PERM Tracker
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Priority date calculator

Where an employment-based priority date sits against the visa bulletin cutoffs, and which way those cutoffs have been moving.

Is my priority date current?

Checked against the newest bulletin, with which way the cutoff has been moving: cutoffs go backwards as well as forwards.

When a green card can actually be approved.

Reading the October 2026 visa bulletin.

These figures come from that bulletin and the ones before it. Cutoffs change every month, in both directions.

Open the current visa bulletin at travel.state.gov

How the cutoff has moved

Bulletin month along the bottom, the cutoff it published up the side. The shaded part of each column is the range of priority dates that qualified that month, so a taller column is a month more people were current in.

Cutoff date Feb 1999 Jun 2007 Oct 2015 Jun 2005 Sep 2013 Dec 2016 Mar 2020 Oct 2026Bulletin month
  • The cutoff that month
  • Dates that qualified
  • Current, open to every date
  • Closed, no visa numbers

From the 237 visa bulletins published between June 2005 and October 2026.

What this can’t tell you

  • Enter a priority date to see where it sits against the cutoff.
  • It can’t tell you this month's cutoff. It holds archived bulletins only, and the archive itself stops at October 2026. Check the current bulletin before acting on any of it.

Which queues are actually moving

A cutoff that advances thirty days in a month has stood still: everyone waiting behind it is exactly as far back as they were. Across the 237 bulletins held here, June 2005 to October 2026, most of these queues moved slower than that.

Where every category stood in October 2026

Employment-based final action cutoffs by category and country of birth, from the October 2026 visa bulletin.
Category Rest of world China India Mexico Philippines
EB-1 Current 1.43x pace July 1, 2023 1.33x pace February 1, 2023 1.29x pace Current 1.43x pace Current 1.43x pace
EB-2 January 1, 2025 1.07x pace October 1, 2021 0.99x pace November 1, 2013 0.38x pace January 1, 2025 1.07x pace January 1, 2025 1.07x pace
EB-3 May 15, 2024 1.05x pace January 8, 2022 1.06x pace January 1, 2014 0.84x pace May 15, 2024 1.05x pace August 15, 2023 0.99x pace
EB-3 other workers January 1, 2022 0.85x pace October 1, 2019 1.18x pace January 1, 2014 0.84x pace January 1, 2022 0.85x pace January 1, 2022 0.85x pace
EB-4 December 15, 2022 0.13x pace December 15, 2022 0.13x pace December 15, 2022 1.27x pace December 15, 2022 1.26x pace December 15, 2022 0.13x pace
EB-5 Current December 1, 2016 0.31x pace December 1, 2023 0.91x pace Current Current
EB5R Current Current Current Current Current
EB5HU Current Current Current Current Current
EB5I Current Current Current Current Current

Cutoffs as published in the October 2026 bulletin. Current means every priority date qualified that month. Closed means none did: no visa numbers were being issued.

Cutoff days gained per calendar month

Between the first and last bulletin with a real cutoff for each line. At 1.00 the cutoff keeps pace with the calendar; below it, the wait got longer even as the date moved forward.

  • EB-1 All other countries 1.43x
  • EB-1 Mexico 1.43x
  • EB-1 Philippines 1.43x
  • EB-1 China 1.33x
  • EB-1 India 1.29x
  • EB-4 India 1.27x
  • EB-4 Mexico 1.26x
  • EB-3 other workers China 1.18x
  • EB-2 All other countries 1.07x
  • EB-2 Mexico 1.07x
  • EB-2 Philippines 1.07x
  • EB-3 China 1.06x
  • EB-3 All other countries 1.05x
  • EB-3 Mexico 1.05x
  • EB-2 China 0.99x
  • EB-3 Philippines 0.99x
  • EB-5 India 0.91x
  • EB-3 other workers All other countries 0.85x
  • EB-3 other workers Mexico 0.85x
  • EB-3 other workers Philippines 0.85x
  • EB-3 India 0.84x
  • EB-3 other workers India 0.84x
  • EB-2 India 0.38x
  • EB-5 China 0.31x
  • EB-4 All other countries 0.13x
  • EB-4 China 0.13x
  • EB-4 Philippines 0.13x

The upright rule is 1.00, holding station. Bars reaching right of it are queues that shortened. Bars reaching left of it are queues that lengthened while their cutoff was still moving forward.

13 of the 27 queues measured here moved slower than one month per month.

Queues with no pace to report

A pace needs two real cutoff dates to measure between.

These published no cutoff date in this window; each was open to every priority date:

  • EB-5: All other countries, Mexico, Philippines
  • EB5R, every country
  • EB5HU, every country
  • EB5I, every country

Email me when my cutoff moves

When a new bulletin changes the final-action cutoff for your category and country, one email with the change. Nothing in the months it doesn't move.

You confirm by email first. One click turns it off.

Other emails

Off unless you tick them; the same confirmation covers them.

FAQs

What’s a priority date?
For an employment-based case it’s the date DOL received the PERM application, or the date USCIS received the I-140 where no labor certification was required. It’s your place in the queue for a visa number, and it stays with you across most category changes.
Where do these cutoffs come from?
From the State Department's own bulletin pages, read from the Department's site every hour on weekdays, with bulletins back to June 2005. A new bulletin shows here the day State publishes it. Every figure is labelled with the bulletin it came from, and each bulletin is one click away on the State Department's own site.
What does it mean when a category shows U?
Unavailable. No visa numbers are being issued in that category that month, so no priority date is current, however early it is. It usually means the annual limit has been reached and it typically resets at the start of the next fiscal year in October.
Can a cutoff move backwards?
Yes, and it does. Retrogression happens when demand in a category turns out higher than expected, and a date that was current one month can stop being current the next. That’s the main reason this page shows the whole series rather than just the latest number.
The cutoff moved forward. Why is the wait no shorter?
Because a cutoff has to advance about thirty days a month just for the queue to stay the same length. It moves forward while a month of real time passes, so anyone holding a fixed priority date only gains ground when it advances faster than that. Across the bulletins held here most employment-based queues moved slower, which means the number on the page went up and the wait got longer at the same time. The pace figures on this page are that measurement.
Which chart should I use, final action or dates for filing?
Final action dates govern when a green card can actually be approved. Dates for filing govern when the adjustment application can be submitted, but only in months when USCIS says it’s honouring that chart, which it announces separately.

Visa bulletin: State Dept via Internet Archive · data through Oct 2026 · monthly

What this data includes

Visa bulletin: Cutoff dates as the State Department published them each month. Nothing here is forecast.

Cite this page

The rules behind these numbers

Waiting on a PERM case?

  • When it'll likely be decided
  • An email when DOL moves it

It's on your ETA-9089 receipt. It goes into the page's address, so you can bookmark the result.

Don't have the number? Find a case by employer name.