Guides to reading the Visa Bulletin

Explanations of how the bulletin actually works, written to be read once and understood. They cover the distinctions that cause the most misreading: the two charts, what makes a priority date current, and why a cut-off can move backwards.

The guides are written and maintained in English. The rest of the site is translated.

• Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing: what the two charts actually do

  Every Visa Bulletin publishes two sets of cut-offs. One decides when an application may be submitted; the other decides when it may be approved. Which one applies to you depends on where you are and what the agency has said this month.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• How to tell whether a priority date is current

  Four things decide whether a priority date is current: the category, the country of chargeability, the chart that applies, and whether the date falls strictly before the published cut-off. Here is how to read them in order.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• How USCIS decides which chart adjustment applicants may file on

  Each month USCIS decides whether adjustment of status filings will be accepted on Dates for Filing or on Final Action Dates. The decision has a stated rule behind it, is published separately from the bulletin, and can differ between the employment and family charts.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• What C and U mean in the Visa Bulletin

  Most cells in the Visa Bulletin hold a date. Two do not. C means the category is current with no cut-off at all; U means it is unavailable and nothing can be issued. They are opposite conditions, and a blank-looking cell is neither.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• Why cut-off dates move backwards

  A cut-off that moves backwards is not an error and not a punishment. It is what happens when the Department of State has promised more numbers than the year has left. Here is the mechanism, when it tends to happen, and what it does to a case.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• Country of chargeability: which column you read, and why

  Chargeability normally follows country of birth, not citizenship or residence. It decides which column of the bulletin applies to you, which for some people is the difference between a wait of months and a wait of decades.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• How a priority date is established, and when it can be kept

  A priority date is set by a specific filing, and which filing depends on the category. It is the one number in this whole process that is fixed, and in employment cases it can often be carried from one petition to a later one.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

• Ten ways the Visa Bulletin is commonly misread

  The Visa Bulletin is a short document that is easy to read incorrectly with total confidence. These are the misreadings that come up most, each with the correction and why it matters.

  Last reviewed 2026-09-01

Written by Paulo Henrique · Who writes this and how it is checked