F3 · Timeline

Waiting for a visa number

A visa is available to your son or daughter when their priority date is earlier than the cut-off date shown for F3 and their country of chargeability in the applicable chart of the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin. Only then can they file Form I-485 in the U.S., or be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview abroad. "C" means visas are currently available to all qualified applicants in that category and country; "U" means visas are temporarily unavailable.^[1,2]

For Form I-485, USCIS designates each month which chart applies, Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing, and expects to do so within a week after the Visa Bulletin is published; unless USCIS says otherwise, the Final Action Dates chart applies, and in a month when that chart shows the category current or a later date than the Dates for Filing chart, it may be used. Dates can also move backward (visa retrogression) when more people apply than there are visas; a new supply of visa numbers becomes available when the fiscal year begins on October 1. The chart below shows the current month.^[1,3]