If you are waiting on a family-sponsored preference or employment green card, the Visa Bulletin, published monthly by the Department of State, tells you whether a visa is available in your category and country, not your petition's approval notice by itself. If you are adjusting status inside the United States, the chart USCIS designates that month tells you whether you may file your application, which is a separate question from whether a visa is available for final action. Knowing where you stand generally requires identifying at least your priority date, your preference category and country of chargeability, and, for adjustment applicants, which of the two Visa Bulletin charts USCIS says to use that month, with other eligibility and filing requirements still applying. This post walks through how the system works, where to check it yourself, and why an approved petition and an available visa are not the same thing.
Why There Is a Line at All
Congress caps how many family-sponsored and employment-based green cards can be issued each year, and those visas are issued in the order petitions were filed, not first-come-served at the moment of approval. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1153(e), family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visas "shall be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition in behalf of each such immigrant is filed." That is different from how diversity visas work: the same statute assigns those by a strictly random order the Secretary of State establishes each year. Family-sponsored preference and employment-based cases do not work that way. They wait in a queue defined by filing date, and the Department of State's own regulations confirm that it allocates immigrant visa numbers "based on the chronological order of the priority dates of visa applicants" under those categories.
On top of the filing-order queue, the same statutory scheme sets a per-country limit: under 8 U.S.C. § 1152(a)(2), and subject to statutory exceptions, no single country can have more than 7 percent of the total family-sponsored and employment-based visas made available worldwide in a fiscal year (2 percent for a dependent area). That per-country cap is why the wait for the same preference category can be longer for some countries than others. The worldwide numbers themselves are set by formula, too: family-sponsored visas cannot fall below a statutory floor of 226,000 in a fiscal year, and employment-based visas start from a base of 140,000, increased by any family-sponsored numbers that went unused the prior year. None of that tells you where the line stands for your case this month. For that, you need the Visa Bulletin itself.
Your Priority Date Is Your Place in Line
Your priority date is generally tied to the date your petition was filed, not the date it was approved. The Department of State uses your priority date to determine your place in the visa queue, and it becomes relevant when your preference category is not exempt from the annual numerical limits. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not subject to those numerical limitations: USCIS states plainly that visas are "always immediately available" to immediate relatives. Family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories have a priority date that has to be checked against the current bulletin.
When a category and country combination is marked "C" on the bulletin, USCIS explains that this means visas are "currently (immediately) available to all qualified adjustment of status applicants and overseas immigrant visa applicants" in that category and country, for that month's bulletin; a later bulletin can change that status. When it instead lists an actual date rather than "C," the current Visa Bulletin is where to check whether your priority date is current; if you are adjusting status inside the United States, also check which chart USCIS has designated that month.
Two Charts, Not One
Each monthly Visa Bulletin cycle involves two chart types you need to distinguish: the Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing chart. USCIS's Policy Manual describes the general rule this way: adjustment applicants inside the United States generally must use the Final Action Dates chart to determine whether a visa is available to them. The Dates for Filing chart is the exception: USCIS may permit use of the Dates for Filing chart when it determines there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants for them. In USCIS's own words, describing when each applies: "If USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, we will state on this page that you may use the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, we will indicate on this page that you must use the Final Action Dates chart."
The practical difference matters. The Final Action Dates chart tells you whether a visa number is available for USCIS to take final action on your adjustment of status application, not whether the application is otherwise approvable. The Dates for Filing chart, when USCIS authorizes its use, tells you whether you can submit the application in the first place. An immigrant visa must be immediately available under the Final Action Dates chart for final action to occur, and all other requirements must still be satisfied. Submitting under the Dates for Filing chart can let you file earlier, but it does not mean your green card case will be approved on that earlier timeline.
Which Chart Applies to You This Month
USCIS designates, each month, which of the two charts adjustment applicants must use for family-sponsored categories and which they must use for employment-based categories, and it says it aims to post that designation within about a week of the Department of State publishing the new bulletin. That designation is set separately for the two categories, so family-sponsored and employment-based applicants can be told to use different charts within the same month, and the designation can change from one month to the next.
Check USCIS's Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin page and the Department of State's own Visa Bulletin directly before you file, rather than relying on a prior month's chart designation.
An Approved Petition Is Not the Same as an Available Visa
An approved I-130 or I-140 does not, by itself, establish that a visa is currently available to you, and it does not by itself authorize you to file for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa. Federal regulation is explicit on this point for adjustment of status: an applicant is ineligible for the benefits of adjustment of status under INA 245 unless an immigrant visa is immediately available at the time the application is filed. USCIS's own Policy Manual states the same rule from the other direction: generally, a person seeking adjustment of status under INA 245(a) may only file an adjustment application when an immigrant visa number is available in the classification under which they qualify. Petition approval and visa availability are legally distinct steps, decided by different rules, and a preference category case can have a fully approved petition and still not be at the point where a visa is available.
Once a visa is available under the Visa Bulletin, a person may, depending on eligibility and individual circumstances, pursue adjustment of status if in the United States, under the chart USCIS has designated, or an immigrant visa through the Department of State's consular process if abroad. Which path applies depends on your individual case, not on the Visa Bulletin itself.
Two Hypothetical Examples
These examples are hypothetical only, built to illustrate the mechanics described above, and they should not be read as a prediction of how any real bulletin will move.
Hypothetically, suppose a U.S. citizen files an I-130 for an unmarried adult son or daughter, placing that son or daughter in a family preference category rather than the immediate relative category. That category is subject to both the annual numerical limit and the per-country cap described above, so whether a visa is available for filing purposes depends on the chart USCIS designates for filing that month, not on the petition's approval by itself.
Separately, and just as hypothetically, suppose an employer files an I-140 for a worker in an employment-based preference category. Whether USCIS can take final action on that worker's adjustment of status application depends on the Final Action Dates chart for that worker's country, not on the underlying I-140 having already been approved. In both hypothetical cases, the Department of State allocates visa numbers, and USCIS designates the chart adjustment applicants may use. Checking the current bulletin directly, rather than assuming last month's chart still applies, is the way to stay current on which chart applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a priority date? Generally, your priority date is tied to the date your petition was filed, not the date it was approved. The Department of State uses your priority date to determine your place in the visa queue for your preference category and country.
What is the difference between the Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing chart? The Final Action Dates chart shows whether a visa number is available for USCIS to take final action on your adjustment of status application, not whether the application is otherwise approvable. The Dates for Filing chart, when USCIS authorizes its use for a given month and category, shows whether you may submit your application; an immigrant visa must still be immediately available under the Final Action Dates chart for final action to occur, and all other requirements must still be satisfied. USCIS designates which chart applies each month, separately for family-sponsored and employment-based categories, and that designation can differ between the two and can change from month to month.
My I-130 or I-140 was approved. Does that mean I can file for a green card now? Not necessarily. Petition approval does not, by itself, establish that a visa is currently available to you or authorize you to file. Federal regulation requires that an immigrant visa be immediately available at the time you file an adjustment of status application. If you are in a numerically capped family or employment preference category, visa availability depends on your priority date, preference category, and country of chargeability under the chart USCIS has designated for that month, with other eligibility and filing requirements still applying.
Do immediate relatives of U.S. citizens have to wait for a visa number? No. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not subject to the annual numerical limits, so a visa is always available to them. Family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories are subject to the numerical limits and have to be checked against the bulletin.
Where do I check the current Visa Bulletin? Check the Department of State's Visa Bulletin directly. If you are adjusting status inside the United States, also check USCIS's Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page to see which chart, Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing, USCIS has designated for your category that month. The Visa Bulletin is published monthly, and USCIS anticipates issuing its chart designation each month as well; a chart from a prior month should not be relied on for a current filing decision.
Check Your Own Case Directly
Reading the Visa Bulletin correctly means identifying your exact preference category and country of chargeability, reviewing the priority date and petition-filing information on your case, and, if you are adjusting status inside the United States, reviewing the specific chart USCIS has designated for that category this month, not a chart from a prior month or a figure from a non-government website. The closed research provides no reliable basis for predicting when your priority date will become current or how the bulletin will move; the Department of State allocates visa numbers under the applicable statutes, and USCIS determines which chart adjustment applicants may use each month.
Written by
Joshua Bardavid
I am the principal attorney with years of experience in immigration practice. I have successfully litigated hundreds of immigration cases and have been lead counsel in several precedent-setting appeals. Prior to working as an immigration attorney, I worked as a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. I was editor-in-chief of New York International Law Review and graduated cum laude from St. John's University School of Law. I have lived in Washington D.C., West Africa, and the Middle East. I currently live in New York City. In my spare time, I enjoy travel and adventure, play soccer, and suffer as a Mets fan. I am a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).