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Visa bulletin Every line

EB-3 Other Workers, China

Where this line's cutoff stands, how it has moved a fiscal year at a time, and what USCIS counts behind it. From the State Department's bulletins, October 2014 to September 2026.

This month

Final action, September 2026
May 1, 2019
Dates for filing, September 2026
Oct 1, 2019
Across the archive
It moved 165 months of priority dates across 143 months of bulletins. It went backwards or shut 3 times, most recently in August 2017.

Final action decides when a green card can be approved; dates for filing, when USCIS allows it, decides when an I-485 can be filed. How the visa bulletin works.

Check your priority date

Is my priority date current?

And which way the cutoff has been moving. Cutoffs go backwards as well as forwards.

When a green card can actually be approved.

Reading the September 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.

October 2014: cutoff July 22, 2005November 2014: cutoff July 22, 2005December 2014: cutoff July 22, 2005January 2015: cutoff July 22, 2005February 2015: cutoff August 15, 2005March 2015: cutoff August 15, 2005April 2015: cutoff August 15, 2005May 2015: cutoff November 15, 2005June 2015: cutoff January 1, 2006July 2015: cutoff January 1, 2006August 2015: cutoff January 1, 2004September 2015: cutoff January 1, 2004October 2015: cutoff January 1, 2006November 2015: cutoff April 1, 2006December 2015: cutoff August 1, 2006January 2016: cutoff December 1, 2006February 2016: cutoff December 22, 2006March 2016: cutoff February 1, 2007April 2016: cutoff March 1, 2007May 2016: cutoff April 22, 2007June 2016: cutoff April 22, 2007July 2016: cutoff January 1, 2004August 2016: cutoff January 1, 2004September 2016: cutoff January 1, 2004October 2016: cutoff January 1, 2005November 2016: cutoff September 1, 2005December 2016: cutoff November 1, 2005January 2017: cutoff December 1, 2005February 2017: cutoff December 1, 2005March 2017: cutoff February 1, 2006April 2017: cutoff March 1, 2006May 2017: cutoff March 8, 2006June 2017: cutoff July 15, 2006July 2017: cutoff July 15, 2006August 2017: cutoff January 1, 2004September 2017: cutoff January 1, 2004October 2017: cutoff January 1, 2006November 2017: cutoff April 1, 2006December 2017: cutoff July 1, 2006January 2018: cutoff December 22, 2006February 2018: cutoff February 1, 2007March 2018: cutoff March 1, 2007April 2018: cutoff April 1, 2007May 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007June 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007July 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007August 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007September 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007October 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007November 2018: cutoff May 1, 2007December 2018: cutoff June 1, 2007January 2019: cutoff July 1, 2007February 2019: cutoff August 1, 2007March 2019: cutoff August 15, 2007April 2019: cutoff August 22, 2007May 2019: cutoff September 1, 2007June 2019: cutoff September 1, 2007July 2019: cutoff November 22, 2007August 2019: cutoff November 22, 2007September 2019: cutoff November 22, 2007October 2019: cutoff January 1, 2008November 2019: cutoff February 1, 2008December 2019: cutoff March 1, 2008January 2020: cutoff April 1, 2008February 2020: cutoff May 1, 2008March 2020: cutoff June 1, 2008April 2020: cutoff July 1, 2008May 2020: cutoff July 15, 2008June 2020: cutoff July 15, 2008July 2020: cutoff July 22, 2008August 2020: cutoff August 1, 2008September 2020: cutoff August 1, 2008October 2020: cutoff December 1, 2008November 2020: cutoff January 1, 2009December 2020: cutoff February 15, 2009January 2021: cutoff March 1, 2009February 2021: cutoff April 1, 2009March 2021: cutoff May 1, 2009April 2021: cutoff June 1, 2009May 2021: cutoff August 1, 2009June 2021: cutoff October 1, 2009July 2021: cutoff December 1, 2009August 2021: cutoff January 1, 2010September 2021: cutoff February 1, 2010October 2021: cutoff February 1, 2010November 2021: cutoff March 1, 2010December 2021: cutoff March 1, 2012January 2022: cutoff March 1, 2012February 2022: cutoff April 1, 2012March 2022: cutoff May 1, 2012April 2022: cutoff June 1, 2012May 2022: cutoff June 1, 2012June 2022: cutoff June 1, 2012July 2022: cutoff June 1, 2012August 2022: cutoff June 1, 2012September 2022: cutoff June 1, 2012October 2022: cutoff September 1, 2012November 2022: cutoff December 1, 2012December 2022: cutoff June 22, 2013January 2023: cutoff December 22, 2013February 2023: cutoff December 22, 2013March 2023: cutoff July 1, 2014April 2023: cutoff October 1, 2014May 2023: cutoff April 15, 2015June 2023: cutoff September 1, 2015July 2023: cutoff September 1, 2015August 2023: cutoff September 1, 2015September 2023: cutoff September 1, 2015October 2023: cutoff January 1, 2016November 2023: cutoff January 1, 2016December 2023: cutoff January 1, 2016January 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017February 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017March 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017April 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017May 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017June 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017July 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017August 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017September 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017October 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017November 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017December 2024: cutoff January 1, 2017January 2025: cutoff January 1, 2017February 2025: cutoff January 1, 2017March 2025: cutoff January 1, 2017April 2025: cutoff April 1, 2017May 2025: cutoff April 1, 2017June 2025: cutoff April 1, 2017July 2025: cutoff May 1, 2017August 2025: cutoff May 1, 2017September 2025: cutoff May 1, 2017October 2025: cutoff December 1, 2017November 2025: cutoff December 1, 2017December 2025: cutoff December 8, 2017January 2026: cutoff December 8, 2018February 2026: cutoff December 8, 2018March 2026: cutoff December 8, 2018April 2026: cutoff February 1, 2019May 2026: cutoff February 1, 2019June 2026: cutoff April 1, 2019July 2026: cutoff April 1, 2019August 2026: cutoff May 1, 2019September 2026: cutoff May 1, 2019Cutoff date Jan 2003 Aug 2011 Mar 2020 Oct 2014 Oct 2018 Oct 2020 Sep 2022 Sep 2026Bulletin month
  • The cutoff that month
  • Dates that qualified

From the 144 visa bulletins published between October 2014 and September 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 September 2026. Check the current bulletin before acting on any of it.

A fiscal year at a time

The final action cutoff in each year's first bulletin (October) against its last (September), the year the State Department plans visa numbers for. Newest first.

Fiscal year First bulletin Last bulletin Moved Steps back
FY2026 Dec 1, 2017 May 1, 2019 +516 days 0
FY2025 Jan 1, 2017 May 1, 2017 +120 days 0
FY2024 Jan 1, 2016 Jan 1, 2017 +366 days 0
FY2023 Sep 1, 2012 Sep 1, 2015 +1,095 days 0
FY2022 Feb 1, 2010 Jun 1, 2012 +851 days 0
FY2021 Dec 1, 2008 Feb 1, 2010 +427 days 0
FY2020 Jan 1, 2008 Aug 1, 2008 +213 days 0
FY2019 May 1, 2007 Nov 22, 2007 +205 days 0
FY2018 Jan 1, 2006 May 1, 2007 +485 days 0
FY2017 Jan 1, 2005 Jan 1, 2004 -366 days 1
FY2016 Jan 1, 2006 Jan 1, 2004 -731 days 1
FY2015 Jul 22, 2005 Jan 1, 2004 -568 days 1

What USCIS counts in this line

Approved petitions waiting for a visa number
916
as of June 2026, primary applicants
I-485s pending, visa number available
12 to 120
inventory of 2026-08-05
I-485s pending, waiting for a visa number
0
inventory of 2026-08-05

The approved count is USCIS's quarterly file and counts petitions, not people: no family members, and one person can hold more than one. The I-485 counts are USCIS's monthly inventory, where cells of 1 to 10 are withheld, so they're ranges. People getting their visa abroad aren't in the I-485 counts at all.

Count everyone ahead of your date in this line

Alert

Email me when my cutoff moves

Pick your category and country. When a new bulletin changes that final-action cutoff, we email the change, before and after. Nothing on the months it doesn't move.

Double opt-in: you confirm by email first, so an address can't be signed up by someone who doesn't control it, and one click opts out. We send one confirmation every 10 minutes per address - if nothing lands, wait that long before trying again.

Visa bulletin: adoption.state.gov (the State Department's own page, served to scripts; travel.state.gov refuses them) · data through Sep 2026 · monthly Cutoff dates as the State Department published them each month. Nothing here is forecast.

Petitions awaiting a visa: USCIS approved employment-based petitions awaiting a visa (uscis.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly Approved I-140, I-360 and I-526 petitions whose beneficiary is still waiting for a visa number, by preference and country of birth, as of the month USCIS states. Primary beneficiaries only, dependents excluded.

I-485 pending inventory has not refreshed in 54 days. It should update monthly, so the figures below are the last ones that arrived rather than the current ones. Source: USCIS employment-based I-485 inventory (uscis.gov) · data through Aug 5, 2026.

The rules behind these numbers

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