US Visa Bulletin explained: What it is, why it matters and how to read it

For thousands of people waiting for a US Green Card, an important update arrives every month: the US Visa Bulletin. Published by the US Department of State, the bulletin shows which applicants may move forward in the Green Card process based on their immigration category, country and priority date.

The bulletin is particularly important when the number of people seeking immigrant visas is higher than the number of visas available under annual limits. In such cases, applicants may have to wait for a visa number to become available.

What is the US Visa Bulletin?

The US Visa Bulletin is a monthly publication that provides cutoff dates for different categories of immigrant visas.


In simple terms, it works like a queue-status system for Green Card applicants.

An applicant usually has a Priority Date, which determines their position in the immigration queue. The dates published in the Visa Bulletin help applicants understand whether they have reached a stage at which they can take the next relevant step in their case.

However, the bulletin does not mean that everyone applying for a US visa needs to check it. It mainly affects people applying for Green Cards under immigration categories that are subject to annual numerical limits.

Who needs to check the Visa Bulletin?

The bulletin is important for applicants in several employment-based and family-sponsored Green Card categories.

Employment-based categories include EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4 and EB-5. Family-sponsored preference categories include F1, F2A, F2B, F3 and F4.

Eligible spouses and children applying as derivative beneficiaries can also be affected by the same visa availability rules.

Applicants from countries with high demand for employment-based Green Cards, including India and China, often follow the bulletin closely because some categories can have substantial waiting periods.

Immediate relatives of US citizens, including spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents of adult US citizens, are generally not subject to these preference-category waiting lists because immigrant visas for immediate relatives are not limited in the same manner.

Three details applicants should know

Before reading a Visa Bulletin, an applicant generally needs three pieces of information:

Green Card category: For example, EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3.

Chargeability country: This is generally based on the applicant's country of birth rather than citizenship or current residence, although certain rules can provide exceptions.

Priority Date: The date that establishes the applicant's place in the Green Card queue.

Together, these details allow an applicant to find the relevant cutoff in the bulletin.

What is a Priority Date?

The Priority Date is central to understanding the Visa Bulletin.

For many employment-based Green Card cases requiring permanent labour certification, the Priority Date is generally linked to the date the US Department of Labor receives the labour certification application.

For employment categories that do not require labour certification, the date is generally tied to when US Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, receives the immigrant petition.

For family-sponsored preference cases, it is generally linked to when the relevant petition was properly filed.

Applicants can often find their Priority Date on their USCIS notice.

The simplest way to understand it is to think of the Priority Date as an applicant's place in the Green Card queue.

Why does the Visa Bulletin have two different charts?

One part of the bulletin that can cause confusion is the presence of two charts: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing.

They serve different purposes.

Final Action Dates indicate when an immigrant visa number is available for final action on a qualified applicant's case. In practical terms, this is the chart connected with when a Green Card or immigrant visa can receive final approval based on visa availability.

Dates for Filing can allow eligible applicants to begin submitting required documents or applications before their Priority Date becomes eligible for final action.

There is an additional step for applicants seeking adjustment of status from inside the United States.

USCIS announces which Visa Bulletin chart applicants should use to determine whether they can file an adjustment-of-status application for a particular month. Applicants therefore should not assume that they can automatically use the Dates for Filing chart.

How to read the US Visa Bulletin

Consider an Indian applicant seeking a Green Card under the EB-2 category.

Suppose the applicant has the following details:

- Category: EB-2
- Country: India
- Priority Date: June 10, 2014

The applicant first needs to find the employment-based section of the Visa Bulletin, locate the EB-2 row and then move across to the India column.

Suppose the applicable cutoff is:

May 1, 2014

The applicant's Priority Date is June 10, 2014. Since June 10 comes after May 1, the applicant has not reached that cutoff.

Now suppose a later bulletin moves the cutoff to:

July 1, 2014

The applicant's June 10 Priority Date now comes before the July 1 cutoff.

The Priority Date has therefore reached the applicable cutoff under that chart, subject to the immigration rules and other requirements governing the case.

A simple way to remember the comparison is:

If the Priority Date is earlier than the applicable cutoff date, the applicant has reached the cutoff under that chart.

What do 'C' and 'U' mean?

The Visa Bulletin does not always display a date. Applicants may sometimes see the letters C or U.

C means Current.

This means qualified applicants in that category do not have to wait for their Priority Date to fall before a listed cutoff date for that month.

U means Unauthorized.

This indicates that visa numbers are not available for issuance in that category during the month.

What is Visa Bulletin retrogression?

Visa Bulletin dates do not always move forward.

Sometimes a cutoff date can move backwards. This is known as retrogression.

For example, a category could have a cutoff of June 1, 2014 in one month, move to July 1, 2014 the following month, and then move backwards to January 1, 2014.

Retrogression can occur when demand for immigrant visa numbers is higher than expected or when the US government needs to manage visa issuance within annual and country limits.

This also means that an applicant whose Priority Date becomes current should not assume that the cutoff will continue moving forward every month.

Filing a Green Card application and getting approval are different

The distinction between the two Visa Bulletin charts is particularly important for applicants applying from within the United States.

Consider an Indian EB-1 applicant with a Priority Date of January 15, 2023.

Suppose the relevant monthly dates are:

- Dates for Filing: May 1, 2023
- Final Action Date: December 1, 2022

The applicant's Priority Date falls before the Dates for Filing cutoff. Depending on which chart USCIS permits adjustment-of-status applicants to use that month and whether other requirements are met, the applicant may be able to file the adjustment-of-status application.

However, the January 15, 2023 Priority Date comes after the December 1, 2022 Final Action Date.

The Green Card therefore cannot receive final approval based on visa-number availability at that point.

This is why being eligible to file an application and being eligible for final Green Card approval are not necessarily the same thing.

Why the Visa Bulletin matters

For applicants facing a Green Card backlog, the Visa Bulletin provides a monthly indication of where their immigration category stands.

It can help applicants understand whether they remain in the queue, whether they may have reached a filing threshold, or whether a visa number may be available for final action.

For applicants from countries with substantial Green Card demand, following the bulletin can become a regular part of a process that may continue for years.

But the Visa Bulletin is only one part of the US immigration process. Reaching a published cutoff does not by itself guarantee a Green Card. Applicants must still meet the applicable immigration requirements, and the relevant government agencies must process and approve their cases.