The Visa Bulletin, decoded: two charts, one question — is it your turn?
The Visa Bulletin is the State Department’s monthly scoreboard for the immigration queues. Find your category’s row and your country’s column on two charts: one says when a green card can be approved, the other when you may file. If your priority date beats the cutoff, you move.
Why this document runs your case
If your family case sits in a preference category (F1–F4), the law caps how many visas exist each year — so a queue forms, ordered by priority date, the date USCIS received your I-130. The Visa Bulletin, published monthly by the State Department, announces how far each queue has advanced. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens skip this entirely; everyone else learns to read it.
The two charts — and why mixing them up costs people months
Every bulletin contains two family tables that look nearly identical:
Chart A — Final Action Dates: when a green card can actually be approved. Your priority date must be earlier than this cutoff for a case to finish, whether at a consulate or at USCIS.
Chart B — Dates for Filing: when you may submit the application stage — earlier than Chart A, letting families file paperwork ahead of approval. For adjustment of status inside the U.S., there is a catch: USCIS announces each month which chart adjustment applicants may use, on its page at uscis.gov/visabulletininfo. The good news for family cases: USCIS has been honoring the more generous Dates for Filing chart. Filing early under Chart B unlocks real benefits while you wait — a work permit, travel permission, and a locked-in filing date for rules like the September 18, 2026 public charge change.
How to read your row: a 60-second walk-through
Take the family chart and do this, in order. 1. Find your category’s row — say F2A. 2. Find your column: charts split by country of chargeability, which is normally the country of birth (not citizenship, not residence — a Russian citizen born in Ukraine is charged to Ukraine; spouses can sometimes borrow each other’s chargeability). Most countries share the “All Chargeability Areas” column; a few high-demand countries get their own. 3. Read the cell. A date means: priority dates earlier than this are up. The letter C means Current — no cutoff, every priority date qualifies. The letter U means Unavailable — nothing moves this month. 4. Compare your priority date (top right of your I-797 receipt). Earlier than the cutoff, or a C? On Chart B you can file; on Chart A you can be approved.
Retrogression: yes, the line can move backward
Cutoff dates usually inch forward, but when demand spikes the State Department pulls them back — retrogression — or marks a category U for the rest of the fiscal year. A date that was current in spring can be out of reach by fall. Retrogression pauses cases rather than killing them: your priority date is never lost, and a properly filed application waits safely on file. But it is the standing argument against delay — a window seen is a window to use.
What the bulletin cannot tell you
A current date means a visa number is ready — not that the case is ready. You still need an approvable file: the Affidavit of Support, a valid medical, clean documents, and answers for anything in your history. Nor does the bulletin predict the future; forecasting movement is educated guesswork, and no one — including us — can promise where a cutoff will be next year. And for families with children near 21, the two charts have one more twist: since August 2025, USCIS computes a child’s CSPA age using the Final Action chart even when the family filed early under Dates for Filing. If that sentence matters to you, read our CSPA guide before relying on an early filing.
Check monthly, not yearly
Bulletins publish around mid-month for the month ahead. As your date gets close, make reading your row a monthly habit — and check which chart USCIS is honoring.
Chart B is an invitation
When Dates for Filing opens ahead of Final Action, filing early buys work authorization, travel, and a locked filing date. Use it.
Never trust a trend
Retrogression is real. Decisions should rest on this month’s bulletin and an attorney’s read — not on extrapolated progress.
Common questions
Where do I find my priority date?
On the I-797 receipt or approval notice for the I-130 — it is the date USCIS received the petition. That date, your category, and your country of birth are the three facts you need to read any bulletin.
What does “C” in my category’s box mean?
Current: no cutoff applies, so every priority date in that category and country qualifies that month — for filing if it is on Chart B, for approval if on Chart A. F2A is Current on the August 2026 Dates for Filing chart.
Which chart applies to me?
Consular cases run on Final Action Dates, with the NVC inviting paperwork earlier per Dates for Filing. Adjustment applicants inside the U.S. use whichever chart USCIS designates that month at uscis.gov/visabulletininfo — recently the Dates for Filing chart for family categories.
My date was current last month but not this month. Did I lose my place?
No. Retrogression delays action but never erases a priority date. If you filed while current, your application generally waits on file; if you had not yet filed, you wait for the date to return. Frustrating, but recoverable by design.
Filing early under Chart B protects my child from aging out, right?
Not anymore — that is precisely the trap. Since the August 15, 2025 policy change, USCIS calculates CSPA age using the Final Action chart even for early filers. Early filing still brings real benefits, but age protection is no longer one of them. Have an attorney run the math for your child.
My category is Current — is my green card automatic now?
No. Current means a visa number is available; the case itself still must be filed, documented, interviewed, and approved. Think of the bulletin as the starting gun, not the finish line.
Is this month your month? Let’s read your row together.
Bring your receipt notice — we will check both charts, the USCIS designation, and every deadline that follows.