USCIS will let green card applicants file under the Dates for FilingThe Visa Bulletin chart showing the earliest priority dates for which applicants may submit documents, or in some months file for adjustment of status, ahead of a visa number being available.See it in the glossary chart in the October 2026 Visa BulletinA monthly State Department publication showing which family and employment visa categories currently have visas available.See it in the glossary, a change from September, when employment-based applicants were directed to the Final Action DatesThe Visa Bulletin chart showing the priority dates for which a visa number can actually be issued or a green card approved in that month.See it in the glossary chart, according to the agency’s October filing charts.
The choice sets the cutoff for submitting Form I-485Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, the form used to apply for a green card from inside the United States.See it in the glossary, the Adjustment of statusThe process of applying for a green card from within the United States, rather than through a consulate abroad. Filed on Form I-485.See it in the glossary application. In several categories the two charts in the State Department bulletin sit more than a year apart. Family-sponsored applicants were already on the Dates for Filing chart in September, according to the USCIS page that carried the September designation.
Same category, two charts
Final Action Dates show when a visa number can be issued or an adjustment approved. Dates for Filing show when applicants may begin the process. The gap in October, using dates from the bulletin:
| Category | Final Action Dates | Dates for Filing |
|---|---|---|
| EB-1 India | Feb 1, 2023 | Jul 1, 2024 |
| EB-2 India | Nov 1, 2013 | Jan 15, 2015 |
| EB-2 all other areas | Jan 1, 2025 | Mar 15, 2026 |
| EB-3 China | Jan 8, 2022 | Apr 1, 2024 |
| EB-3 India | Jan 1, 2014 | Jan 15, 2015 |
| F2A all other areas | Sep 22, 2026 | Current |
| F4 all other areas | Oct 22, 2011 | Nov 1, 2011 |
How USCIS picks the chart
The bulletin sets the default. Applicants use Final Action Dates unless USCIS says on its website that Dates for Filing may be used instead. USCIS says it makes that call when it determines more Immigrant visaA visa issued at a consulate to a person intending to live permanently in the United States. On admission the holder becomes a permanent resident.See it in the glossary are available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants.
USCIS says it expects to name one chart each month and to link to it within a week of the State Department publishing the bulletin. The designation applies to that month only.
What filing does and does not do
A Priority dateThe date a petition was filed, or a labor certification was submitted, used to determine an applicant's place in line for a visa category with limited annual numbers.See it in the glossary earlier than the Dates for Filing cutoff, or a category listed as current, lets an applicant file, if otherwise eligible, according to USCIS. It does not put a visa number in hand. An adjustment application generally cannot be approved until the priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date. The truth about the Visa Bulletin explains the difference in more detail.
Applicants abroad follow a separate track through the National Visa Center (NVC)The State Department office that collects fees and documents from approved petitioners before a case is scheduled at a consulate.See it in the glossary. Adjustment of status versus consular processing compares the two routes.