Green Card Wait Time: Reading the Visa Bulletin for Your Priority Date
Updated · By the Law Figures editors
General information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and change, so check the sources below or ask a lawyer licensed in your state before you act. Legal disclaimer
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A green card prediction for a family or employment case starts with two dates: your priority date, the day your petition was filed, and the cutoff date the State Department's Visa Bulletin lists each month for your category and country. When your priority date is earlier than the cutoff, it's current and your case can move forward. No one can promise when that will happen, because cutoffs can jump, stall or move back.
Here are the family Dates for Filing cutoffs for applicants from most countries in the November 2026 bulletin, the chart USCIS said to use that month for family adjustment of status:
| Category | Who it covers | Dates for Filing cutoff, November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| F1 | Unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of U.S. citizens | February 1, 2021 |
| F2A | Spouses and minor children of permanent residents | Current |
| F2B | Unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of permanent residents | September 1, 2020 |
| F3 | Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens | November 1, 2015 |
| F4 | Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens | November 1, 2012 |
Mexico, the Philippines, India and China often have later cutoffs in some categories. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens don't wait for a cutoff at all. We copied these from USCIS's chart on November 7, 2026; check the current month before relying on them.
Check your priority date
Enter your priority date from your receipt or approval notice, and the cutoff for your category and country from this month's chart. For a rough idea of the wait, add how far the cutoff moved in the past year.
Priority date checker
- Is your date current?
- No
- Behind the cutoff
- 28months
- Rough wait at that pace
- 4.7years
Cutoff dates can jump ahead, stall for years or move back. The pace is only last year's, not a forecast, and the bulletin has two charts; USCIS says each month which one it accepts for adjustment of status.
The example shows an F4 case with a March 1, 2015 priority date against the November 2026 cutoff of November 1, 2012: about 28 months behind. If the cutoff moved 6 months in the last year and kept that pace, that's a rough 4.7 years. Treat that as arithmetic, not a forecast.
Two charts in every bulletin
Each bulletin has two charts for each category:
- Final Action Dates. When a visa can actually be issued or a green card approved.
- Dates for Filing. The earliest date you may be able to file your application or start gathering documents with the National Visa Center.
Each month USCIS says which chart it accepts for adjustment of status applications filed inside the U.S. For November 2026, family cases used Dates for Filing. Consular cases abroad follow the State Department's instructions.
Why some countries wait longer
No single country can receive more than 7% of the family and employment preference visas in a year (8 U.S.C. § 1152(a)(2)). Countries with many applicants hit that limit, so their cutoffs fall behind the worldwide one. That's why the same category can be current for one country and a decade behind for another.
What can change your wait
- A change in category. If a permanent resident petitioner becomes a citizen, a spouse moves from F2A to immediate relative. Marriage or turning 21 can also move a child to another category.
- Retrogression. Cutoffs sometimes move back when demand is high, even after your date was current.
- Processing time. After your date is current, USCIS or the consulate still has to process the case.
- Keeping the priority date. In some cases a priority date carries over to a new petition. Ask a lawyer before refiling.
To start a family case, see our guide to Form I-130.