Priority Dates: Past Visa Bulletins

This page provides convenient access to historical US Visa Bulletins containing priority dates and cut-off dates from months and years past. The US Department of State’s Visa Bulletin is the authoritative monthly publication that governs when immigrant visa numbers become available for family-based and employment-based green card applicants. Reviewing past Visa Bulletins can be essential for understanding priority date movement, visa retrogression, and long-term trends across immigrant visa categories.

What are Historical Visa Bulletins?

Historical Visa Bulletins allow applicants, employers, and practitioners to track the ways in which cutoff dates have changed over time for employment-based categories such as EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4 and EB-5; and family-based preference categories. Such data is especially useful for strategic immigration planning, including evaluating upgrade opportunities, anticipating retrogression, and assessing timing for I-485 filing and immigrant visa processing.

The archive contain carious charts that show the availability of Immigrant Visa numbers within the US’s annual quota-based immigration system. These charts include Family-Based Priority Dates (FB) and Employment-Based Priority Dates (EB). They also contain DV Lottery Cut-Off Numbers that apply to individuals who have won a chance to apply for US lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in the annual DV Green Card Lottery.

Why Past Visa Bulletins Matter

Past Visa Bulletins can offer critical insight into the ways in which visa demand and per-country limits affect immigrant visa availability. By reviewing prior bulletins, applicants can:

• Analyze historical priority date movement by category and country.
• Identify patterns of visa retrogression and advancement.
• Evaluate long-term trends in employment-based and family-based immigration
• Better plan filing strategies for adjustment of status or consular processing
• Understand how economic conditions, legislative changes, and global events impact visa availability.

Historical Visa Bulletin data can help support workforce planning, compliance strategy, and long-term immigration forecasting.

Employment-Based & Family-Based Categories

The archived Visa Bulletins linked below include historical cutoff dates for:

• Employment-Based Preferences: EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4, EB-5.
• Family-Based Preferences: F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4.
• Worldwide and country-specific limits, including China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Each bulletin contains both Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing, where applicable.

Important Disclaimer

We provide a link to historical Visa Bulletins for reference and informational purposes only. Past priority date movement does not guarantee future availability, and visa demand can shift rapidly. For case-specific analysis or filing strategy, we recommend consultation with a qualified immigration attorney.