Understanding the Visa Bulletin for Employment-Based Green Cards

Written By Pathaura Law

The U.S. Department of State has released its August 2025 Visa Bulletin, setting specific cut-off dates by country that regulate the availability of immigrant visas and the process for Adjustment of Status (AoS) applications and consular immigrant visa applications. For a permanent residency application to be “current,” the applicant's priority date must be earlier than the cut-off date specified in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

In the following, we will explain the difference between the Final Action Date chart and the Filing Date Chart. We will also use the August 2025 visa bulletin as an example to explain how to calculate the filing date.

The Chart: Final Action Date vs. Date for Filing

The Visa Bulletin presents two  charts:

  • The Final Action Dates chart: This indicates when a priority date is current, allowing I-485 AoS or immigrant visa applications to be approved and permanent residence granted.

  • The Dates for Filing chart: This indicates when intending immigrants can file their AoS applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Generally, use the "Final Action Dates" charts below to determine when you can file your adjustment of status application with USCIS. An exception to this rule occurs when USCIS determines more immigrant visas are available for the fiscal year than applicants; the agency will state on its website that applicants can instead use these "Dates for Filing Visa Applications" charts.[1]

Example: EB-2 Adjustment of Status Timing for Chinese Applicants

For Example, if you are applying for a green card under the EB-2 and are from China:

  1. Your priority date is December 26, 2020 (which means that your I-140 was approved on that date).

  2. Checking the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin page for August 2025, it states: “For Employment-Based Filings, you must use the Final Action Dates chart." [2]
    Therefore, we will calculate the cut-off date based on the “Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases” chart below.  The cut-off date for people who were born in China under the employment category 2nd is “15DEC20” ( December 15th, 2020).

*The Table of Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference Cases – August 2025

3. Result:
Since your priority date (December 26, 2020 ) is after the Final Action Date (December 15, 2020), you cannot file your I-485 (adjustment of status) yet.
Even though your priority date is before the Date for Filing (January 01, 2021), you still cannot file, because USCIS is not using the Dates for Filing chart that month.

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