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Guide · Waiting on USCIS

How to Read the Visa Bulletin as a Couple

The State Department’s Visa Bulletin shows visa availability for numerically limited categories, including F2A spouses of permanent residents. Compare your priority date with the chart and country column. Visa availability, National Visa Center (NVC) review, and scheduling are separate.

For: Couples where a lawful permanent resident filed an I-130 for their spouse and they want to understand F2A availability and NVC timing.

Written from official U.S. government sources. Last reviewed September 2026. Sources and limits.

At a glance

  • Find your priority date on the I-130 receipt. F2A covers spouses and unmarried children under 21 of permanent residents.
  • U.S. citizens’ spouses are immediate relatives. Annual preference limits generally do not govern their visa availability.
  • Use the chart for your stage. Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing serve different purposes.
  • Check each month. Cutoffs can advance, stay unchanged, or move backward; they do not predict an interview date.

Reading the bulletin, step by step

Origin: official source. Official sourceStated by a US government publisher on the page we cite.Sources

  1. 1. Find the category row

    Family categories run F1–F4. F2A covers permanent residents’ spouses and unmarried children under 21. U.S. citizens’ spouses are immediate relatives (IR-1/CR-1), outside the preference limits.

  2. 2. Find the chargeability column

    For Chart A, State’s scheduling tool uses country of birth, called the foreign state of chargeability. Read current headings and footnotes; do not substitute citizenship.

  3. 3. Compare the priority date

    For a listed cutoff, your priority date generally must be earlier. C means numbers are authorized for all qualified applicants in that cell; U means none are authorized that month.

  4. 4. Check which chart applies

    For consular cases, NVC may invite document submission under Dates for Filing. NVC schedules cases after document review is complete (“documentarily complete”), when visas and appointments are available; preference cases also depend on Final Action Dates. For the selected embassy and category, State’s Immigrant Visa Scheduling Status Tool shows the document-completion month being scheduled, not your appointment date. For adjustment, use the chart U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) identifies that month.

  5. 5. Check the next monthly bulletin

    Cutoffs may advance, stay unchanged, or move backward if demand exceeds supply. Do not assume steady movement.

Final Action Dates vs Dates for Filing

Origin: official source. Official sourceStated by a US government publisher on the page we cite.Sources

Final Action Dates (Chart A) govern visa-number availability for issuance or adjustment approval. Dates for Filing (Chart B) can allow earlier document submission when NVC invites it, or adjustment filing when USCIS authorizes that chart. Permission to file is not approval.

What F2A changes for a spouse case

Origin: Togetherward explanation. Togetherward explanationOur reading of the official sources, not something an agency says.

  • Record the priority date. For the I-130, this is when USCIS received the petition.
  • If the petitioner naturalizes, the Department of State says to upgrade the spouse's F2 petition to immediate relative by sending proof of U.S. citizenship to NVC. This changes the numerical category; it does not finish the remaining case steps. See the Department of State's spouse immigrant visa guidance.
  • Cutoffs can change. A category may advance, stay the same, or retrogress. Check the current bulletin each month and do not treat one month's status as a forecast.
  • Visa availability is one step. USCIS processing, NVC review, and embassy scheduling each take separate time.

Where to read the official bulletin

Origin: official source. Official sourceStated by a US government publisher on the page we cite.Sources

The authoritative source is the Department of State's monthly Visa Bulletin. For consular cases, also check NVC notices and the immigrant-visa Scheduling Status Tool for the selected embassy or consulate and category.

For adjustment of status, USCIS publishes monthly filing-chart instructions on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page. The applicable chart can vary by month, so this guide does not reproduce the current choice.

Confirm your own category and current instructions at the official sources rather than relying on a summary — including this one.

Figures that change

These numbers change without notice. We only show one when a person has verified it against the official source recently enough; otherwise we say so and send you to the source.

Common questions

What is a priority date?
For a family petition, the priority date is the date USCIS received the Form I-130. It is printed on the receipt notice (Form I-797C) and marks your place in line for a category that has an annual numerical limit.
Do spouses of US citizens need to watch the Visa Bulletin?
Spouses of U.S. citizens are immediate relatives and are not subject to the annual numerical limits that create the F2A preference queue. The Visa Bulletin therefore generally does not set their immigrant visa availability. Other processing steps and case-specific requirements still apply. Spouses of lawful permanent residents are in the F2A preference category listed in the bulletin.
What is the difference between Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing?
For consular cases, Final Action Dates show when a visa number may be authorized. Dates for Filing can indicate when NVC may invite applicants to submit documents. For adjustment of status, applicants must use the chart USCIS identifies for that month; being able to file does not mean an application is approved.
What does a C or U in the chart mean?
C means numbers are authorized for all qualified applicants in that category and chargeability area. U means no numbers are authorized in that cell for that month.

Related guides

How Togetherward helps

Suggestion

Keep your priority date, receipt notices, and dated official-source checks in Togetherward so both partners can follow the same record. It does not file for you.

In Togetherward

Sign in to your case to continue where this leaves off.

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This guide explains how the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the US Department of State is structured. Cut-off dates change every month and this page does not reproduce them. It is not legal advice and Togetherward is not a law firm. Confirm your category and dates against travel.state.gov and USCIS, and consult a licensed immigration attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Sources and limits

Last reviewed and verification status

Last reviewed
Last recorded source review: . We aim to re-read it every 120 days.
Review recorded.
Verification status of the sources behind this page
4 of 4 sources are recorded as checked. Nothing is awaiting verification.

Verified (4)

About this guide and its review

Guide scope

  • Waiting on USCIS
  • F2A (spouse of a permanent resident)
Who this is for
Couples where a lawful permanent resident filed an I-130 for their spouse and they want to understand F2A availability and NVC timing.
Stage it covers
After the I-130 is filed and a priority date exists, through to the month a visa number becomes available.
What it helps you do
Find your category row and country column, read the two charts correctly, and know which one governs your current stage.
What this page cannot tell you
  • Whether your priority date is current this month — the cut-off dates change monthly and are not reproduced here.
  • When your category will advance, or whether it will retrogress.
  • Which chart USCIS will authorize for adjustment of status in a given month.
  • Whether you are legally eligible for the category you think you are in.

How we put this page together

Togetherward analysis

The September 2026 Visa Bulletin, immigrant-visa Scheduling Status Tool, and USCIS’s adjustment filing-chart page were checked. USCIS chooses an adjustment chart each month. This guide copies no current chart choice, cutoff, or embassy scheduling value.

What we did not include

  • Monthly cut-off dates. They change every month, so a static page reproducing them would be wrong within weeks.
  • Predictions of future movement. We do not model or forecast advancement or retrogression.
  • Eligibility analysis. We describe how the chart is read, not which category your case belongs in.
  • Employment-based categories, which follow different charts and are outside this page's scope.

Review record

Author
The Togetherward editorial team. The people who build Togetherward. We are not attorneys and we do not give legal advice.
Review
Reviewed by Togetherward Team
Scope of review
Read the full review scope

Review scope: On 2026-09-27, this source review covered the F2A guide's category, cutoff-date, NVC scheduling, retrogression, and petitioner-naturalization statements against the Department of State's September 2026 Visa Bulletin, IV Scheduling Status Tool, spouse immigrant-visa guidance, and USCIS's current adjustment filing-chart page. The USCIS page rendered in its official browser view and confirms that USCIS publishes a monthly chart choice for adjustment filings. The guide does not equate visa availability with an interview date and reproduces no current cutoff, chart choice, or post scheduling value. Direct HTTP retrieval of the USCIS page returned 403; no source-body hash is claimed. This review does not assess legal accuracy for an individual's facts; speak with a qualified immigration attorney about your case.

Dates
Last reviewed · Published .
Review status: Review recorded.
How this guide was prepared
How we review guides.
What the labels in this guide mean
  • Official factStated by a U.S. government publisher on the source page we cite.
  • Togetherward analysisOur reading of the official sources, not something an agency says.
  • SuggestionA way to organise your own case. Optional, and not a requirement.
Limitations
  • This is an explanation of a published government process, not legal advice, and not a prediction about your case.
  • Figures that move — processing ranges, Visa Bulletin dates, fees, form editions, interview availability — are described rather than reproduced here, so you read the current number at the source.
  • USCIS, the National Visa Center, the embassy, or the consular officer may ask for something this page does not mention.
  • The Visa Bulletin is republished monthly. This page explains how to read it and never reproduces a month's dates.
Commercial independence
Commercial independence: nobody pays to appear on this page. There are no sponsors, no advertising, no referral fees, no affiliate links, and no paid placement of any attorney, agency, or service. Togetherward makes money from couples who use the product, and a commercial relationship cannot change what this page says, when it was last reviewed, whether it is flagged as out of date, or whether it stays in search results.
Corrections
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