Visa Bulletin Tracker

EB-3 — China (mainland-born)

Employment-based preference · Final Action Dates 22 December 2021 · Dates for Filing 1 January 2022 · July 2026 bulletin

In the July 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-3 for China (mainland-born) has a Final Action Dates cut-off of 22 December 2021 and a Dates for Filing cut-off of 1 January 2022. The Final Action cut-off has been advancing, so the page shows its measured pace and what that pace would imply for a given priority date — as an estimate, never a prediction. This page carries the full published history State printed for this combination: 254 Final Action Dates bulletins back to January 2005, and 130 Dates for Filing bulletins back to October 2015 — every cut-off, every month it moved, and the exact text State printed in each cell. It reports what was published; it is not legal advice.

Source bulletin July 2026 U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs — Visa Bulletin. A work of the U.S. Government, in the public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). Every figure below is the one State printed, kept with its exact source text.

The July 2026 cut-offs

State publishes two charts for EB-3, and they are not interchangeable. Both are shown here as printed. China (mainland-born) has its own column because demand from applicants chargeable there exceeds the per-country limit, so its cut-offs are usually further behind than the "all other countries" column.

This is not legal advice This page republishes cut-off dates exactly as the State Department published them. It cannot tell you what will happen to your case, and being current in a chart is not the same as a visa being issued. Cut-off dates routinely stall, and they can move backward without warning. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed immigration attorney.

Final Action Dates

The chart that decides whether a visa can be issued. State has published a Final Action Dates figure for EB-3 / China (mainland-born) in 254 bulletins since January 2005.

Final Action Dates: when would a priority date be reached?

The cut-off to compare against The Final Action Dates cut-off in the July 2026 bulletin is 22 December 2021. A priority date earlier than that has been reached.

The date your petition was filed — it is printed on your I-797 receipt notice. Nothing is sent anywhere: this runs entirely in your browser.

Enter a priority date to compare it against the July 2026 cut-off of 22 December 2021.

Any estimate here is an estimate Estimate only. It projects the cut-off forward at its average pace over the trailing published bulletins and assumes that pace holds. It is not a prediction and not a guarantee: cut-off dates routinely stall, and they can move BACKWARD (retrogress) without warning. Not legal advice.

How fast has this cut-off actually moved?
Measured movement of the Final Action Dates cut-off over its trailing published bulletins. This describes what already happened. It is not a forecast, and it is not what any estimate on this page is computed from.
Window Bulletins used Total movement Average per month
Last 3 bulletins April 2026 – July 2026 3 of 3 carried a measurable move 190 days forward about 63.3 days forward
Last 6 bulletins January 2026 – July 2026 6 of 6 carried a measurable move 235 days forward about 39.2 days forward
Last 12 bulletins July 2025 – July 2026 12 of 12 carried a measurable move 386 days forward about 32.2 days forward

This table describes what already happened; it is not a forecast and it is not what any estimate on this page is computed from. A pace can be zero, or negative when the cut-off has been moving backward, and some windows have nothing measurable in them at all — a category that spent the window Current or Unavailable has no distance to average. A category State has stopped moving can also keep showing a pace from a window that closed years ago, which describes that window and nothing since.

Final Action Dates — the full published history January 2005 – July 2026 · 254 published bulletins · cut-offs from 1 May 2000 to 22 December 2021
Final Action Dates: EB-3, China (mainland-born), January 2005 – July 2026 Final Action Dates for EB-3, China (mainland-born), January 2005 – July 2026. 241 of 254 published bulletins carry a dated cut-off, ranging from 1 May 2000 to 22 December 2021. Current (no backlog) in 1 months. Unavailable (no visas issued) in 12 months. 9 retrogressions (the cut-off moving backward) are marked. 3 breaks in the line where months are missing; the line is never drawn across them. C Current — no backlog: July 2007 2005 2010 2015 2020 No bulletin in the public record: March 2009. The line is not drawn across it. No bulletin in the public record: September 2009 to November 2009. The line is not drawn across it. No bulletin in the public record: October 2012. The line is not drawn across it. Retrogressed June 2014: 1 October 2012 back to 1 October 2006 (2,192 days backward) Retrogressed April 2015: 22 October 2011 back to 1 January 2011 (294 days backward) Retrogressed August 2015: 1 September 2011 back to 1 June 2004 (2,648 days backward) Retrogressed June 2016: 15 August 2013 back to 1 January 2010 (1,322 days backward) Retrogressed July 2017: 1 October 2014 back to 1 January 2012 (1,004 days backward) Retrogressed July 2018: 1 June 2015 back to 1 January 2013 (881 days backward) Retrogressed September 2019: 1 July 2016 back to 1 January 2014 (912 days backward) Retrogressed November 2021: 8 January 2019 back to 22 March 2018 (292 days backward) Retrogressed October 2024: 1 September 2020 back to 1 April 2020 (153 days backward) U Unavailable — no visas issued: July 2005 to September 2005 (3 bulletins) Unavailable — no visas issued: August 2007 to September 2007 (2 bulletins) Unavailable — no visas issued: July 2008 to September 2008 (3 bulletins) Unavailable — no visas issued: May 2009 to August 2009 (4 bulletins) 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Every published cut-off is on the line above; the table below lists every month it moved.

  • Published cut-off date
  • Retrogression — the cut-off moved backward (9)
  • C — Current: no backlog. Not a date, so it is not on the line
  • U — Unavailable: no visas issued. Not a date either
  • No bulletin in the public record — the line stops rather than crossing it
Final Action Dates — the 24 most recent of 177 bulletins in which this cut-off changed, newest first. Months in which it held steady are not listed: it held in 77 of the published bulletins. Direction is shown by the ↑ / ↓ glyph and the word, never by colour alone.
Bulletin From To What changed
July 20261 August 202122 December 2021Advanced143 days
June 202615 June 20211 August 2021Advanced47 days
April 20261 May 202115 June 2021Advanced45 days
January 20261 April 20211 May 2021Advanced30 days
December 20251 March 20211 April 2021Advanced31 days
October 20251 December 20201 March 2021Advanced90 days
July 202522 November 20201 December 2020Advanced9 days
June 20251 November 202022 November 2020Advanced21 days
April 20251 August 20201 November 2020Advanced92 days
March 20251 July 20201 August 2020Advanced31 days
February 20251 June 20201 July 2020Advanced30 days
January 20251 April 20201 June 2020Advanced61 days
October 20241 September 20201 April 2020Retrogressed153 days
January 202422 January 20201 September 2020Advanced223 days
December 20231 January 202022 January 2020Advanced21 days
October 20231 September 20191 January 2020Advanced122 days
September 20231 June 20191 September 2019Advanced92 days
August 20231 April 20191 June 2019Advanced61 days
May 20231 November 20181 April 2019Advanced151 days
April 20231 August 20181 November 2018Advanced92 days
December 202215 June 20181 August 2018Advanced47 days
October 202222 April 201815 June 2018Advanced54 days
August 202222 March 201822 April 2018Advanced31 days
November 20218 January 201922 March 2018Retrogressed292 days
Show the earlier 153 changes — back to January 2005
The remaining 153 bulletins in which the Final Action Dates cut-off changed, newest first, back to January 2005. 3 of these span more than one month, because State published no bulletin for the months named in the row — the change is real, but it did not happen in a single month, and is not shown as if it did.
Bulletin From To What changed
August 20211 January 20198 January 2019Advanced7 days
July 20211 September 20181 January 2019Advanced122 days
June 202115 May 20181 September 2018Advanced109 days
May 202115 March 201815 May 2018Advanced61 days
April 20218 February 201815 March 2018Advanced35 days
March 20211 January 20188 February 2018Advanced38 days
February 202115 December 20171 January 2018Advanced17 days
January 20211 November 201715 December 2017Advanced44 days
December 20201 October 20171 November 2017Advanced31 days
November 20201 July 20171 October 2017Advanced92 days
October 202015 February 20171 July 2017Advanced136 days
August 202022 June 201615 February 2017Advanced238 days
July 202015 June 201622 June 2016Advanced7 days
June 202015 May 201615 June 2016Advanced31 days
May 202015 April 201615 May 2016Advanced30 days
April 202022 March 201615 April 2016Advanced24 days
March 20201 January 201622 March 2016Advanced81 days
February 20201 December 20151 January 2016Advanced31 days
January 20201 November 20151 December 2015Advanced30 days
October 20191 January 20141 November 2015Advanced669 days
September 20191 July 20161 January 2014Retrogressed912 days
August 20191 January 20161 July 2016Advanced182 days
July 201915 September 20151 January 2016Advanced108 days
June 201922 August 201515 September 2015Advanced24 days
May 20191 August 201522 August 2015Advanced21 days
April 20198 July 20151 August 2015Advanced24 days
March 20191 July 20158 July 2015Advanced7 days
February 20198 June 20151 July 2015Advanced23 days
December 20181 June 20158 June 2015Advanced7 days
October 20181 November 20141 June 2015Advanced212 days
September 20181 July 20141 November 2014Advanced123 days
August 20181 January 20131 July 2014Advanced546 days
July 20181 June 20151 January 2013Retrogressed881 days
April 201815 November 20141 June 2015Advanced198 days
March 201815 September 201415 November 2014Advanced61 days
February 201815 April 201415 September 2014Advanced153 days
January 20188 March 201415 April 2014Advanced38 days
December 20171 February 20148 March 2014Advanced35 days
November 20171 January 20141 February 2014Advanced31 days
October 20171 January 20121 January 2014Advanced731 days
July 20171 October 20141 January 2012Retrogressed1,004 days
May 201715 August 20141 October 2014Advanced47 days
April 201715 March 201415 August 2014Advanced153 days
March 20171 October 201315 March 2014Advanced165 days
February 20178 September 20131 October 2013Advanced23 days
January 20171 July 20138 September 2013Advanced69 days
December 201615 April 20131 July 2013Advanced77 days
November 201622 January 201315 April 2013Advanced83 days
October 20161 January 201022 January 2013Advanced1,117 days
June 201615 August 20131 January 2010Retrogressed1,322 days
April 20161 June 201315 August 2013Advanced75 days
March 20161 October 20121 June 2013Advanced243 days
February 20161 July 20121 October 2012Advanced92 days
January 201615 April 20121 July 2012Advanced77 days
December 20151 January 201215 April 2012Advanced105 days
November 201515 October 20111 January 2012Advanced78 days
October 201522 December 200415 October 2011Advanced2,488 days
September 20151 June 200422 December 2004Advanced204 days
August 20151 September 20111 June 2004Retrogressed2,648 days
June 20151 May 20111 September 2011Advanced123 days
May 20151 January 20111 May 2011Advanced120 days
April 201522 October 20111 January 2011Retrogressed294 days
March 20151 September 201122 October 2011Advanced51 days
February 20151 March 20111 September 2011Advanced184 days
January 20151 June 20101 March 2011Advanced273 days
December 20141 January 20101 June 2010Advanced151 days
November 20141 April 20091 January 2010Advanced275 days
October 20141 November 20081 April 2009Advanced151 days
August 20141 October 20061 November 2008Advanced762 days
June 20141 October 20121 October 2006Retrogressed2,192 days
April 20141 September 20121 October 2012Advanced30 days
March 20141 June 20121 September 2012Advanced92 days
February 20141 April 20121 June 2012Advanced61 days
January 20141 October 20111 April 2012Advanced183 days
December 20131 October 20101 October 2011Advanced365 days
November 20131 July 20101 October 2010Advanced92 days
September 20131 January 20091 July 2010Advanced546 days
July 20131 September 20081 January 2009Advanced122 days
June 20131 December 20071 September 2008Advanced275 days
May 201322 April 20071 December 2007Advanced223 days
April 201322 January 200722 April 2007Advanced90 days
March 201315 November 200622 January 2007Advanced68 days
February 201322 September 200615 November 2006Advanced54 days
January 20131 July 200622 September 2006Advanced83 days
December 201215 April 20061 July 2006Advanced77 days
November 2012 over 2 months, from the September 2012 bulletin — no bulletin was published for October 201215 December 200515 April 2006Advanced121 days
September 20128 November 200515 December 2005Advanced37 days
August 201222 September 20058 November 2005Advanced47 days
July 20128 August 200522 September 2005Advanced45 days
June 20121 April 20058 August 2005Advanced129 days
May 20121 March 20051 April 2005Advanced31 days
April 20121 January 20051 March 2005Advanced59 days
March 20121 December 20041 January 2005Advanced31 days
February 201215 October 20041 December 2004Advanced47 days
January 20128 September 200415 October 2004Advanced37 days
December 201122 August 20048 September 2004Advanced17 days
November 20118 August 200422 August 2004Advanced14 days
October 201115 July 20048 August 2004Advanced24 days
September 20118 July 200415 July 2004Advanced7 days
August 20111 July 20048 July 2004Advanced7 days
July 201115 May 20041 July 2004Advanced47 days
June 201115 April 200415 May 2004Advanced30 days
May 20111 March 200415 April 2004Advanced45 days
April 201122 January 20041 March 2004Advanced39 days
March 20111 January 200422 January 2004Advanced21 days
February 201115 December 20031 January 2004Advanced17 days
January 20118 December 200315 December 2003Advanced7 days
December 201022 November 20038 December 2003Advanced16 days
November 20108 November 200322 November 2003Advanced14 days
October 201022 October 20038 November 2003Advanced17 days
September 201022 September 200322 October 2003Advanced30 days
August 201015 August 200322 September 2003Advanced38 days
July 201022 June 200315 August 2003Advanced54 days
June 201022 April 200322 June 2003Advanced61 days
May 20101 February 200322 April 2003Advanced80 days
April 201015 December 20021 February 2003Advanced48 days
March 201022 September 200215 December 2002Advanced84 days
February 20101 August 200222 September 2002Advanced52 days
January 20101 June 20021 August 2002Advanced61 days
December 2009 over 4 months, from the August 2009 bulletin — no bulletin was published for September 2009, October 2009, November 2009Unavailable1 June 2002Became available again
May 20091 March 2003UnavailableBecame Unavailable
April 2009 over 2 months, from the February 2009 bulletin — no bulletin was published for March 20091 October 20021 March 2003Advanced151 days
February 20091 June 20021 October 2002Advanced122 days
January 20091 February 20021 June 2002Advanced120 days
November 20081 October 20011 February 2002Advanced123 days
October 2008Unavailable1 October 2001Became available again
July 200822 March 2003UnavailableBecame Unavailable
May 20088 February 200322 March 2003Advanced42 days
April 20081 December 20028 February 2003Advanced69 days
March 200815 November 20011 December 2002Advanced381 days
February 20081 November 200115 November 2001Advanced14 days
January 200815 October 20011 November 2001Advanced17 days
December 20071 September 200115 October 2001Advanced44 days
October 2007Unavailable1 September 2001Became available again
August 2007CurrentUnavailableCurrent to Unavailable
July 20071 June 2003CurrentBecame Current
June 20071 August 20021 June 2003Advanced304 days
December 20061 July 20021 August 2002Advanced31 days
November 20061 May 20021 July 2002Advanced61 days
October 20061 March 20021 May 2002Advanced61 days
September 20061 October 20011 March 2002Advanced151 days
July 20061 July 20011 October 2001Advanced92 days
June 20061 May 20011 July 2001Advanced61 days
March 200622 April 20011 May 2001Advanced9 days
February 20061 April 200122 April 2001Advanced21 days
January 20061 January 20011 April 2001Advanced90 days
December 20051 May 20001 January 2001Advanced245 days
October 2005Unavailable1 May 2000Became available again
July 20051 June 2002UnavailableBecame Unavailable
May 20051 April 20021 June 2002Advanced61 days
April 20051 March 20021 April 2002Advanced31 days
March 20051 January 20021 March 2002Advanced59 days
January 2005not published1 January 2002First published

Dates for Filing

The chart that decides when an application may be submitted — usually the more optimistic of the two. It did not exist before October 2015, so its history is shorter by design, not by omission: 130 bulletins since October 2015.

Dates for Filing: when would a priority date be reached?

The cut-off to compare against The Dates for Filing cut-off in the July 2026 bulletin is 1 January 2022. A priority date earlier than that has been reached.

The date your petition was filed — it is printed on your I-797 receipt notice. Nothing is sent anywhere: this runs entirely in your browser.

Enter a priority date to compare it against the July 2026 cut-off of 1 January 2022.

Any estimate here is an estimate Estimate only. It projects the cut-off forward at its average pace over the trailing published bulletins and assumes that pace holds. It is not a prediction and not a guarantee: cut-off dates routinely stall, and they can move BACKWARD (retrogress) without warning. Not legal advice.

How fast has this cut-off actually moved?
Measured movement of the Dates for Filing cut-off over its trailing published bulletins. This describes what already happened. It is not a forecast, and it is not what any estimate on this page is computed from.
Window Bulletins used Total movement Average per month
Last 3 bulletins April 2026 – July 2026 3 of 3 carried a measurable move 0 days about 0 days
Last 6 bulletins January 2026 – July 2026 6 of 6 carried a measurable move 0 days about 0 days
Last 12 bulletins July 2025 – July 2026 12 of 12 carried a measurable move 375 days forward about 31.3 days forward

This table describes what already happened; it is not a forecast and it is not what any estimate on this page is computed from. A pace can be zero, or negative when the cut-off has been moving backward, and some windows have nothing measurable in them at all — a category that spent the window Current or Unavailable has no distance to average. A category State has stopped moving can also keep showing a pace from a window that closed years ago, which describes that window and nothing since.

Dates for Filing — the full published history October 2015 – July 2026 · 130 published bulletins · cut-offs from 1 October 2013 to 1 January 2022
Dates for Filing: EB-3, China (mainland-born), October 2015 – July 2026 Dates for Filing for EB-3, China (mainland-born), October 2015 – July 2026. 130 of 130 published bulletins carry a dated cut-off, ranging from 1 October 2013 to 1 January 2022. 5 retrogressions (the cut-off moving backward) are marked. C 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Retrogressed October 2016: 1 May 2015 back to 1 May 2014 (365 days backward) Retrogressed October 2018: 1 January 2016 back to 8 August 2015 (146 days backward) Retrogressed October 2021: 1 July 2019 back to 15 January 2019 (167 days backward) Retrogressed November 2021: 15 January 2019 back to 1 April 2018 (289 days backward) Retrogressed October 2024: 1 July 2021 back to 15 November 2020 (228 days backward) U 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026

Every published cut-off is on the line above; the table below lists every month it moved.

  • Published cut-off date
  • Retrogression — the cut-off moved backward (5)
Dates for Filing — the 24 most recent of 30 bulletins in which this cut-off changed, newest first. Months in which it held steady are not listed: it held in 100 of the published bulletins. Direction is shown by the ↑ / ↓ glyph and the word, never by colour alone.
Bulletin From To What changed
October 202522 December 20201 January 2022Advanced375 days
June 202515 November 202022 December 2020Advanced37 days
October 20241 July 202115 November 2020Retrogressed228 days
January 20241 September 20201 July 2021Advanced303 days
October 20231 November 20191 September 2020Advanced305 days
September 20231 September 20191 November 2019Advanced61 days
August 20231 June 20191 September 2019Advanced92 days
May 20231 February 20191 June 2019Advanced120 days
April 20231 September 20181 February 2019Advanced153 days
December 202215 July 20181 September 2018Advanced48 days
October 202222 May 201815 July 2018Advanced54 days
August 20221 April 201822 May 2018Advanced51 days
November 202115 January 20191 April 2018Retrogressed289 days
October 20211 July 201915 January 2019Retrogressed167 days
July 20211 January 20191 July 2019Advanced181 days
June 20211 September 20181 January 2019Advanced122 days
May 20211 August 20181 September 2018Advanced31 days
April 20211 June 20181 August 2018Advanced61 days
October 20201 May 20171 June 2018Advanced396 days
August 20201 March 20171 May 2017Advanced61 days
October 20191 June 20161 March 2017Advanced273 days
July 20191 January 20161 June 2016Advanced152 days
January 20191 December 20151 January 2016Advanced31 days
December 20188 August 20151 December 2015Advanced115 days
Show the earlier 6 changes — back to October 2015
The remaining 6 bulletins in which the Dates for Filing cut-off changed, newest first, back to October 2015.
Bulletin From To What changed
October 20181 January 20168 August 2015Retrogressed146 days
February 20181 September 20151 January 2016Advanced122 days
May 20171 May 20141 September 2015Advanced488 days
October 20161 May 20151 May 2014Retrogressed365 days
March 20161 October 20131 May 2015Advanced577 days
October 2015not published1 October 2013First published

How to read this page

What a priority date is

A priority date is the date that fixes your place in the queue for an immigrant visa number. For most family-sponsored categories it is the date the petition was filed; for employment-based categories that require labour certification, it is the date that certification was filed. It is printed on the I-797 receipt or approval notice. Your priority date does not move — the cut-off moves toward it.

Congress caps how many immigrant visas may be issued each year, both in total per category and per country of chargeability. When more people want a category than the cap allows, a queue forms, and State publishes a cut-off date each month: the priority date it has reached. If your priority date is earlier than the cut-off, your turn has come in that chart.

Why China (mainland-born) has its own column

Chargeability is normally your country of birth — not your citizenship or where you live. State gives China (mainland-born) its own column because demand from applicants chargeable there exceeds the per-country limit, so its queue is tracked separately and its cut-offs are usually further behind than the "all other countries" column. Applicants from countries without their own column are all counted together in that column instead.

The two charts are not interchangeable

Final Action Dates is when a visa can actually be issued or a green card approved. Dates for Filing is when the application may be submitted; it is usually the earlier and more optimistic of the two, and being past it does not mean a visa can be issued. Which chart U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will accept for adjustment-of-status filings is announced by USCIS each month and is not decided by State or by this site. The Dates for Filing chart was introduced in October 2015 and does not exist for any earlier bulletin.

What Current and Unavailable mean

Current (printed C) means there is no backlog at all: every priority date in the category is being acted on. Unavailable (printed U) means no visas are being issued in the category at all that month — usually because the annual limit has been reached. Neither is a date, and neither can be compared to one, so this site never plots them on a date axis and never projects from them.

Retrogression: the cut-off can move backward

A cut-off is not a promise and does not only move forward. When more people apply than the annual limit allows — often after a period of rapid advancement draws in filings — State pulls the cut-off back to an earlier date. This is called retrogression, and it can undo years of progress in a single bulletin. It has happened 359 times across the whole published record this site holds. The largest on record is F3 for Mexico in August 2006, which moved back 12.79 years in one month. Retrogressions on this page are marked on the chart with a ▼ mark and listed in the movement tables with a ↓ glyph — never by colour alone.

Frequently asked questions

What is the EB-3 priority date cut-off for China (mainland-born) in the July 2026 Visa Bulletin?
The Final Action Dates cut-off is 22 December 2021 and the Dates for Filing cut-off is 1 January 2022. State printed those cells as "22DEC21" and "01JAN22". A priority date earlier than 22 December 2021 has been reached in the Final Action chart.
What is the difference between Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing for EB-3?
They answer different questions and they are not interchangeable. Final Action Dates is when a visa can actually be issued or a green card approved. Dates for Filing is when the application may be submitted — it is usually the earlier and more optimistic of the two, and being past it does not mean a visa can be issued. For EB-3 and China (mainland-born) in the July 2026 bulletin they read 22 December 2021 and 1 January 2022 respectively. Which chart U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services accepts for adjustment-of-status filings is announced by USCIS each month and is not decided by this site. The Dates for Filing chart did not exist before October 2015.
What is a priority date?
A priority date is the date that fixes your place in the queue for a visa number. For most family-sponsored and employment-based categories it is the date the petition was filed with the government (for employment categories requiring labour certification, it is the date that certification was filed). It is printed on the I-797 receipt or approval notice. The Visa Bulletin publishes a cut-off date each month for each category and country of chargeability; if your priority date is earlier than the cut-off, your turn has come in that chart. Your priority date never changes on its own — the cut-off moves toward it.
Has the EB-3 cut-off for China (mainland-born) ever moved backward?
Yes. Moving backward is called retrogression, and it happens when more people apply in a category than the annual limit allows, forcing State to pull the cut-off back to an earlier date. This combination has retrogressed 18 times in the published record — 13 in the Final Action Dates chart and 5 in the Dates for Filing chart. The largest was in August 2015, when the Final Action cut-off moved back from 1 September 2011 to 1 June 2004 — 2,648 days, or about 7.3 years, in a single bulletin.
When will a priority date in EB-3 become current for China (mainland-born)?
Nobody can tell you that, and this site does not claim to. What can be measured is the pace: over the trailing published bulletins the Final Action Dates cut-off has advanced by an average of about 32.2 days per bulletin. The tool on this page projects the published cut-off of 22 December 2021 forward at that pace to estimate which bulletin would reach a given priority date. That is an estimate and assumes the pace holds. It is not a prediction and not a guarantee: cut-off dates routinely stall, and they can move backward without warning. This is not legal advice.
Where does this EB-3 history come from, and how far back does it go?
Every figure is the one the U.S. Department of State printed in its monthly Visa Bulletin, kept alongside the exact cell text it came from. This page carries 254 Final Action Dates bulletins back to January 2005 and 130 Dates for Filing bulletins back to October 2015. The Visa Bulletin is a work of the U.S. Government and is in the public domain (17 U.S.C. section 105). 5 months are absent from the public record in that span (March 2009, September 2009, October 2009, November 2009, October 2012); they are shown as a break in the chart and are never filled in from a neighbouring month.

Source and method

Every figure on this page is read from the U.S. Department of State's monthly Visa Bulletin — the July 2026 edition for the current cut-offs, and each bulletin's own edition for the history. The Visa Bulletin is a work of the U.S. Government prepared by federal employees in the course of their duties, and is therefore in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of State or any government agency.

This page carries 384 published cut-off cells for EB-3 / China (mainland-born) and 207 recorded changes across both charts. Each cell is stored with the exact text State printed for it (the 22DEC21 shown above is the source's own), so every figure here is traceable back to the bulletin it came from.

5 months in the December 2001 to July 2026 span are absent from the public record — March 2009, September 2009, October 2009, November 2009, October 2012. They are recorded as gaps and shown as breaks in the charts above, never filled in from a neighbouring month.

Data version visa-bulletin-derived-v1 · 291 bulletins, December 2001 to July 2026 · Next monthly bulletin. The State Department publishes one bulletin per month, typically mid-month for the following month; past bulletins are immutable once published.

All 75 categories in the July 2026 bulletin →