- How do I know if my priority date is current?
- Compare your priority date with the cut-off date published for your category in the monthly Visa Bulletin. If your priority date is earlier than the cut-off, you are current for that step. If it is the same day or later, you are still waiting. A category marked C (Current) has no backlog at all, so every applicant in it is current regardless of date.
- Where do I find my priority date?
- For an employment-based case it is printed on the I-797 approval notice for your I-140 petition, labelled 'Priority Date'. Where a PERM labour certification was required, it is the date the Department of Labor accepted that PERM application. Your employer or attorney holds both documents.
- What is the difference between the two answers this page gives?
- Dates for Filing decides when you may submit your adjustment-of-status application, Form I-485, which also opens the door to work and travel permission. Final Action Dates decides when a green card can actually be approved and issued. Dates for Filing is normally the earlier of the two, so many people are current to file long before they are current to be approved.
- My date is current for filing. Can I file this month?
- Only if USCIS has said the Dates for Filing chart applies that month. USCIS chooses between the two charts every month and publishes the decision on its Visa Bulletin page before filings open. Check that page before you file, because the bulletin publishes both charts but only one governs filings in any given month.
- Can my date stop being current after it was current?
- Yes. That is called retrogression: when demand in a category exceeds the visas available, the government moves the cut-off date backwards to slow approvals to the legal limit. It does not cancel an application that is already pending, but it can delay approval, sometimes by months or years. This is why this page does not predict when you will become current.
- Does this checker cover family-based green cards or other countries?
- No. It covers the employment-based categories EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 for applicants chargeable to India, which is where the longest backlogs are. For family-sponsored categories or any other country of chargeability, read the corresponding table in the official Visa Bulletin.
- Is the date I type here stored anywhere?
- No. The comparison runs entirely inside your browser. Your priority date is never sent to NRI Herald's servers, never saved and never shared. Closing the page discards it.
NRI Herald reports the published bulletin; we are not immigration lawyers and this tool is not legal advice. It compares two dates — it can't see your case. For anything that matters, check USCIS and the official Visa Bulletin, or speak to a qualified attorney.