Green Card Priority Date Calculator: Estimate Your Wait Time (2026)
Your priority date is your place in line for a green card, for family-based cases it's when USCIS received your I-130, for employment-based cases it's usually your PERM filing date (or I-140 date if no PERM was required). Every month, the State Department's Visa Bulletin publishes a cutoff date for each category and country; once the cutoff date reaches your priority date, you're "current" and can move forward. This calculator uses the current cutoff date (which you look up from the official bulletin) plus your own estimate of how fast it's moving to project roughly when your turn might come.
This is a rough estimate based on the monthly movement rate you assume, it is not an official USCIS or State Department prediction. Visa Bulletin cutoff dates can slow down, stop, or even move backward (retrogress) with no notice, especially for oversubscribed categories like India and China EB-2/EB-3 or the Philippines/Mexico family categories. Always check the official monthly Visa Bulletin.
An unofficial planning estimate only, based on a monthly movement rate you supply from recent Visa Bulletins -- not an official USCIS or State Department prediction. Visa Bulletin categories can slow, freeze, or retrogress without notice. Always confirm your status and next steps with the official monthly Visa Bulletin at travel.state.gov or a licensed immigration attorney.
How to use this tool
- Pick your visa category (family-sponsored or employment-based) and your country of chargeability.
- Enter your own priority date, the date your I-130, I-140, or PERM was filed.
- Look up the current Visa Bulletin cutoff date for your exact category and country at travel.state.gov, and enter it.
- Enter how fast that cutoff date has been moving in recent months (check the last 3-6 monthly bulletins for your category), leave it at 0 if the category is frozen or retrogressing.
- Press Estimate to see roughly how many months until your priority date becomes current.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a priority date?
For family-sponsored green cards, it's the date USCIS received your I-130 petition. For most employment-based green cards, it's the date your PERM labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor (or the I-140 filing date if no PERM was required, such as some EB-1 cases).
What's the difference between 'Final Action Dates' and 'Dates for Filing'?
The Visa Bulletin publishes two charts each month. Final Action Dates show when a green card can actually be approved. Dates for Filing (when USCIS allows it) show the earlier point when you can submit your I-485 adjustment-of-status application, ahead of final approval. Use whichever chart USCIS has designated as current for your form type that month.
Why do India, China, Mexico and the Philippines have separate, longer waits?
Green cards are capped both overall and per-country each year (no country can receive more than about 7% of the annual visas in most categories). India and China have far more applicants than that per-country cap allows, especially in employment-based categories, creating years- or decades-long backlogs. Mexico and the Philippines have similarly large backlogs in several family categories.
Can the cutoff date move backward (retrogress)?
Yes. If a category receives more demand than expected in a given year, the State Department can pull the cutoff date backward mid-year to stay within the annual cap, this is called retrogression, and it can happen with little warning, which is exactly why this calculator's projection is only an estimate, not a guarantee.