows both charts, which one USCIS says to use this month, how far you are from the cutoff, a history chart going back to 2015, and a rough estimate based on past movement, clearly labeled as an estimate. You can also sign up for one email per new bulletin. Once you file, the USCIS Case Tracker helps you follow your receipt numbers, and if you are still on a work visa, H-1B Odds & OPT Timeline and Laid Off on a Visa? cover the steps around it.

FAQ

Does a current priority date mean I get my green card that month?

No. A current Final Action date means a visa number is available, so your case can be approved once USCIS or the consulate finishes processing it. Background checks, interviews and requests for evidence can still take time.

My priority date equals the cutoff date. Am I current?

No. You must be earlier than the listed date. If the cutoff is Jan 1, 2023, a priority date of Dec 31, 2022 is current and Jan 1, 2023 is not.

Can I file my I-485 using the Dates for Filing chart?

Only in months when USCIS says so on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page. For October 2026 it says both family and employment filers must use Dates for Filing. If USCIS designates Final Action Dates instead, you need to be current on that chart to file.

Can anyone predict when my date will be current?

Not reliably. The State Department sometimes adds notes about expected movement, but dates can stall or retrogress. Any estimate based on past movement, including the one in our tracker, is a rough guide only.

When is the next bulletin released?

The State Department usually publishes it around the middle of the month before it takes effect, with no fixed day. USCIS posts its chart choice within about a week after that.

Sources

• U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletin (all bulletins)
• Visa Bulletin for October 2026
• Visa Bulletin for September 2026
• USCIS: Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin
• USCIS: Adjustment of Status

Last updated 2026-10-18. Cutoff dates are from the October 2026 Visa Bulletin and change every month; always check the official bulletin and USCIS chart page. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Talk to an immigration attorney about your own case.