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F1 Philippines: the queue for adult children of U.S. citizens

Enter the priority date from your parent’s I-130 receipt to see if you can file this month and how the Philippine F1 line has moved since 2001.

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 DateNovember 1, 2013
Date for FilingApril 22, 2015
I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing)You can file
I-485 family, national average (August 2026)12.4 months
Government fees (paper filing, with work permit and travel permit)$3,005
How this was calculated
  1. Fees: I-130 $675 + 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

F1 is the preference for unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of U.S. citizens, and applicants born in the Philippines wait on their own line. In the 2026 bulletins the Philippine Final Action Date is November 1, 2013, against January 22, 2020 for the rest of the world, a gap of about 6 years caused by the 7% per-country cap. The Dates for Filing chart, which USCIS currently accepts for family cases, reads April 22, 2015. A common belief is that F1 is always faster than F2B, the line for adult children of green card holders. For the Philippines that is not reliable: the F1 cutoff was the earlier, slower one of the two in 205 of 294 bulletins since 2001, and this month the F1 date is ahead of the Philippine F2B date of October 1, 2013. Our back-test for people one year behind the cutoff missed by a median of 11 months, so we show ranges only where the test passed.

Two Philippine lines that keep trading places

A question Filipino families often bring to this page is whether a citizen parent beats a green card holder parent. On paper it should: F1 gets its own yearly allotment and F2B shares the F2 share with spouses and minor children. In practice the Philippine F1 cutoff was earlier than the Philippine F2B cutoff in 205 of the 294 bulletins we hold, 70 % of the time. This month F1 reads November 1, 2013 and F2B reads October 1, 2013, so F1 is ahead by about 1 month, after being on the other side last month. See the F2B Philippines page for the other half of the comparison.

The 2015 correction

In October 2014 the cutoff stood at September 1, 2004. A year later it was back to June 1, 2001. Since 2001 the Philippine F1 date has moved backwards 5 times, and the largest drop, about 59 months, came in June 2015. Since that reset the line has recovered steadily: August 1, 2005 in October 2016, November 1, 2013 now. The latest bulletin moved it 184 days forward.

Filing now, waiting here or in Manila

With USCIS accepting the Dates for Filing chart for family cases this month, a beneficiary already in the United States whose priority date is earlier than April 22, 2015 may file Form I-485, if otherwise eligible. A beneficiary living in the Philippines finishes through the immigrant visa process instead, after the National Visa Center collects documents. The cutoff that matters for the visa itself remains the Final Action Date. USCIS filing-chart page.

What our forecast can say

We replayed the forecast each month from October 2012 to October 2025 with only the bulletins known at the time. Six months behind the cutoff, the middle estimate missed by a median of 8 months; a year behind, by 11. That did not pass our threshold, so for most dates the calculator shows your distance from the cutoff and says there is no reliable forecast.

F1 in the October 2026 bulletin

USCIS asks applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart this month to file Form I-485.
CountryFinal ActionDates for FilingChange this month
All other countriesJanuary 22, 2020February 1, 2020no change
China (mainland born)January 22, 2020February 1, 2020no change
IndiaJanuary 22, 2020February 1, 2020no change
MexicoSeptember 8, 2008December 1, 2008▲ 251 days
PhilippinesNovember 1, 2013April 22, 2015▲ 184 days
F1 Philippines: Final Action cutoff by bulletin month since December 20011989199419992004200920142002200620102014201820222026
Solid line: Final Action Date. Dashed line: Dates for Filing (since October 2015). A drop is a retrogression.

Every October since 2002

October opens each federal fiscal year, so it is the cleanest point to compare one year with the next.
BulletinFinal Action DateYears behind the bulletin
October 2002December 1, 198912.8
October 2003July 22, 198914.2
October 2004August 15, 199014.1
October 2005May 22, 199114.4
October 2006November 1, 199114.9
October 2007June 15, 199215.3
October 2008April 1, 199315.5
October 2009Unavailable (U)–
October 2010March 1, 199713.6
October 2011January 8, 199714.7
October 2012Unavailable (U)–
October 2013June 1, 200112.3
October 2014September 1, 200410.1
October 2015June 1, 200114.3
October 2016August 1, 200511.2
October 2017January 1, 200710.7
October 2018December 22, 200611.8
October 2019July 1, 200811.2
October 2020December 15, 20118.8
October 2021March 1, 20129.6
October 2022March 1, 201210.6
October 2023March 1, 201211.6
October 2024March 1, 201212.6
October 2025January 22, 201312.7
October 2026November 1, 201312.9

How our forecast did for this case

Back-test from October 2012 to October 2025, each month using only the bulletins known that month.
Distance behind the cutoffMedian error, our modelMedian error, “last 12 months” ruleRange held the real dateStart months testedPublished?
6 months8 months18 months55 %156No reliable forecast
12 months11 months24 months55 %156No reliable forecast
24 months16 months26 months38 %156No reliable forecast
48 months18 months43 months31 %156No reliable forecast

Questions people ask

Is F1 Philippines slower than F2B Philippines?

It depends on the month. Across the archive since 2001, the Philippine F1 cutoff sat behind the F2B cutoff in most bulletins, which surprises families who expect a citizen parent to mean a shorter wait. In recent years the two dates have run within a few months of each other and have swapped places more than once, so compare both lines in the current bulletin.

What happens to an F2B Philippines case when the parent becomes a U.S. citizen?

When a green card holder parent naturalizes, an unmarried son or daughter over 21 moves from F2B to F1 and keeps the original priority date. For applicants born in the Philippines this is not automatically an improvement, because the two Philippine dates have often been close or reversed. Our F2B to F1 guide explains the comparison, and an accredited representative can review a specific file.

Does marriage end an F1 Philippines petition?

F1 covers unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. If the beneficiary marries, the case falls into F3, the married sons and daughters line, and the Philippine F3 queue is far longer than F1. The priority date carries over, but the wait changes. Check the F3 Philippines page and talk to a licensed immigration attorney before any change in civil status.

Why does the F1 Philippines cutoff sometimes jump by months?

The State Department moves each cutoff according to the numbers left for the fiscal year and the demand already documented. When demand from the Philippines in F1 is lower than expected, the date can advance several months in one bulletin; when it is higher, the date stalls or retrogresses. The 2015 drop on this page shows how sharp a correction can be.

Keep going

F1 (adult son or daughter)

Unmarried sons and daughters 21+ of U.S. citizens: this month’s cutoff, the Mexico and Philippines lines, and the wait.

Philippines

Every Visa Bulletin category for people born in the Philippines, against the worldwide dates.

F2B Philippines

Adult unmarried children of green card holders, born in the Philippines: the freeze, the thaw and the forecast.

F2B to F1 conversion

What a parent’s naturalization does to F2A and F2B petitions, and when staying in F2B is the shorter line.

Chargeability

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

Official sources and data

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

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Data for 2026, checked on