Dates for Filing vs Final Action Date: how USCIS picks the Visa Bulletin chart

The Visa Bulletin has two charts, and the Dates for Filing vs Final Action Date distinction decides when you can send Form I-485. The Final Action Dates chart "provides dates when visas may finally be issued," while the Dates for Filing chart "provides the earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply" (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 3). USCIS chooses one of the two each month for adjustment of status filings and posts the choice on its own page (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts).

As of October 21, 2026, USCIS requires the Dates for Filing chart for all employment-based and all family-sponsored categories in October 2026, and its November 2026 choice is listed as "Coming soon" (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts). For employment-based cases the answer changed twice in calendar 2026, to Final Action Dates in May and back to Dates for Filing in October (USCIS, May 2026; USCIS, October 2026).

Dates for Filing vs Final Action Date: what is the difference?

The Department of State publishes a new Visa Bulletin every month, with both charts for each preference category (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 3). Each chart gives a cutoff for every category in a column for all chargeability areas, plus separate columns for China (mainland born), India, Mexico and the Philippines (USCIS, October 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts). To read either chart, you find your category in the left column and move across to the column for your country of birth (USCIS, October 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts). Which column applies to you, and the exceptions to the place-of-birth rule, are covered in our guide to country of chargeability.

If the entry is "C" for current, or your priority date is earlier than the date shown, you may file if otherwise eligible; "U" means numbers are not authorized for issuance (USCIS, October 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts). The regulation behind this test reads:

"A preference immigrant visa is considered available for accepting and processing if the applicant has a priority date on the waiting list which is earlier than the date shown in the Bulletin (or the Bulletin shows that numbers for visa applicants in his or her category are current)." 8 CFR 245.1(g)(1)

The two charts serve different moments in the same case. USCIS uses the Visa Bulletin in effect when you file to decide which chart controlled your filing, but at final adjudication it looks only at the Final Action Dates chart current on the day it approves the application (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 6). The Policy Manual puts it plainly:

"It is important to note that while USCIS designates one of the charts for use by aliens each month for accepting and processing adjustment of status applications, the Final Action Dates chart always governs when a visa is authorized for issuance to an alien who filed an adjustment of status application." USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7

The two-chart system dates from September 2015, when USCIS and the Department of State revised the process to "better align" adjustment filings with how the State Department handles immigrant visas at consulates and to "minimize month-to-month fluctuations" in final action dates (USCIS, September 9, 2015 announcement).

How does USCIS pick the chart each month?

USCIS states its rule on the filing charts page:

"If USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for a fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, we will state on this page that you may use the Dates for Filing chart." USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin (last updated 10/01/2026)

Otherwise, the page says, applicants must use the Final Action Dates chart (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts). To judge supply against demand, USCIS compares the visas available for the rest of the fiscal year with documentarily qualified applicants reported by the State Department, pending adjustment applications at USCIS, and the historical drop-off rate from denials, withdrawals and abandonments (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 3).

The State Department's bulletin will not tell you the answer, because it "merely publishes both charts" and does not say which one USCIS will accept (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 7). Expect a short gap each month, too: USCIS says it anticipates designating a chart within one week of the bulletin's publication (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts).

There is also a built-in exception. Even in a Dates for Filing month, if your category is current on the Final Action Dates chart, or its Final Action Date is later than its Date for Filing, you may file using the Final Action Dates chart that month (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts).

Which chart applies in October 2026?

For October 2026, USCIS says that for all employment-based preference categories, and separately for all family-sponsored categories, "you must use the Dates for Filing chart" (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts). The employment-based Dates for Filing cutoffs USCIS reproduces for October 2026 are (USCIS, October 2026 Adjustment of Status Filing Charts):

A more generous chart does not always mean an earlier filing window. In September 2026, under the Final Action Dates chart USCIS designated, EB-2 was current for every country column except China and India; in October, under Dates for Filing, it has a March 15, 2026 cutoff (USCIS, September 2026 Filing Charts; USCIS, October 2026 Filing Charts). For India, EB-2 was "U" on that September chart and has a January 15, 2015 filing cutoff in October (USCIS, September 2026 Filing Charts). Our October 2026 Visa Bulletin breakdown covers the EB-1 and EB-2 movement in detail.

How often has the chart changed?

USCIS keeps an archive page for every month. Reading those pages for October 2024 through October 2026, which covers fiscal years 2025 and 2026 and the start of fiscal year 2027, gives this pattern (USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts archive):

In both of the last two fiscal years, employment-based filers started October on Dates for Filing and were moved to Final Action Dates partway through the year. That is an observed pattern, not a rule. The fiscal year matters because a new supply of visa numbers becomes available for allocation on October 1 (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 6).

The May 2026 switch shows what a flip costs. Compare the April 2026 Dates for Filing chart with the May 2026 Final Action Dates chart (USCIS, April 2026; USCIS, May 2026):

• EB-3, all other countries: current in April, June 1, 2024 in May.
• EB-1, China and India: December 1, 2023 in April, April 1, 2023 in May.
• EB-2, India: January 15, 2015 in April, July 15, 2014 in May.

Anyone eligible under the April chart but not the May one had to file by the end of April. How the queue itself moves backward is explained in our guide to priority dates and retrogression.

What happens to your I-485 if the chart switches after you file?

A switch changes who can file from that month on, not applications already properly filed. The Policy Manual says that when a visa was available at filing but not at final adjudication, the case "should be retained, pre-processed, and adjudicated up to the point of final approval" (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 6). It also notes that regulations prevent USCIS from rejecting applications within a month even if a category becomes fully subscribed soon after the bulletin is published (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 6).

Approval is a different matter. A visa must be available both when you file and when USCIS approves the application, and final adjudication cannot be completed until a visa has been requested and the State Department approves the request (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 6). If you filed on Dates for Filing, expect to wait until your Final Action Date is current.

While you wait, a pending I-485 is the basis for employment authorization under 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(9) (8 CFR 274a.12), and Forms I-765 and I-131 can be filed with the I-485 (USCIS, Form I-485). What that work permit does and does not cover is in our guide to work authorization while an I-485 is pending. An I-485 pending 180 days or more is also one of the conditions for changing jobs under INA 204(j) (8 CFR 245.25), so an early filing under Dates for Filing can start that clock sooner.

Does the chart matter for a child's age under CSPA?

Yes. For adjustment applications filed on or after August 15, 2025, USCIS uses the Final Action Dates chart to determine when a visa became available for the Child Status Protection Act age calculation, even if the family filed under Dates for Filing (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 7). The Policy Manual warns that a child who files under Dates for Filing "may ultimately not be considered a child" if the calculated CSPA age is 21 or older when the Final Action Date becomes current (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 7).

Applications filed before August 15, 2025 follow the former guidance: if the family filed under the Dates for Filing chart, USCIS treats a visa as available for the CSPA calculation based on that chart, and the CSPA age established at filing is locked in through final adjudication (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 7, Part A, Ch. 7). If you have a child close to 21, this is a question to raise with your attorney before you file.

Can I file my I-485 now?

What this means for you

If your date is current on the October 2026 Dates for Filing chart, October is a known window. November's chart had not been posted on October 21, 2026, and the last two fiscal years show USCIS can move employment-based filers back to Final Action Dates. Filing under Dates for Filing gets you a pending I-485, a work permit and an earlier portability clock, but approval still waits for the Final Action Dates chart. For children near 21, the Final Action Date now drives the CSPA calculation for new filings. Whether to file in a given month is a call to make with your attorney.

Where to start

If you are deciding between an EB-1A and an EB-2 NIW partly because of where each category sits on the charts, the free evaluation maps your profile against the criteria for both. Frank, our AI assistant at /frank, finds real opportunities to build the criteria you are missing. When you are ready, petitions and adjustment applications are reviewed and filed by our partner law firm, Lai & Turner, including the timing of an I-485 against the month's designated chart.

Sources

All checked October 21, 2026.

• USCIS, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin (last updated 10/01/2026). Chart selection rule, Final Action Dates exception, one-week timing, October 2026 designation, November "Coming soon", monthly archive.
• USCIS, When to File Your Adjustment of Status Application: October 2026 (last updated 09/29/2026). October 2026 Dates for Filing cutoffs; how to read the charts; "C" and "U"; priority date definitions.
• USCIS, When to File: September 2026 (last updated 08/24/2026). Final Action Dates designated for employment-based filings; EB-2 cutoffs.
• USCIS, When to File: May 2026 (last updated 04/14/2026). Switch to Final Action Dates for employment-based filings; May cutoffs.
• USCIS, When to File: April 2026 (last updated 03/17/2026). Dates for Filing designated; April cutoffs.
• USCIS, When to File: October 2025 (last updated 09/15/2025). Dates for Filing designated for employment-based filings.
• USCIS, When to File: September 2025 (last updated 08/12/2025). Final Action Dates designated for employment-based filings.
• USCIS, When to File: February 2025 (last updated 01/24/2025). Final Action Dates designated for employment-based filings.
• USCIS, When to File: January 2025 (last updated 01/24/2025). Dates for Filing designated for both groups.
• USCIS, When to File: October 2024 (last updated 01/24/2025). Dates for Filing designated for both groups.
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 3 (current as of October 2, 2026). Definitions of the two charts, factors for chart selection, properly filed rule, rejection before visa availability, concurrent filing.
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 6 (current as of October 2, 2026). Chart used at filing vs final adjudication, retention of cases after retrogression, new fiscal year supply, priority date on Form I-797.
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7 (current as of October 2, 2026). Final Action Dates chart governs issuance; Visa Bulletin does not state which chart applies; CSPA rules for filings on or after and before August 15, 2025.
• 8 CFR 245.1 (eCFR, current). Visa availability test in 245.1(g)(1).
• 8 CFR 245.25 (eCFR, current). 180-day pending requirement for INA 204(j) portability.
• 8 CFR 274a.12 (eCFR, current). Employment authorization category (c)(9) for pending adjustment applicants.
• USCIS, Form I-485 (last updated 10/07/2026). Filing Forms I-765 and I-131 with Form I-485.
• USCIS, USCIS Announces Revised Procedures for Determining Visa Availability (September 9, 2015, archived). Origin and purpose of the two-chart system.

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.