ImmigrationClock explains · Green cards
How to read the Visa Bulletin
A monthly table of cut-off dates decides who can move forward.
The facts
- The State Department publishes the Visa Bulletin every month. For each family-based and employment-based preference category — for the countries it lists separately and for all other chargeability areas — it lists the cut-off dates that determine when an immigrant visa number is available.
- A priority date is generally the date a petition was filed, or the date a labor certification was filed where one is required. An applicant may proceed when their priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed for their category and country.
- The bulletin carries two charts: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing. USCIS announces each month which chart applicants for adjustment of status inside the United States may use.
- Cut-off dates can retrogress — move backward — when demand in a category exceeds the annual limit. A date that was current one month can stop being current the next.
- ImmigrationClock lists the bulletin as a recurring monthly date and links the State Department page that publishes it.
Why it matters
For anyone waiting in a preference category, the Visa Bulletin is the calendar that decides when they can move forward, and it is written in a format few explain. Knowing which chart, which category and which country to read is the whole skill.
Sources
Every sentence above was written by a person from these sources and last checked against them on Sep 2, 2026.
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