If you are waiting on an employment- or family-based green card, the Visa Bulletin is the document that tells you where you stand in line. The U.S. Department of State publishes it every month, and for many applicants it is the single most important number to watch.
The problem is that it is written for immigration professionals, not for the people whose lives it governs. This page explains, in plain English, what the Visa Bulletin is, how to read it, and why it affects some applicants very differently than others.
The Visa Bulletin changes every month, so this page does not quote specific dates. Instead, it teaches you how the system works so you can read the current bulletin yourself. Always check the live version: travel.state.gov — Visa Bulletin.
Why There Is a Line at All
Congress sets annual limits on how many green cards can be issued in most employment-based and family-based categories each year. On top of that, there is a per-country cap: no single country of birth may take more than a fixed share of the total in a given category.
When more people apply in a category than there are green cards available that year, a backlog forms — a waiting line. The Visa Bulletin is essentially the published position of that line. It exists to ration a limited number of visas fairly across categories and countries.
Two things follow from this design:
- Categories with high demand build up long waits, while categories with light demand may have no wait at all.
- Because of the per-country cap, applicants born in high-demand countries wait far longer than applicants born in most other countries — even in the exact same visa category.
Your Priority Date: Your Place in Line
Your priority date is the date your case established its place in line. For most employment-based cases, it is the date the underlying petition (or, where required, the labor certification) was properly filed. For family-based cases, it is generally the date the petition was filed.
Think of the priority date as a ticket with a number on it. The Visa Bulletin publishes a cutoff date each month for every category and country. When the cutoff date moves past your priority date, your place in line has effectively come up.
Your priority date never changes as the line moves (though in some situations it can be transferred to a new petition). What changes each month is the cutoff the government publishes next to it.
The Two Charts: Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing
Here is the part that confuses almost everyone. The Visa Bulletin contains two separate charts for each category, and they mean different things:
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Chart A — Final Action Dates. This is the date on which a green card can actually be approved and issued. When your priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date for your category and country, your case can receive final approval (assuming everything else is in order).
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Chart B — Dates for Filing. This is the earlier date on which you may be allowed to submit your green card application (or send documents to the National Visa Center), even though a visa is not yet available for final approval. It lets you get your paperwork into the system sooner, so you are ready when your turn comes.
Dates for Filing (Chart B) are usually more favorable — further along — than Final Action Dates (Chart A). But you don't automatically get to use the more generous chart.
Which Chart Applies This Month
For adjustment of status cases (applicants already inside the U.S. filing Form I-485), USCIS decides each month which chart to use and announces it on its website. In some months USCIS lets applicants file using the Dates for Filing chart; in other months it directs them to use the Final Action Dates chart.
So the monthly routine is:
- Read the current Visa Bulletin on the State Department site.
- Check the USCIS adjustment of status filing charts page to see which chart USCIS says to use that month.
- Compare your priority date against the correct chart for your category and country of birth.
Applicants going through consular processing abroad follow the National Visa Center's guidance on which chart applies to them.
"Current" (C) vs. a Date
When you look at your category and country in the bulletin, you will see one of two things in the box:
- A date — the cutoff described above. You must wait until your priority date is earlier than that cutoff.
- "C" (Current) — there is no backlog. Visas are available right away, and there is effectively no wait in the queue for that category and country. If your category is "C," you are not waiting in line on visa availability at all.
You may also see "U" (Unavailable), which means no visas are being issued in that category that month.
Retrogression: When the Line Moves Backward
Normally the cutoff dates move forward month to month. But sometimes a category's cutoff date moves backward — a phenomenon called retrogression.
This usually happens when demand in a category outpaces expectations, or when the annual supply of visas for the year starts to run low. When a date retrogresses, applicants who thought they were near the front can find themselves waiting again until the date recovers.
Retrogression is the main reason immigration attorneys warn against assuming a green card is "almost done" just because the dates were favorable last month. The bulletin is a monthly snapshot, not a promise.
Why It Matters So Differently by Category and Country
This is the heart of it: the same visa category can mean a wait of many years for one person and no wait at all for another, purely because of country of birth.
Because of the per-country cap, a small number of high-demand countries carry long backlogs. As a well-established general matter, the heavily backlogged countries of birth are India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines — applicants born there often face multi-year (sometimes very long) waits in the most popular categories.
Most other countries of birth — including Brazil — are "current" or nearly current in most categories, meaning little or no wait on visa availability. That is a structural feature of how the caps work, not a temporary quirk. Still, demand shifts over time, so you should always confirm your specific category and country on the current bulletin.
A Note for Brazilian Applicants
For applicants born in Brazil, this usually means you do not face the kind of multi-year waits that applicants from India or China encounter. In practice, that makes green card routes where the main variable is the petition itself — rather than a long visa queue — especially attractive.
A good example is the EB-2 National Interest Waiver, where a qualified professional can self-petition without an employer. For someone born in a "current" country, the timeline is driven largely by processing the petition, not by years of waiting for a visa number.
This is a general pattern, not a guarantee about your case. Visa availability can change, and your priority date, category, and country of birth all matter — so always verify against the current Visa Bulletin before you rely on it.
How to Check Your Own Status, Step by Step
- Open the current Visa Bulletin. Go to travel.state.gov — Visa Bulletin and open the bulletin for the current month. The bulletin updates monthly — always check the current one.
- Find your category. Employment-based (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, etc.) and family-based (F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4) categories each have their own tables.
- Find your country of birth column. Most applicants fall under the general column; India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines have their own columns.
- Read both charts. Note the Final Action Date and the Date for Filing for your box, or whether it says "C."
- Check which chart to use. For adjustment of status, confirm on the USCIS filing charts page which chart applies this month.
- Compare to your priority date. If your priority date is earlier than the applicable cutoff — or your box is "C" — your place in line has come up for that action.
Get Help Reading Your Situation
The Visa Bulletin looks simple, but applying it correctly to your category, your priority date, and your country of birth is where mistakes happen — especially around which chart to use and how retrogression could affect your timing.
- Learn about a popular self-petition route: EB-2 National Interest Waiver
- Explore family-based immigration options and how priority dates apply
- Contact Altius Law or book a consultation to review where you stand
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. The Visa Bulletin is published monthly by the U.S. Department of State and changes every month — the categories, cutoff dates, and which chart applies can all shift. Always check the current bulletin at travel.state.gov and confirm the applicable filing chart on USCIS. For advice on your specific case, book a consultation.