How to read the Visa Bulletin

Most family-based and employment-based green cards are capped each year, by category and by country. The U.S. Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin every month to say whose turn it is. Reading it comes down to three things: your category, your country of chargeability, and your priority date.

Your priority date

Your priority date is your place in line. For most family cases it is the date USCIS received the I-130 petition. For employment cases that required a PERM labor certification, it is usually the date the labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor; otherwise it is the date USCIS received the I-140. You'll find it on your receipt or approval notice.

Your category and country

Each bulletin has separate family-sponsored categories (for example F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4) and employment-based ones (EB-1 through EB-5). Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents of adult citizens — are not capped and don't appear in the charts at all.

Your country of chargeability is normally your country of birth, not your citizenship. Countries with very high demand — often China, India, Mexico and the Philippines — get their own columns; everyone else falls under "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed".

The two charts

Each category has two tables:

• Final Action Dates (often called Chart A): when a green card can actually be issued or approved. If your priority date is earlier than the date shown for your category and country, a visa number is available to you.
• Dates for Filing (Chart B): when you can get your paperwork in early — submit documents to the National Visa Center if you're abroad, or, if USCIS allows it that month, file the I-485 to adjust status inside the U.S.

For people adjusting status in the U.S., USCIS announces each month which chart it accepts for filing. Check USCIS's "Adjustment of Status Filing Charts" page every month — it is not always the Dates for Filing chart.

Reading a cell

• A date (for example 01JAN19): applicants with a priority date earlier than this date are eligible.
• C ("current"): no backlog — any priority date qualifies.
• U ("unavailable"): no visas can be issued in that category and country right now, whatever your priority date.

Why dates move backward

Dates usually advance, but they can retrogress — move earlier — when demand outpaces the annual limit. Retrogression often happens near the end of the U.S. government fiscal year, which runs October 1 to September 30, and dates often move again when the new fiscal year starts in October. If your date retrogresses after you have filed an I-485, the application normally stays pending; it just can't be approved until your date is current again.

A quick example

Say you're in F2B, born in Brazil (so "All Chargeability"), with a priority date of March 3, 2017. If this month's Final Action Date for F2B All Chargeability is 01JAN18, your date is earlier, so a visa is available to you this month. If it were 01JAN16, you would still be waiting.