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F2A Mexico: spouse or child under 21 of a resident, born in Mexico

Enter the priority date of the I-130 your resident spouse or parent filed to see where it stands against the Mexico F2A date this month.

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 DateMarch 22, 2026
Date for FilingCurrent
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

For a spouse or unmarried child under 21 of a green card holder, born in Mexico, the F2A Final Action Date in the latest Visa Bulletin is March 22, 2026. Applicants born elsewhere are at September 22, 2026, so Mexico trails by about 6 months, down from 12 months in October 2025. That gap is small by Mexican standards: every other Mexico family column trails its worldwide twin by 9 years or more. The reason is written in the bulletin, which exempts 75% of F2A numbers from the per-country limit. Mexico still has its own F2A date in 68% of bulletins since October 2015. The Dates for Filing chart shows Mexico F2A as Current (C). Over the past twelve months the Mexican cutoff advanced about 38 months. This is also the only Mexico family case where our main model passed the back-test at one year behind: median error 5 months, range right 89% of the time from 2012 to 2025.

The Mexico line that stays close to the rest

Every other Mexico family column runs years or decades behind its worldwide twin. F2A does not, because the Visa Bulletin exempts 75% of its numbers from the per-country limit. What remains is a gap of about 6 months today: March 22, 2026 for Mexico against September 22, 2026. In October 2025 the gap was 12 months (February 1, 2023 against February 1, 2024). The latest bulletin moved the Mexican date 212 days forward.

A short split in 2022

From July 2019 the category was current for everyone. In August 2022 Mexico alone was given a cutoff of April 22, 2019, while the rest of the world stayed at Current (C); two bulletins later Mexico was current again. The heavier blow had come earlier, in January 2011, when the Mexican F2A date fell from March 1, 2010 to April 1, 2005, about 59 months in one bulletin. In all, Mexico F2A has retrogressed 7 times since 2001.

A forecast we are willing to show

For F1 and F3 Mexico our back-test fails and the calculator prints no date. F2A Mexico is the one Mexican family line where the main model passes. Take a priority date of March 22, 2027, a year after the cutoff: the calculator puts the date becoming current between November 2026 and December 2027. At six months behind, the median error since 2012 was 3 months and the range caught 84 % of outcomes.

Children near 21

A Mexican-born child whose CSPA age stays under 21 keeps F2A; otherwise the case moves to F2B Mexico, a far older line. If the resident parent naturalizes while the child is still under 21, the child leaves the queue as an immediate relative and the Mexico column no longer applies. The CSPA guide shows the calculation, and the F2A page compares Mexico with the worldwide column.

F2A 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 countriesSeptember 22, 2026Current (C)▲ 31 days
China (mainland born)September 22, 2026Current (C)▲ 31 days
IndiaSeptember 22, 2026Current (C)▲ 31 days
MexicoMarch 22, 2026Current (C)▲ 212 days
PhilippinesSeptember 22, 2026Current (C)▲ 31 days
F2A Mexico: Final Action cutoff by bulletin month since December 20011995200120072013201920252002200620102014201820222026
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 2002February 1, 19957.7
October 2003March 1, 19967.6
October 2004September 15, 19977.0
October 2005October 1, 19987.0
October 2006October 15, 19997.0
October 2007May 1, 20025.4
October 2008May 1, 20017.4
October 2009Unavailable (U)–
October 2010January 1, 20100.7
October 2011October 15, 20083.0
October 2012Unavailable (U)–
October 2013September 1, 20130.1
October 2014July 22, 20122.2
October 2015March 1, 20141.6
October 2016December 1, 20141.8
October 2017October 15, 20152.0
October 2018August 1, 20162.2
October 2019Current (C)–
October 2020Current (C)–
October 2021Current (C)–
October 2022Current (C)–
October 2023February 1, 20194.7
October 2024March 8, 20213.6
October 2025February 1, 20232.7
October 2026March 22, 20260.5

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 months3 months3 months84 %106Yes
12 months5 months6 months89 %106Yes
24 months7 months18 months78 %65No reliable forecast
48 months15 months571 months100 %12No reliable forecast

Questions people ask

Why does F2A Mexico have a date of its own if most numbers are exempt?

Because the exemption covers 75% of F2A numbers, not all of them. The remaining quarter is subject to the per-country limit, and Mexican demand is large enough to hit it. When that happens, Mexican-born applicants wait slightly longer than everyone else. In many months the two dates are identical or only weeks apart; in others Mexico trails by a year.

What happens to an F2A Mexico case when the resident spouse naturalizes?

The spouse and any children still under 21 become immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen. Immediate relatives have no Visa Bulletin cutoff and no Mexico column, so the remaining wait disappears and only processing time is left. A child who is 21 or older at the date of naturalization converts to F1 Mexico instead, a much longer line.

Did F2A Mexico stay current when the rest of the world did?

Almost. Both columns were current from July 2019, but in the August and September 2022 bulletins Mexico alone received a cutoff while every other country stayed current. Mexico returned to current in October 2022, and both columns retrogressed together in 2023. The episode shows how the non-exempt quarter of F2A numbers can split Mexico from the rest.

Keep going

F2A (spouse or child of resident)

Spouses and children under 21 of green card holders: the shortest family line, often current on the filing chart.

Mexico

Every Visa Bulletin category for people born in Mexico, with the worldwide date for comparison.

Child turning 21 (CSPA)

How the CSPA age is worked out, why the queue after approval still counts, and the one-year step families miss.

Chargeability

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

Consular processing cost

I-130, State Department visa fee, affidavit review and USCIS Immigrant Fee for a relative abroad.

Official sources and data

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Data for 2026, checked on