The Visa Bulletin Explained: Priority Dates and Retrogression

2How do you read a priority date?

Your priority date is the queue position established when your employer starts the green card process. For employment-based cases it is the date the PERM was filed (or the I-140 filing date in categories that skip PERM). You carry that date through the whole PERM to green card timeline, and it is the single number you compare against the bulletin every month.

To read the bulletin, find your category row (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and so on) and your country column. The date in that cell is the cutoff. When your priority date becomes earlier than the listed cutoff, your category is "current" for you and you can act. A category marked "C" is current with no backlog, while a date means there is a wait.

• Priority date is your place in line, set when PERM (or the I-140) is filed
• Find your row and column: your category by your country of birth
• Earlier than the cutoff means a visa number is available to you
• "C" means current, a date means you wait until the cutoff passes your priority date

3Dates for filing vs final action dates

The bulletin publishes two separate charts each month, and confusing them is the most common mistake applicants make. The Final Action Dates chart governs when USCIS can actually approve your green card and a visa number is given. The Dates for Filing chart is earlier and governs when you are allowed to submit your I-485 application, even though the final approval cannot happen yet.

Each month USCIS announces which of the two charts applicants may use to file the I-485. When USCIS lets you use Dates for Filing, you can submit the I-485 adjustment of status sooner, which also lets you file the EAD and advance parole earlier, even though the green card itself waits for the Final Action Date. Always confirm which chart applies for the month before filing.

4What is retrogression?

Retrogression is when a cutoff date moves backward instead of forward from one month to the next. It happens when demand for visa numbers in a category exceeds the annual or per-country supply, so the State Department pulls the cutoff back to slow approvals and stay within the legal caps. A date that was current can suddenly require a wait again.

Retrogression hits some countries far harder than others. Because of the per-country limits, applicants born in India and China in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories typically face the longest backlogs and the most volatile movement, while applicants from most other countries see shorter or no waits in the same categories. The numbers move year to year, so the live monthly bulletin is the only reliable source for where a cutoff sits today.

• Retrogression is a cutoff moving backward when demand exceeds supply
• Per-country caps mean high-volume countries face the longest waits
• India and China in EB-2 and EB-3 generally see the largest backlogs
• Cutoffs move both ways month to month, so check the live bulletin

5How does the Visa Bulletin affect employer-sponsored green cards?

For an employer-sponsored case, the bulletin controls the back half of the process. You can complete PERM and get your I-140 approved, but you cannot file or finish the I-485 until your priority date is reached on the chart USCIS designates that month. For backlogged countries, this gap between I-140 approval and a current priority date can last years and is driven entirely by visa-number availability, not USCIS speed.

Because the wait depends so much on your category and country, picking an employer that actually sponsors permanent residence matters even more. ShouldApply pulls DOL and USCIS disclosure data so you can confirm a company files real PERM and I-140 petitions by reviewing its green card sponsorship history before you commit years to its process.