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F4 Mexico: a U.S. citizen’s brother or sister born in Mexico

Enter the priority date of the sibling I-130 to see how far it sits from the Mexico F4 cutoff, one of the slowest family lines in the bulletin.

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

Where will you apply?

Forecast

No reliable forecast

11 years 2 months behind the cutoff. Past forecasts for this case missed too often to publish a date.

Final Action DateApril 22, 2001
Date for FilingApril 30, 2001
I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing)Not yet
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. The October 2026 Final Action Date for F4, Mexico, is April 22, 2001; your priority date is June 15, 2012, 11 years 2 months later.
  2. 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.
  3. Your date is more than six years behind the cutoff, beyond the distances our back-test covers: no date is published.
  4. 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 brother or sister of a U.S. citizen, born in Mexico, the F4 Final Action Date in the latest Visa Bulletin is April 22, 2001 and the Date for Filing April 30, 2001. That makes the line about 25 years long, the oldest family cutoff in the table, while siblings born in most other countries are at October 22, 2011. The past year shows how slowly it moves: the date was April 8, 2001 in October 2025, held still for 12 bulletins in a row, and then advanced 14 days. Over ten years, from October 2016, it covered about 4.0 years of priority dates. In July 2005 it fell from August 1, 1993 to January 1, 1987. A citizen filing for a Mexican-born sibling today is filing for a wait that has, historically, run longer than two decades, and our calculator shows that distance plainly rather than a hopeful month.

A year counted in days

October 2025: April 8, 2001. Then 12 bulletins in a row with the same date. Then a move of 14 days to today’s April 22, 2001. For a Mexican-born sibling, twelve months of bulletins advanced the line by 14 days. Over a longer window the picture is less bleak but still slow: May 1, 1997 in October 2016, February 8, 1999 in October 2021, about 4.0 years of priority dates in ten years.

The 2005 drop

In July 2005 the cutoff fell from August 1, 1993 to January 1, 1987, roughly 79 months in one bulletin. It is one of 8 retrogressions on this line since 2001. Worldwide F4 is at October 22, 2011, about 10.5 years ahead; the F4 page compares all four columns.

Who files, and what they are filing for

Only a citizen aged 21 or older can file Form I-130 for a brother or sister. A Mexican-born sibling may be married or single; F4 does not care. What matters is that a priority date filed today joins a line that 25 years of applicants are already standing in. A spouse born outside Mexico can sometimes change the column through cross-chargeability.

What the calculator does with this line

For a priority date of April 22, 2002, one year after the cutoff, the calculator shows the distance and says there is no reliable forecast. The main model’s median error was 21 months at one year behind and 44 at two. Nephews and nieces face the CSPA age test at the end of the wait.

F4 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 countriesOctober 22, 2011November 1, 2011no change
China (mainland born)October 22, 2011November 1, 2011no change
IndiaDecember 15, 2006February 1, 2007▲ 44 days
MexicoApril 22, 2001April 30, 2001▲ 14 days
PhilippinesMay 15, 2008March 22, 2009▲ 267 days
F4 Mexico: Final Action cutoff by bulletin month since December 2001198819911994199720002002200620102014201820222026
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 2002May 22, 199012.4
October 2003December 15, 199111.8
October 2004August 15, 199212.1
October 2005February 1, 199114.7
October 2006September 15, 199313.0
October 2007July 22, 199413.2
October 2008January 15, 199513.7
October 2009Unavailable (U)–
October 2010December 8, 199514.8
October 2011April 8, 199615.5
October 2012Unavailable (U)–
October 2013October 15, 199617.0
October 2014February 1, 199717.7
October 2015March 22, 199718.5
October 2016May 1, 199719.4
October 2017October 1, 199720.0
October 2018January 22, 199820.7
October 2019December 15, 199721.8
October 2020June 22, 199822.3
October 2021February 8, 199922.6
October 2022June 1, 200022.3
October 2023August 1, 200023.2
October 2024February 22, 200123.6
October 2025April 8, 200124.5
October 2026April 22, 200125.4

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 months14 months49 %156Yes
12 months21 months16 months32 %15612-month pace only
24 months44 months28 months10 %15612-month pace only
48 months25 months53 months47 %156Yes

Questions people ask

Why is F4 Mexico the slowest family line in the Visa Bulletin?

The pool of sibling petitions filed by U.S. citizens for Mexican-born brothers and sisters is enormous, built up over decades, and the per-country limit stops Mexico from using more than its share in any year. Each sibling also brings a spouse and children under 21 who use visa numbers from the same line. The result is a cutoff that advances by days or weeks in many years.

Can a sibling’s spouse born outside Mexico shorten an F4 Mexico wait?

Possibly. Under cross-chargeability, a principal beneficiary born in Mexico may be charged to the spouse’s country of birth when both immigrate together, which can move the case to a faster column. The rule does not help an unmarried sibling. The chargeability guide explains the conditions; an immigration attorney can confirm whether it applies in your case.

What happens to nephews and nieces in a long F4 Mexico wait?

They come as derivatives only while unmarried and under 21, or while the Child Status Protection Act keeps their age below 21. In a line measured in decades, most children of the sibling will be adults when the date arrives. There is no category for an aunt or uncle to sponsor a nephew, so they need another basis to immigrate.

Keep going

F4 (brother or sister)

Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens: the longest family line, its Mexico, Philippines and India columns.

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