F4 India: the sibling queue that left the worldwide line
Enter the priority date from the I-130 filed by your U.S. citizen brother or sister to see the Indian F4 cutoff, the filing status and the tested range.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error
Forecast
No reliable forecast
5 years 6 months behind the cutoff. Past forecasts for this case missed too often to publish a date.
| Final Action Date | December 15, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Date for Filing | February 1, 2007 |
| I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing) | Not yet |
| Past error at 48 months behind (our model) | ±59 mo., range held 38 % |
| 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
- The October 2026 Final Action Date for F4, India, is December 15, 2006; your priority date is June 15, 2012, 5 years 6 months later.
- For each of the 120 months of the last 10 years, we measured how long this cutoff took to move forward by that same distance. Half the cases took longer than the history shows; 20% took Infinity years or less; 80% took more than the history shows or less.
- Back-test from October 2012 to October 2025: for people 48 months behind, the middle estimate was off by a median of 59 months (a naive “last 12 months” rule: 34), and the range held the real date 38 % of the time. That fails our publication rule, so no date is shown.
- 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).
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
F4 is the preference for brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens. For most of the archive, siblings born in India shared the worldwide F4 date; since 2016 they have had their own, because Indian demand in this category passes the 7% per-country cap. In the 2026 bulletins the Indian Final Action Date is December 15, 2006, while the rest of the world is at October 22, 2011, roughly 5 years ahead. The Dates for Filing chart, accepted by USCIS for family cases this month, reads February 1, 2007. The Indian line has been slow: since October 2016 it gained only about 4 years while ten passed on the calendar, so the queue in front of a new petition has grown. Our back-test passes for people six months and a year behind the cutoff, with median misses of 5 and 10 months, and fails further out.
The June 2016 split
From 2002 until June 2016, an Indian brother or sister of a U.S. citizen waited on the same date as a sibling from Kenya or Peru. That month the Indian F4 column broke away at January 1, 2001, and it has stayed apart in 124 of the 125 bulletins since. The largest single drop in this line's history, about 31 months, came in June 2016. How the per-country cap creates separate lines.
A line that loses ground
In October 2016 the Indian cutoff was December 1, 2002; in October 2021, September 15, 2005; today December 15, 2006. Measured against the bulletin month, the queue is about 19.8 years long and has lengthened over the decade, because the date advanced about 4.0 years in ten. The latest bulletin moved it 44 days forward. The Philippine sibling line, at May 15, 2008, did the opposite over the same years. Compare with F4 Philippines.
Filing chart and the visa route
With USCIS accepting the Dates for Filing chart for family cases this month, a beneficiary already in the United States and eligible to adjust could file Form I-485 with a priority date earlier than February 1, 2007. A sibling in India completes the case through the immigrant visa process, and there only the Final Action Date counts. USCIS filing charts.
How far the forecast reaches
We tested the model from October 2012 to October 2025, each month blind to later bulletins. A year behind the cutoff, it missed by a median of 10 months and the range held the real date 40 % of the time, which passed our threshold. Two years behind, the median miss was 26 months and the range was right only 24 % of the time, so the calculator says no reliable forecast.
F4 in the October 2026 bulletin
| Country | Final Action | Dates for Filing | Change this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| All other countries | October 22, 2011 | November 1, 2011 | no change |
| China (mainland born) | October 22, 2011 | November 1, 2011 | no change |
| India | December 15, 2006 | February 1, 2007 | ▲ 44 days |
| Mexico | April 22, 2001 | April 30, 2001 | ▲ 14 days |
| Philippines | May 15, 2008 | March 22, 2009 | ▲ 267 days |
Every October since 2002
| Bulletin | Final Action Date | Years behind the bulletin |
|---|---|---|
| October 2002 | October 1, 1990 | 12.0 |
| October 2003 | July 22, 1990 | 13.2 |
| October 2004 | November 1, 1991 | 12.9 |
| October 2005 | August 1, 1993 | 12.2 |
| October 2006 | August 1, 1995 | 11.2 |
| October 2007 | May 8, 1996 | 11.4 |
| October 2008 | May 22, 1997 | 11.4 |
| October 2009 | Unavailable (U) | – |
| October 2010 | December 1, 2001 | 8.8 |
| October 2011 | May 15, 2000 | 11.4 |
| October 2012 | Unavailable (U) | – |
| October 2013 | August 8, 2001 | 12.1 |
| October 2014 | January 22, 2002 | 12.7 |
| October 2015 | February 8, 2003 | 12.6 |
| October 2016 | December 1, 2002 | 13.8 |
| October 2017 | October 1, 2003 | 14.0 |
| October 2018 | May 1, 2004 | 14.4 |
| October 2019 | October 1, 2004 | 15.0 |
| October 2020 | March 8, 2005 | 15.6 |
| October 2021 | September 15, 2005 | 16.0 |
| October 2022 | September 15, 2005 | 17.0 |
| October 2023 | October 8, 2005 | 18.0 |
| October 2024 | March 1, 2006 | 18.6 |
| October 2025 | November 1, 2006 | 18.9 |
| October 2026 | December 15, 2006 | 19.8 |
How our forecast did for this case
| Distance behind the cutoff | Median error, our model | Median error, “last 12 months” rule | Range held the real date | Start months tested | Published? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | 5 months | 6 months | 46 % | 156 | Yes |
| 12 months | 10 months | 18 months | 40 % | 156 | Yes |
| 24 months | 26 months | 22 months | 24 % | 156 | 12-month pace only |
| 48 months | 59 months | 34 months | 38 % | 156 | No reliable forecast |