Check if your priority date is current based on the latest Visa Bulletin
Based on latest Department of State data (June 2026 Visa Bulletin)
Priority date data is based on the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State. Dates can move forward or retrograde without notice. India and China typically have longer wait times due to per-country limits. This is not legal advice — consult an immigration attorney.
Your priority date is the date your employer first filed for you — the I-140 receipt date shown on your I-797 Notice of Action (for family petitions, the I-130 filing date). Green cards are rationed by per-country annual caps, so the State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin with a "Final Action Dates" chart that moves forward as visa numbers free up. When your priority date is on or before the chart date, your category is current and you can file I-485 or proceed with consular processing. Dates can stall or even retrograde — India and China routinely sit years behind "All Other Countries" because of the 7% per-country limit, so this tool compares your date to the latest bulletin and projects the remaining queue from the gap.
The final action date advances monthly as visas are issued. If your priority date is at or before it, you are current; the gap between the two is your remaining queue.
Rajesh, born in India, holds an EB-2 priority date of June 1, 2015 from his approved I-140. He opens the tool against the September 2026 Visa Bulletin data.
To check if your priority date is current: select your EB or FB category and country of chargeability, enter your priority date — the tracker compares it against Final Action and Dates for Filing cutoffs and estimates remaining wait.
FreeToolHub Priority Date Tracker is a free browser-based tool that checks green card priority dates against the latest Visa Bulletin by category and country, no signup.
Priority date calculator: check if your EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 or family-based green card date is current in the latest Visa Bulletin for India, China, and worldwide. Free.
This tracker answers the single question every employment- and family-based immigrant has: is my priority date current yet? You enter your category, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4, EB-5, or the family-preference FB categories, your country of chargeability, and your priority date. The tool reads the latest Visa Bulletin cutoff dates for both the Final Action and Dates for Filing charts, tells you whether your date is current, how many months the cutoff has advanced recently, and estimates remaining wait from the bulletin's historical movement. A visual timeline shows your position against the cutoff, and the difference between the two charts is explained, since USCIS sometimes lets applicants file the I-485 under the more generous Dates for Filing chart, unlocking work and travel permits years before the green card itself.
Employment-based applicants from heavily backlogged countries, primarily India and China, use it monthly to watch whether EB-2 or EB-3 movement favors downgrading or upgrading their case. Family-based applicants waiting on FB-2A or FB-3 cutoffs check spillover months. H-1B workers planning whether to accept a new role or remain with a sponsoring employer gauge how many years of extensions their priority date secures, since an approved I-140 with a retrogressed date extends H-1B beyond the six-year cap. Attorneys use the historical-movement view when advising clients on whether to file now or wait. Spouses planning careers around work-authorization timing watch the Dates for Filing signal for when EAD eligibility opens.
(1) Select your preference category and country of chargeability, which follows country of birth, not citizenship, with cross-chargeability exceptions when a spouse was born elsewhere. (2) Enter your priority date: for labor-certification cases, the PERM filing date; for EB-1 and NIW cases filed directly, the I-140 receipt date; for family cases, the I-130 filing date. (3) The tracker compares your date against the current month's Final Action and Dates for Filing cutoffs, reports current or waiting, and shows the backlog in months and estimated years at recent movement rates. (4) Check monthly, because cutoffs can jump forward, stall, or retrogress, and filing windows can open suddenly under Dates for Filing.
US employment green cards are capped at 140,000 annually plus unused family spillover, and no single country may take more than 7 percent of the total. Demand from India in EB-2 and EB-3 vastly exceeds that per-country share, so queues measured in years or decades form while applicants from most other countries stay current or near-current, China's EB lines track in between. This produces practical strategies people plan careers around: filing EB-1 to jump the line, using an EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade when the EB-3 cutoff is earlier, capturing cross-chargeability through a spouse born in a current country, and maintaining H-1B extensions anchored to an approved I-140. The tracker's per-country cutoffs exist precisely because a single worldwide number would be meaningless; always read your own country's line.
Compare your priority date against the cutoff for your category and country in the monthly State Department Visa Bulletin. If your date is on or earlier than the Final Action cutoff, a visa is available; the Dates for Filing chart may additionally open I-485 filing windows.
Final Action controls when a green card can actually be approved. Dates for Filing is the earlier chart USCIS sometimes accepts for filing the I-485, which unlocks work and travel permits years before approval.
Annual green card caps limit any single country to 7% of employment-based visas, while India's demand vastly exceeds that share, creating a queue measured in years or decades. EB-1 upgrades, EB-3 downgrades, and spousal cross-chargeability are common workarounds.
If your spouse was born in a different, less backlogged country, you can be charged against that country's visa numbers, often cutting years off the wait. The tracker reads each country's line separately.
Enter your priority date (from your I-797 approval notice), visa category (F1-F4, EB1-EB3), and country of chargeability. The tool compares your date against the latest Visa Bulletin's Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing charts. India and China EB-2/EB-3 categories currently face 5-15+ year backlogs.
Final Action Dates mean a visa number is available and USCIS can approve your green card. Dates for Filing (used at USCIS discretion) let you submit your I-485 application earlier—sometimes 1-2 years before final approval. This tool checks both charts so you know the earliest you can file and when to expect approval.
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