Updated on

Green card dates for people born in mainland China

Choose your category and enter your priority date; the table below lists each mainland China cutoff this month beside the worldwide date.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error

Where will you apply?

October 2026 bulletin

Current

Your date is before the Final Action cutoff: a green card can be approved this month.

Final Action DateOctober 1, 2021
Date for FilingJanuary 1, 2023
I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing)You can file
I-485 employment, national average (August 2026)11.8 months
Government fees (paper filing, with work permit and travel permit)$3,645
How this was calculated
  1. Fees: I-140 $715 + I-140 $600 + I-485 $1,440 + I-765 $260 + I-131 $630 (USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and State Department visa fees).

Fee details, line by line

Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error

The Visa Bulletin column for China covers people born in mainland China, and it exists because demand from that country passes the 7% per-country limit, 25,620 visas a year, in several employment categories. In the 2026 bulletins China has its own Final Action Date in 5 categories: EB-5, EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 and EB-3 Other Workers. The deepest backlog is EB-5, where the Chinese cutoff of December 1, 2016 sits about 10 years behind a worldwide line that is current. EB-2 China is at October 1, 2021, about 3 years behind the world. Every family category uses the worldwide date, so a Chinese-born relative of a citizen or green card holder waits no longer than anyone else. Chargeability follows birth, so someone born in Hong Kong, Taiwan or abroad to Chinese parents should check which column the bulletin assigns before reading this one.

Mainland birth, not passport

The bulletin labels this column China mainland born. Applicants are charged to their country of birth, so a U.S. green card applicant holding a Canadian passport but born in Shanghai uses this column, while a Chinese citizen born elsewhere may not. A spouse born in another country can sometimes let both partners use that country's date. The chargeability guide sets out the conditions.

An employment and investor backlog

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act no country may take more than 7 % of the preference numbers in a year, 25,620 visas. China passes that line in employment, not family. This month the deepest gap is EB-5 at December 1, 2016. The unreserved EB-5 China date did not move in the latest bulletin. By contrast, the reserved EB-5 rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure lines are current for China, as they have been in every bulletin since May 2022. The two routes are compared on the EB-5 China page. INA sections 201 to 203.

EB-2 and EB-3: a few years, not decades

EB-2 China stands at October 1, 2021 and EB-3 China at January 8, 2022, gaps of about 3.3 and 2.3 years against the worldwide dates. That is far shorter than the Indian queues in the same categories. In October 2016 the Chinese EB-2 date was February 15, 2012, so the line has advanced about 9.6 years in ten, with 10 retrogressions since 2001 along the way. EB-2 China in detail.

Family relatives

No family category has its own China date this month: F1, F2A, F2B, F3 and F4 all follow the worldwide cutoffs, shown in the last column of the table below. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are outside the bulletin altogether.

Every category for China (mainland born), October 2026

CategoryFinal ActionDates for FilingRest of the worldChange this month
F1January 22, 2020February 1, 2020January 22, 2020no change
F2ASeptember 22, 2026Current (C)September 22, 2026▲ 31 days
F2BAugust 22, 2019September 1, 2019August 22, 2019no change
F3October 22, 2014November 1, 2014October 22, 2014no change
F4October 22, 2011November 1, 2011October 22, 2011no change
EB-1July 1, 2023July 1, 2024Current (C)no change
EB-2October 1, 2021January 1, 2023January 1, 2025▲ 30 days
EB-3January 8, 2022April 1, 2024May 15, 2024▲ 7 days
EB-3 Other WorkersOctober 1, 2019October 1, 2020January 1, 2022▲ 153 days
EB-4December 15, 2022January 1, 2025December 15, 2022no change
EB-5December 1, 2016March 1, 2021Current (C)no change

Questions people ask

Why is the EB-5 China date years behind when EB-5 is current elsewhere?

Investors born in mainland China filed far more unreserved EB-5 petitions than their country’s share of the category allows, so the bulletin sets a Chinese cutoff while most other countries are current. The reserved EB-5 lines for rural, high-unemployment and infrastructure projects, listed in the bulletin since 2022, have their own columns and have stayed current for China in every bulletin since they appeared.

Do family categories have a separate China date in the Visa Bulletin?

Not in recent bulletins. Chinese-born applicants in F1, F2A, F2B, F3 and F4 have used the worldwide date, because demand from China in those family lines stays within the per-country share. The employment categories are where China has its own cutoffs, and the table on this page shows any change from one month to the next.

Does EB-2 China move faster than EB-3 China?

The two Chinese employment lines run close to each other and have traded places more than once, so neither is always faster. Compare both dates in the current bulletin and their histories on the EB-2 China and EB-3 China pages. A move from one category to the other needs a new petition, which has its own cost and timing.

Keep going

EB-2 China

Advanced-degree workers born in mainland China: a slow but regular queue, and one where our forecast passes its test.

EB-5 China

Investors born in mainland China: the oldest unreserved investor queue, its widest gap between the two charts, and set-asides.

EB-3 China

Skilled workers born in mainland China: a filing date that leapt in October 2026 and a row that often outruns EB-2 China.

Per-country limit

The 7% cap on any one country, how unused numbers fall to the next category, and why four countries get their own column.

Chargeability

Which country your green card is counted against, and when a spouse or parent born elsewhere changes the queue.

Official sources and data

Published by

Publisher of Visa Bulletin data, green card wait forecasts, USCIS processing times and 2026 filing fees

Updated on · Editorial policy · Contact

Data for 2026, checked on