When to File Your Adjustment of Status Application for Family-Based or Employment-Based Preference Visas

Visa Bulletin content has changed.  Learn more by reading USCIS Announces Revised Procedures for Determining Visa Availability for Applicants Waiting to File for Adjustment of Status.

Are you seeking to adjust your status and become a U.S. permanent resident under a family-sponsored or employment-based preference immigrant visa?  If you have not yet had a relative or employer file an immigrant visa petition on your behalf, please learn more about the Adjustment of Status Filing Process. If you already have a petition filed or approved on your behalf, you may have to wait for an available visa in your category (if applicable) before you can file your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.  This page will help you determine when to file your adjustment of status application.

Find on this page:

• When to File
• About the Visa Bulletin
• New Visa Bulletin Charts
• Determining Visa Availability

When to File

Use the Visa Bulletin charts below to determine when to file your adjustment of status application.

To use the charts:

1. Find your visa type in the first column (on the left) of the appropriate chart (Family-sponsored or Employment-based).
2. Stay in that row and move directly to the right to find the corresponding date under the country of your birth (as listed in the boldface columns across the top).
3. If the date on the chart is current (“C”) or your priority date is earlier than the date on the chart, you may file your adjustment of status application, if otherwise eligible to do so.

Your priority date is generally the date when your relative or employer properly filed the immigrant visa petition on your behalf with USCIS. If a labor certification is required to be filed with your immigrant visa petition, the priority date is the date the labor certification application was accepted for processing by the Department of Labor.

Note: The Department of State (DOS) normally posts the new Visa Bulletin the second week of the month before it will take effect. The DOS Visa Bulletin is the official source of these charts. For ease of reference, below is the current chart (posted within two days of DOS’ new Visa Bulletin).

October 2015

Dates for Filing Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications

Dates for Filing Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications