EB-1 priority dates and retrogression: how the queue actually works

An approved petition and an available visa are two separate things. Where you sit in the queue is decided by your priority date, your preference category, and your country of chargeability, and the dates governing that queue can move backwards as well as forwards.

Where the limits come from

The numbers are statutory, and the queue is a consequence of them:

"In general, family-sponsored preference visas are limited to 226,000 visas per year, and employment-based preference visas are limited to 140,000 visas per year." USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates

That 140,000 is divided among the employment-based preference categories, and EB-1 takes the first slice. The statute at 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1) provides that for priority workers, "Visas shall first be made available in a number not to exceed 28.6 percent of such worldwide level". There are also, as USCIS puts it, "limits to the percentage of visas that can be allotted based on an immigrant's country of chargeability (usually the country of birth)."

That last clause is why two people with identical profiles and identical filing dates can wait very different lengths of time.

How your priority date is set

For employment-based cases the answer depends on whether your category needs a labour certification. EB-1 does not, which makes it simple:

"Your preference category does not require a DOL labor certification: USCIS accepts Form I-140 for processing to classify the sponsored worker under the requested preference category." USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates

So the clock starts when the petition is received, not when it is approved. You can find the date on your Form I-797, Notice of Action.

By contrast, categories that do require a labour certification take their priority date from the date the Department of Labor accepts the application for processing, and USCIS notes the petitioner must then file the I-140 "within 180 days of the DOL approval date on the labor certification or else the labor certification is no longer valid."

Reading the Visa Bulletin

The Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin monthly, with two charts USCIS describes as the "Application Final Action Dates" chart and the "Dates for Filing Applications" chart. Which one applies to you in a given month is not your choice:

"When we determine there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants, you may use the Dates for Filing Applications chart to determine when to file an adjustment of status application with USCIS. Otherwise, you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart to determine when to file an adjustment of status application with USCIS." USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates

USCIS publishes which chart to use each month on its adjustment of status filing charts page, and says that unless otherwise indicated there, you must use the Final Action Dates.

The mechanics of a cut-off date:

A category gets a cut-off date at all only when it is oversubscribed. USCIS describes that as demand exceeding supply for a particular category and country, at which point the Department of State "must impose a cut-off date to keep the allocation of visas within the statutory limits."

What retrogression is

This is the part that surprises people, because a queue moving backwards is not how queues normally behave:

"Sometimes, a priority date that is current one month will not be current the next month, or the cut-off date will move backward to an earlier date. This is called visa retrogression, which occurs when more people apply for a visa in a particular category than there are visas available for that month." USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates

On why it happens and what tends to follow:

"Visa retrogression generally occurs when the annual limit for a category or country has been exhausted or is expected to run out soon. When the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, a new supply of visa numbers becomes available. Usually, but not always, the new supply returns the cut-off dates to where they were before retrogression." USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates

Two things follow that are worth holding onto. A retrogressed date does not undo your priority date; your place in the queue is unchanged, and it is the cut-off that moved. And "usually, but not always" is the guidance's own hedge, which is a reasonable reason not to plan around a specific month.

We do not publish current cut-off dates on this site. They change monthly, and a date quoted in an article read six months later is worse than no date. Check the current Visa Bulletin directly.

Concurrent filing

Filing the I-485 together with the I-140 saves real time when it is available. The condition is specific:

"You may concurrently file your Form I-485 only when approval of the underlying immigrant petition would make a visa immediately available to you." USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates

For an employment-based preference category, USCIS sets out that you may file concurrently only if your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date in the Final Action Dates chart for your category and country, or the chart shows "C" for your category and country, or, when USCIS permits it that month, your priority date is earlier than the cut-off in the Dates for Filing chart.

In practice this means whether concurrent filing is open to you is a fact about the month you file in, not a fact about your case. Whether to file concurrently, and what it means for your status, is a question for your attorney.

What this means for building a profile

The queue is outside your control, and the evidence is not. Two practical consequences.

File when the record is ready, not when the bulletin looks good. The priority date only helps if the petition is approved, and a premature filing that draws an RFE or a denial costs more time than it saves. When your profile is ready to file covers how to judge that, and the most common RFE reasons covers what usually goes wrong.

Waiting time is building time. If your category is backlogged, the months between filing and availability are months in which judging seats accumulate, papers get cited, and press appears. None of that is wasted, and for people who may later need to strengthen a record it is the difference between a thin file and a deep one. How long it takes to build an EB-1A profile sets out realistic timelines.

Sources

All accessed 23 August 2026.

1. USCIS, Visa Availability and Priority Dates. Source of every USCIS quotation above, covering annual limits, priority date determination, the Visa Bulletin charts, oversubscription, retrogression, and concurrent filing. Page last reviewed or updated 24 January 2025.
2. 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1), Cornell Legal Information Institute. The 28.6 percent allocation to priority workers.
3. Department of State, Visa Bulletin. The monthly cut-off dates themselves.
4. USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin. Which chart applies in a given month.

We publish no current cut-off dates or wait-time estimates here. They change monthly and depend on category and country of chargeability, so the Visa Bulletin itself is the only reliable source for them.

This article describes the process in general terms. It is not a substitute for advice from your attorney about your own case.

Frequently asked questions

Green Card Guide AI is not a law firm and this article is not legal advice. It describes evidence-building strategy in general terms; your attorney determines what belongs in your petition and how it's argued.