What is the Visa Bulletin?
If you or a family member is waiting for a green card, you will hear about the “Visa Bulletin.” It is a monthly publication from the U.S. Department of State. It tells people waiting in line for an immigrant visa whether their turn has come. This guide explains what it is and how to read it. To see how it fits into a real calculation, try our free CSPA age calculator.
General information only, not legal advice. The Visa Bulletin changes every month, and which chart applies to you can depend on your situation. Please check the current bulletin on the official site and talk to a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative about your case.
What the Visa Bulletin is
Each month, the Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin that lists “cutoff dates” for immigrant visa categories. Immigrant visas in most family-sponsored and employment-based categories are limited by law each year, so more people apply than there are visas. People are served in order, based on their priority date. The bulletin shows how far along the line has moved.
The official page is on travel.state.gov. It lists the newest bulletin and an archive of past bulletins, grouped by fiscal year.
Who needs to look at it
The bulletin matters for people in preference categories that have a wait: family-sponsored categories (such as F2A, the spouses and unmarried children of permanent residents) and employment-based categories. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents) are not subject to these yearly limits, so they generally do not wait for a priority date to become current.
How to read the charts
A bulletin has separate sections for family-sponsored and employment-based categories. Each section has two charts:
- Final Action Dates. Visas can be approved and issued for people whose priority date is earlier than the date shown.
- Dates for Filing. A later date that may let people start certain steps earlier. Whether you may use this chart for a green card application inside the United States depends on what USCIS announces for that month.
In each chart, rows are visa categories (for example F1, F2A, F2B, F3 and F4 for family cases) and columns are countries. Most people look at the “All Chargeability Areas” column. Some countries, such as China, India, Mexico and the Philippines, have their own columns because of per-country limits. A person’s country is generally the country of birth, with some exceptions, so ask a professional if you are unsure.
What the entries mean
- A date (for example 15JAN22): if your priority date is earlier than that date, a visa is available in that category for that month.
- C means “current.” Visas are available to everyone in that category, whatever their priority date.
- U means “unavailable.” No visas are available in that category that month.
How to check your own date
- Find your priority date on your notice.
- Open the newest bulletin and go to the right section (family-sponsored or employment-based).
- Choose the chart. For USCIS filings, check which chart USCIS says to use that month.
- Find your category row and your country column.
- Compare. If your priority date is earlier than the date in the chart, or the cell says C, a visa is available for that month.
The month on the bulletin
Each bulletin is named for the month it covers, for example the “December 2024” Visa Bulletin. It is published in the weeks before that month begins. When a calculation asks for “the month the priority date became current,” it means the month named on the bulletin. The CSPA formula uses this month. See How to calculate CSPA age yourself.
Things to keep in mind
- Cutoff dates can move forward, stay still, or move backward (“retrogress”).
- Archived bulletins are for information. To confirm a specific past month’s date for an official purpose, the State Department says to request an official copy.
- The Visa Bulletin does not decide your case. It only shows whether a visa number is available in your category.
Need help organizing your documents?
One Path Finder can help you gather and organize documents where permitted by law. We are not a law firm and can’t tell you what applies to your case. Contact us to start a conversation. For legal advice, ask us for a referral to our partner law firm.