Visa Bulletin Tracker

EB-3 — Mexico

Employment-based preference · Final Action Dates 1 August 2024 · Dates for Filing Current · July 2026 bulletin

In the July 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-3 for Mexico has a Final Action Dates cut-off of 1 August 2024 and a Dates for Filing cut-off of Current. 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: 291 Final Action Dates bulletins back to December 2001, 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. Mexico 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 / Mexico in 291 bulletins since December 2001.

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 1 August 2024. 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 August 2024.

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 61 days forward about 20.3 days forward
Last 6 bulletins January 2026 – July 2026 6 of 6 carried a measurable move 467 days forward about 77.8 days forward
Last 12 bulletins July 2025 – July 2026 12 of 12 carried a measurable move 488 days forward about 40.7 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 December 2001 – July 2026 · 291 published bulletins · cut-offs from 1 January 2001 to 1 August 2024
Final Action Dates: EB-3, Mexico, December 2001 – July 2026 Final Action Dates for EB-3, Mexico, December 2001 – July 2026. 171 of 291 published bulletins carry a dated cut-off, ranging from 1 January 2001 to 1 August 2024. Current (no backlog) in 103 months. Unavailable (no visas issued) in 17 months. 6 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: December 2001 to June 2005 (43 bulletins) Current — no backlog: July 2007 Current — no backlog: August 2017 to August 2018 (13 bulletins) Current — no backlog: October 2018 to July 2019 (10 bulletins) Current — no backlog: October 2019 to February 2020 (5 bulletins) Current — no backlog: October 2020 to April 2023 (31 bulletins) 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 April 2009: 1 April 2003 back to 1 March 2003 (31 days backward) Retrogressed June 2014: 1 October 2012 back to 1 April 2011 (549 days backward) Retrogressed July 2023: 1 June 2022 back to 1 February 2022 (120 days backward) Retrogressed August 2023: 1 February 2022 back to 1 May 2020 (641 days backward) Retrogressed July 2024: 22 November 2022 back to 1 December 2021 (356 days backward) Retrogressed September 2024: 1 December 2021 back to 1 December 2020 (365 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) Unavailable — no visas issued: May 2010 to September 2010 (5 bulletins) 2004 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 (6)
  • 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 129 bulletins in which this cut-off changed, newest first. Months in which it held steady are not listed: it held in 161 of the published bulletins. Direction is shown by the ↑ / ↓ glyph and the word, never by colour alone.
Bulletin From To What changed
July 20261 June 20241 August 2024Advanced61 days
April 20261 October 20231 June 2024Advanced244 days
March 20261 June 20231 October 2023Advanced122 days
February 202622 April 20231 June 2023Advanced40 days
January 202615 April 202322 April 2023Advanced7 days
December 20251 April 202315 April 2023Advanced14 days
July 20258 February 20231 April 2023Advanced52 days
June 20251 January 20238 February 2023Advanced38 days
April 20251 December 20221 January 2023Advanced31 days
January 202515 November 20221 December 2022Advanced16 days
October 20241 December 202015 November 2022Advanced714 days
September 20241 December 20211 December 2020Retrogressed365 days
July 202422 November 20221 December 2021Retrogressed356 days
April 20248 September 202222 November 2022Advanced75 days
March 20241 September 20228 September 2022Advanced7 days
February 20241 August 20221 September 2022Advanced31 days
January 20241 December 20211 August 2022Advanced243 days
October 20231 May 20201 December 2021Advanced579 days
August 20231 February 20221 May 2020Retrogressed641 days
July 20231 June 20221 February 2022Retrogressed120 days
May 2023Current1 June 2022Retrogressed from Current
October 20201 April 2019CurrentBecame Current
August 202015 April 20181 April 2019Advanced351 days
July 20208 November 201715 April 2018Advanced158 days
Show the earlier 105 changes — back to July 2005
The remaining 105 bulletins in which the Final Action Dates cut-off changed, newest first, back to July 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
June 20201 January 20178 November 2017Advanced311 days
March 2020Current1 January 2017Retrogressed from Current
October 20191 July 2016CurrentBecame Current
August 2019Current1 July 2016Retrogressed from Current
October 20181 November 2016CurrentBecame Current
September 2018Current1 November 2016Retrogressed from Current
August 20178 June 2017CurrentBecame Current
July 201715 April 20178 June 2017Advanced54 days
June 201715 March 201715 April 2017Advanced31 days
May 201715 February 201715 March 2017Advanced28 days
April 20171 December 201615 February 2017Advanced76 days
March 20171 October 20161 December 2016Advanced61 days
February 20171 August 20161 October 2016Advanced61 days
January 20171 July 20161 August 2016Advanced31 days
November 20161 June 20161 July 2016Advanced30 days
October 20161 May 20161 June 2016Advanced31 days
September 201615 March 20161 May 2016Advanced47 days
August 20161 March 201615 March 2016Advanced14 days
July 201615 February 20161 March 2016Advanced15 days
April 20161 January 201615 February 2016Advanced45 days
March 20161 October 20151 January 2016Advanced92 days
January 20161 September 20151 October 2015Advanced30 days
December 201515 August 20151 September 2015Advanced17 days
September 201515 July 201515 August 2015Advanced31 days
August 20151 April 201515 July 2015Advanced105 days
July 201515 February 20151 April 2015Advanced45 days
June 20151 January 201515 February 2015Advanced45 days
May 20151 October 20141 January 2015Advanced92 days
April 20151 June 20141 October 2014Advanced122 days
March 20151 January 20141 June 2014Advanced151 days
February 20151 June 20131 January 2014Advanced214 days
January 20151 November 20121 June 2013Advanced212 days
December 20141 June 20121 November 2012Advanced153 days
November 20141 October 20111 June 2012Advanced244 days
October 20141 April 20111 October 2011Advanced183 days
June 20141 October 20121 April 2011Retrogressed549 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 20131 July 20071 December 2007Advanced153 days
April 20131 May 20071 July 2007Advanced61 days
March 201315 March 20071 May 2007Advanced47 days
February 20131 February 200715 March 2007Advanced42 days
January 201322 December 20061 February 2007Advanced41 days
December 201222 November 200622 December 2006Advanced30 days
November 2012 over 2 months, from the September 2012 bulletin — no bulletin was published for October 20121 October 200622 November 2006Advanced52 days
September 20128 September 20061 October 2006Advanced23 days
August 201222 July 20068 September 2006Advanced48 days
July 20128 June 200622 July 2006Advanced44 days
June 20121 May 20068 June 2006Advanced38 days
May 20128 April 20061 May 2006Advanced23 days
April 201215 March 20068 April 2006Advanced24 days
March 201222 February 200615 March 2006Advanced21 days
February 20121 February 200622 February 2006Advanced21 days
January 201215 January 20061 February 2006Advanced17 days
December 201122 December 200515 January 2006Advanced24 days
November 20118 December 200522 December 2005Advanced14 days
October 201122 November 20058 December 2005Advanced16 days
September 20111 November 200522 November 2005Advanced21 days
August 20111 July 20051 November 2005Advanced123 days
July 201122 December 20041 July 2005Advanced191 days
June 20118 September 200422 December 2004Advanced105 days
May 20118 May 20048 September 2004Advanced123 days
April 20118 January 20048 May 2004Advanced121 days
March 20118 July 20038 January 2004Advanced184 days
February 201115 April 20038 July 2003Advanced84 days
January 20111 July 200215 April 2003Advanced288 days
December 20101 May 20011 July 2002Advanced426 days
November 201022 April 20011 May 2001Advanced9 days
October 2010Unavailable22 April 2001Became available again
May 20101 July 2002UnavailableBecame Unavailable
January 20101 June 20021 July 2002Advanced30 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 April 20031 March 2003Retrogressed31 days
February 200915 November 20021 April 2003Advanced137 days
January 20091 September 200215 November 2002Advanced75 days
November 20081 July 20021 September 2002Advanced62 days
October 2008Unavailable1 July 2002Became available again
July 20081 July 2002UnavailableBecame Unavailable
May 20081 October 20011 July 2002Advanced273 days
April 20081 May 20011 October 2001Advanced153 days
March 200822 April 20011 May 2001Advanced9 days
October 2007Unavailable22 April 2001Became available again
August 2007CurrentUnavailableCurrent to Unavailable
July 20071 June 2003CurrentBecame Current
June 200715 May 20011 June 2003Advanced747 days
January 20078 May 200115 May 2001Advanced7 days
November 20061 May 20018 May 2001Advanced7 days
October 200622 April 20011 May 2001Advanced9 days
June 200615 April 200122 April 2001Advanced7 days
May 20068 April 200115 April 2001Advanced7 days
April 200622 March 20018 April 2001Advanced17 days
March 200615 March 200122 March 2001Advanced7 days
February 20061 March 200115 March 2001Advanced14 days
January 20061 February 20011 March 2001Advanced28 days
December 20051 January 20011 February 2001Advanced31 days
October 2005Unavailable1 January 2001Became available again
July 2005CurrentUnavailableCurrent to Unavailable

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 answer for every priority date This category is Current in the July 2026 bulletin. There is no backlog and no cut-off to wait for, so every priority date in it is being acted on now. This category is CURRENT in the newest bulletin: there is no backlog, so any priority date is current now. No projection is needed.

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 0 of 3 carried a measurable move nothing measurable not measurable
Last 6 bulletins January 2026 – July 2026 2 of 6 carried a measurable move 198 days forward about 99 days forward
Last 12 bulletins July 2025 – July 2026 8 of 12 carried a measurable move 259 days forward about 32.4 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 September 2015 to 15 January 2024
Dates for Filing: EB-3, Mexico, October 2015 – July 2026 Dates for Filing for EB-3, Mexico, October 2015 – July 2026. 49 of 130 published bulletins carry a dated cut-off, ranging from 1 September 2015 to 15 January 2024. Current (no backlog) in 81 months. 1 retrogressions (the cut-off moving backward) are marked. C Current — no backlog: March 2016 to December 2019 (46 bulletins) Current — no backlog: October 2020 to April 2023 (31 bulletins) Current — no backlog: April 2026 to July 2026 (4 bulletins) 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Retrogressed October 2023: 1 May 2023 back to 1 February 2023 (89 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 (1)
  • C — Current: no backlog. Not a date, so it is not on the line
Dates for Filing — every one of the 15 bulletins in which this cut-off changed, newest first. Months in which it held steady are not listed: it held in 115 of the published bulletins. Direction is shown by the ↑ / ↓ glyph and the word, never by colour alone.
Bulletin From To What changed
April 202615 January 2024CurrentBecame Current
March 20261 October 202315 January 2024Advanced106 days
February 20261 July 20231 October 2023Advanced92 days
October 20251 May 20231 July 2023Advanced61 days
July 20251 March 20231 May 2023Advanced61 days
October 20241 February 20231 March 2023Advanced28 days
October 20231 May 20231 February 2023Retrogressed89 days
May 2023Current1 May 2023Retrogressed from Current
October 20201 April 2020CurrentBecame Current
August 20201 April 20191 April 2020Advanced366 days
May 20201 January 20191 April 2019Advanced90 days
January 2020Current1 January 2019Retrogressed from Current
March 20161 January 2016CurrentBecame Current
January 20161 September 20151 January 2016Advanced122 days
October 2015not published1 September 2015First 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 Mexico has its own column

Chargeability is normally your country of birth — not your citizenship or where you live. State gives Mexico 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 Mexico in the July 2026 Visa Bulletin?
The Final Action Dates cut-off is 1 August 2024 and the Dates for Filing cut-off is Current. State printed those cells as "01AUG24" and "C". A priority date earlier than 1 August 2024 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 Mexico in the July 2026 bulletin they read 1 August 2024 and Current 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 Mexico 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 — 15 in the Final Action Dates chart and 3 in the Dates for Filing chart. The largest was in August 2023, when the Final Action cut-off moved back from 1 February 2022 to 1 May 2020 — 641 days, or about 1.8 years, in a single bulletin.
When will a priority date in EB-3 become current for Mexico?
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 40.7 days per bulletin. The tool on this page projects the published cut-off of 1 August 2024 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 291 Final Action Dates bulletins back to December 2001 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 421 published cut-off cells for EB-3 / Mexico and 144 recorded changes across both charts. Each cell is stored with the exact text State printed for it (the 01AUG24 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 →