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How to Read the Visa Bulletin for EB-1 and EB-2

What the Visa Bulletin is, how it is structured, where to find it, and what the date, C, and U mean in the cell for EB-1 and EB-2 categories.

Author: Alina Kanametova- updated 8 min read

Key answer

What is the visa bulletin and who does it affect?
This is a monthly table from the US Department of State that shows whether an immigrant visa number is available in your category and for your country of birth. It applies only to immigrant categories like EB-1 and EB-2, not to nonimmigrant visas like O-1, H-1B, or L-1.
Where to find the visa bulletin and when is it published?
The Department of State publishes the bulletin on travel.state.gov once a month, usually in the middle of the previous month. Separately, USCIS announces each month on its filing charts page which of the two charts it accepts for I-485 filing.

The Visa Bulletin answers one question: is an immigrant visa number available for your category and country of birth right now? For EB-1 and EB-2, this is effectively the traffic light between an approved I-140 petition and the next step toward a green card. You need to check it monthly, since the chart is updated every month.

This explains how the document works and how to find your spot in it. The numbers for this month are in the current Visa Bulletin dates and in the table below. What distinguishes the two tables inside the bulletin and what each one allows is covered in Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing. How to determine your place in line is covered in priority date.

What the Visa Bulletin Shows and Who It Applies To

The number of immigrant visas is capped by law: about 140,000 per year for all employment-based categories, plus no more than 7% for one country of birth. If there are more applicants than numbers, a line forms, and the bulletin shows whose number is being processed now. Detailed analysis of the limits is in priority date.

The mechanism is simple: when you file the I-140, you get a place in line, which is your priority date. Each month, the bulletin announces how far the line has moved. If your date has passed, you move forward. If not, you wait until the next release.

Who the Bulletin Does Not Affect

The Visa Bulletin only applies to immigrant categories, meaning green cards: EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and others. It does not apply to nonimmigrant work visas like O-1, H-1B, or L-1. If you have an O-1 and want a green card, you first need a separate I-140 petition under EB-1A or EB-2 NIW. Only after that does the bulletin become relevant to you.

Where to Find the Visa Bulletin and When It Is Released

The U.S. Department of State publishes the bulletin on travel.state.gov. It comes out once a month and usually appears in the middle of the previous month; for example, the May bulletin is released around mid-April.

The bulletin alone is not enough. There is a second page you must check before every filing: USCIS filing charts. Each month, USCIS announces which of the two bulletin tables it will accept for I-485 filings. The bulletin posts the dates; USCIS decides which table is valid for filing this month.

How to Find Your Row and Column

Inside the bulletin, look for the Employment-based section. The rows are labeled with ordinal numbers:

Row in BulletinWhich Category
1stEB-1 (EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-1C)
2ndEB-2, including EB-2 NIW
3rdEB-3
4th, 5thEB-4, EB-5

Columns represent countries. The bulletin lists separate columns only for the four countries with the highest demand: Mainland China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. All other countries of the world fall under the general column All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed, which is called ROW (rest of world) in chats. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, all of Europe, and almost the entire rest of the world are considered ROW.

The main catch here is which country to use:

The country is determined by BIRTH, not by citizenship. ... You can't change your country of birth.

Egor, communitypersonal opinionThis is a community member's personal opinion, not legal advice.

So, your passport does not matter: in the bulletin, you are assigned to the country where you were born. There is one exception to this rule - cross-chargeability: if your spouse was born in a country with a better column, you can use your spouse's country of birth. The condition is that both spouses apply for the green card at the same time, not one after the other. This applies both ways: the principal applicant can use the country of birth of the derivative spouse.

How to Read a Visa Bulletin Cell

At the intersection of your row and your column, you'll see one of three options.

Value in cellWhat it meansWhat to do
Date, for example 01JAN22Only those whose priority date is earlier than this can move forwardCompare to your priority date from your I-797
C (Current)No backlog, numbers are availableYou can move to the next step immediately after I-140 approval
U (Unavailable)Visa numbers in this category for this country are exhaustedWait for the next release or the new fiscal year starting October 1

The letter U is rarely seen and almost always at the end of the fiscal year, when the annual quota is used up. The cell's date does not mean "processing time" and has nothing to do with when USCIS will review your petition. It marks the queue boundary, and you should only compare your priority date to it.

The practical difference between categories is clear right from the cell:

If the question is about NIW, you have to wait until your priority date becomes current. This can be 1-2 years. If you have EB-1, you could send in your paperwork even in a week.

community memberpersonal opinionThis is a community member's personal opinion, not legal advice.

Why Dates Move and Which Way

The US government's fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30, and the annual quota of visa numbers is reset each October 1. This leads to the typical rhythm: at the start of the fiscal year, dates often move forward, but by the end (August-September), they may stall or retrogress as numbers run out.

A backward movement is called retrogression, and it is real: dates in the bulletin do not have to always move forward. What happens to cases already filed during retrogression and why early filing protects against it is discussed in the article Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing.

Never plan your submission based on a number from an article, chat, or screenshot. Dates are updated monthly, and the only source you can rely on is the current release at travel.state.gov plus the USCIS page listing which chart is being used this month.

How This Looked in Practice: Fiscal Year 2026

To get a sense of the fluctuations, it helps to look at a real time period. Below are the current issue and the month-by-month Final Action Dates for the All Chargeability Areas column, that is, for Russia and most other countries, from the State Department bulletins for fiscal year 2026.

The October 2026 bulletin, Final Action Dates for every country except China, India, Mexico and the Philippines (Russia is in this column): EB-1 - current, EB-2 (including NIW) - Jan 1, 2025, EB-3 - May 15, 2024. For employment-based I-485 filings in October 2026, USCIS accepts the Dates for Filing chart.

Final Action Dates (chart A), October 2026
CategoryAll other countries*ChinaIndia
EB-1currentJul 1, 2023Feb 1, 2023
EB-2Jan 1, 2025Oct 1, 2021Nov 1, 2013
EB-3May 15, 2024Jan 8, 2022Jan 1, 2014
Dates for Filing (chart B), October 2026
CategoryAll other countries*ChinaIndia
EB-1currentJul 1, 2024Jul 1, 2024
EB-2Mar 15, 2026Jan 1, 2023Jan 15, 2015
EB-3Aug 1, 2024Apr 1, 2024Jan 15, 2015
Final Action Dates by month, all other countries*
BulletinEB-1EB-2EB-3
October 2026currentJan 1, 2025May 15, 2024
September 2026currentcurrentSep 1, 2024
August 2026currentcurrentSep 1, 2024
July 2026currentcurrentAug 1, 2024
June 2026currentcurrentJun 1, 2024
May 2026currentcurrentJun 1, 2024
April 2026currentcurrentJun 1, 2024
March 2026currentOct 15, 2024Oct 1, 2023
February 2026currentApr 1, 2024Jun 1, 2023
January 2026currentApr 1, 2024Apr 22, 2023
December 2025currentFeb 1, 2024Apr 15, 2023
November 2025currentDec 1, 2023Apr 1, 2023

* All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed - the column for every country of birth except China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. current - no queue; a date - applicants with a priority date earlier than it can move; U - no numbers. Source: U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletins and the USCIS filing charts, checked September 30, 2026. The November 2026 bulletin was not yet published as of September 30, 2026.

Two observations from this table. First: EB-1 for ROW remained Current in all twelve months of fiscal year 2026. Second: EB-2 moved from the cutoff "December 2023" to Current in seven months, the biggest jump came between March and April, and the column stayed Current from April through September 2026.

The EB-2 story for ROW shows that stability is an illusion. Until the end of 2022, this column was almost always Current, for decades. In December 2022, for the first time in years, a cutoff was introduced for ROW, which was a surprise for those used to filing the I-485 right after I-140 approval. In August 2025, the date retrogressed, and in October 2025 the new fiscal year pushed it forward again.

The April 2026 bulletin itself directly warned that things could reverse:

"As additional immigrant visa demand materializes, or administration actions are amended, retrogression may be necessary later in the fiscal year."

Visa Bulletin, April 2026(source)

The September 2026 bulletin repeats the warning for EB-2:

"Sufficient demand and increased number use in the EB-2 visa category may make it necessary to retrogress the final action date or make the category unavailable before the end of the fiscal year to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY 2026 annual limit."

Visa Bulletin, September 2026(source)

Check against the current issue

The table above is updated when a new bulletin comes out; the check date is printed under it. The fiscal year ends on September 30, so before filing always open the current issue at travel.state.gov and the USCIS page listing which chart is accepted this month.

What to Do After You Read Your Cell

You need two things next: your priority date and an understanding of which of the two USCIS charts is accepted this month. The first is covered in the material about the priority date, the second in the material about the two charts.

Priority Date: How to Find and What It Means

Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing

Conclusions

  1. The bulletin shows visa number availability for your category and country of birth, not petition processing times.
  2. It applies only to immigration categories. If you have O-1, the bulletin affects you only after you file I-140.
  3. Find your cell at the intersection of the Employment-based row (1st for EB-1, 2nd for EB-2 and NIW) and your country column. Only China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines have separate columns. All others use All Chargeability Areas.
  4. The country is determined by place of birth, not citizenship. The only exception is cross-chargeability through a spouse's country of birth when filing together.
  5. The cell will show a date, C, or U. Compare it only with your priority date from Form I-797.
  6. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30: dates usually advance at the start and may retrogress toward the end.
  7. The only reliable sources are the current release at travel.state.gov and the USCIS page stating which chart applies this month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

Priority date: how to find it and what it means

Tracking your case after filing

What happens after petition approval

Preparation timeline for beginners

NVC checklist for EB-1

This is not legal advice

This material is for general informational purposes and is intended to help you organize your own preparation. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. US immigration regulations change frequently - always verify the current USCIS requirements and consult a qualified professional before filing.

Next stepInterview prepReach the interview calmly: question rehearsal with self-check plus a readiness checklist.

From community discussions

  • «90 days isn't a rule, it's a recommendation, and not for you, but for the consul. O-1 is a dual-intent visa from the start, it's immediately assumed that you'll want to stay. Filing a petition for an immigrant visa already says 100% about your desire.»

    community member · from public community chats

  • «O-1 is a talent visa, which includes the understanding that getting it requires a lot of effort. Denials are normal. I get/got rejected by people for whom I did a lot out of friendship.»

    community member · from public community chats

  • «I went to an agency, asked them to help write an article - they made such nonsense. If you publish something like that and the officer reads it, they'll understand that such articles have little to do with the applicant's expert field.»

    community member · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

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