How to Read the Visa Bulletin: A Simple Guide

The monthly Visa Bulletin, published by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs, is the single most important document for green card applicants in backlogged categories. It tells you whether you can file today, whether your case can be approved today, and how the queue is moving month to month. Once you understand its structure, reading a bulletin takes about sixty seconds. This guide walks through every part.

The Basic Structure

Each bulletin is organized into three main blocks: family-sponsored (F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4), employment-based (EB-1 through EB-5), and a shorter section for Diversity Visa, special immigrant, and other categories. Employment-based applicants only need to look at the EB section.

Within the EB section there are two separate tables, and you need to look at both:

• Chart A, Final Action Dates (FAD): the cutoff that determines when USCIS can actually approve a green card. If your priority date is earlier than the FAD for your country and category, a visa number is available and your I-485 can be adjudicated (or your consular case can proceed to issuance).
• Chart B, Dates for Filing (DFF): a generally earlier cutoff that determines when applicants can submit their I-485 (or start consular documentary processing via NVC). Being current under Chart B does not mean your green card gets approved; it means you can file and start collecting interim benefits.

The Columns

Each table has columns for the key country groupings, because the per-country cap under INA Section 202 creates different queues for heavily demanded countries:

• All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed (often called ROW, Rest of World)
• CHINA-mainland born
• INDIA
• MEXICO
• PHILIPPINES

Your "chargeability" is normally your country of birth, not your country of citizenship. A limited cross-chargeability rule lets a spouse in some cases use the other spouse's country, which can be very helpful when one spouse is from a heavily backlogged country.

What the Dates and Letters Mean

• A specific date, for example "15SEP13": means applicants with priority dates earlier than that date are eligible. In this example, September 15, 2013 is the cutoff. An applicant with a priority date of June 1, 2013 is current; July 1, 2014 is not.
• C (Current): the category is current for everyone in that column. Anyone with an approved petition in that category can file or be approved regardless of priority date.
• U (Unavailable): no numbers are available for that category for the rest of the fiscal year, which runs October through September. U typically appears late in the fiscal year when a category has exhausted its annual allocation.

Chart A vs Chart B: Which One Applies to You This Month

The Visa Bulletin publishes both charts every month, but only one actually governs filing each month. USCIS posts a separate monthly page titled When to File Your Adjustment of Status Application for Family-Sponsored or Employment-Based Preference Visas. That page explicitly states, by category, whether USCIS will accept filings based on the Dates for Filing chart or only the Final Action Dates chart.

If USCIS says Dates for Filing applies this month, you can file I-485 using the (generally earlier) Chart B cutoff. If USCIS says Final Action Dates applies, you can only file if you are current under the stricter Chart A.

Consular processing follows a similar but separate process: the Department of State uses Dates for Filing at NVC for initial documentary scheduling and uses Final Action Dates at the consulate for actual visa issuance.

Why There Are Two Charts

Before 2015 the Visa Bulletin had a single cutoff date per category. In October 2015, DOS introduced the two-chart system so that applicants could file earlier and start receiving interim benefits such as EAD and Advance Parole before their green card was actually approvable. The policy goal is to smooth processing and to let applicants in long backlogs get U.S. work authorization and travel rights earlier. In practice, Chart B is often a year or more ahead of Chart A for heavily backlogged categories.

Retrogression: When Dates Move Backward

The bulletin can show retrogression in any given month. This happens when DOS sees demand (adjustment filings plus consular demand) outpacing available visas and pulls cutoff dates backward to stay within the annual cap. A priority date that was current last month can become non-current this month.

Common patterns:

• End of fiscal year retrogression: July, August, and September often show conservative movement as DOS manages what remains of the annual allocation. Dates may hold or retrogress.
• Start of fiscal year reset: October often brings advances or a return of dates that retrogressed, because a new fiscal year begins and new numbers become available.
• One-time events: Large policy shifts (proclamations, court orders, consular shutdowns) can cause unusual movement outside the normal pattern. The April 2026 bulletin, for example, produced the largest EB-2 India FAD advance in years due to the 202(a)(5)(A) exception activating.

The most important practical consequence: if you are current under Chart B (or Chart A) and have not yet filed, file promptly. Waiting exposes you to retrogression risk.

Cross-Category Spillover, Briefly

The INA's statutory structure allows unused visas in higher-preference categories to "spill down" to lower categories in the same family tree. If EB-1 does not use all of its worldwide allocation in a fiscal year, the remainder flows to EB-2; remaining EB-2 and EB-1 capacity flows to EB-3. Similarly, unused family-based visas flow to EB-1, which can cascade downward. This is what makes the EB categories interdependent and is why a ROW demand collapse in EB-2 can generate a large advance for oversubscribed countries.

How to Check Monthly Without Stress

1. Go to travel.state.gov on the second or third week of the preceding month. Bulletins are typically published mid-month.
2. Open the EB section, find the row for your category, and read the column for your country.
3. Compare the date to your priority date. Earlier than the cutoff means current; later than the cutoff means still waiting.
4. Check the USCIS When to File page to see which chart governs this month.

Skip the Manual Checking

The Priority Date Estimator reads the latest bulletin automatically and turns it into a personalized estimate based on your priority date and category. You enter your details once; estimates update the day each new bulletin is published.

Want a written summary each month? Subscribe to the free newsletter for key movements broken down so you do not have to parse the charts yourself.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, travel.state.gov Visa Bulletin archive; USCIS "When to File" monthly guidance page; INA Sections 201, 202, and 203. This post is informational only and is not legal advice.