Green Card Backlog Tracker
EB-5 Unreserved Priority Date for China
Updated for August 2026 · 9.7-year backlog · +352 days moved in 12 months · 1 retrogression since 2015
This page tracks the EB-5 Unreserved (Investor – Unreserved) cutoff date for applicants chargeable to China, using the chart USCIS designated for adjustment-of-status filers each month. History runs from April 2022 to August 2026 — 53 monthly bulletins.
Where the line is right now
EB-5 Unreserved · China · August 2026
December 1, 2016
If your priority date is before December 1, 2016, your category is current for August 2026 under the Final Action Dates chart.
USCIS designated the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based adjustment-of-status filings in August 2026. That designation changes month to month, and it determines which cutoff actually governs when you can file.
How fast the line is moving
| Window | Cutoff then | Cutoff now | Total movement | Average pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 6 months | January 22, 2014 | December 1, 2016 | +1,044 days | +174 days/month |
| Last 12 months | December 15, 2015 | December 1, 2016 | +352 days | +29 days/month |
| Last 24 months | July 8, 2015 | December 1, 2016 | +512 days | +21 days/month |
At the pace of the last 12 months — about 29 days of movement per month — the line would take roughly 10 more years to clear its current 9.7-year gap. That is arithmetic on past movement, not a projection: demand, per-country caps and annual visa supply all change.
Movement is measured only between months that used the same chart type. USCIS publishes one designated chart per month, so comparing a Final Action cutoff against a Dates for Filing cutoff would overstate or understate movement. Months where the chart switched are excluded from these figures.
Has it moved backward?
The cutoff for China has moved backward 1 times since April 2022. When that happens, people who were eligible to file stop being eligible.
- April 2025 — moved backward from July 15, 2016 to January 22, 2014, a loss of 905 days.
The last 24 bulletins
| Bulletin month | Cutoff date | Chart in use |
|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | December 1, 2016 | Final Action Dates |
| July 2026 | December 1, 2016 | Final Action Dates |
| June 2026 | September 22, 2016 | Final Action Dates |
| May 2026 | September 22, 2016 | Final Action Dates |
| April 2026 | October 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| March 2026 | October 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| February 2026 | August 22, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| January 2026 | August 22, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| December 2025 | July 22, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| November 2025 | July 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| October 2025 | July 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| September 2025 | December 8, 2015 | Final Action Dates |
| August 2025 | December 8, 2015 | Final Action Dates |
| July 2025 | January 22, 2014 | Final Action Dates |
| June 2025 | January 22, 2014 | Final Action Dates |
| May 2025 | January 22, 2014 | Final Action Dates |
| April 2025 | January 22, 2014 | Final Action Dates |
| March 2025 | July 15, 2016 | Final Action Dates |
| February 2025 | July 15, 2016 | Final Action Dates |
| January 2025 | October 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| December 2024 | October 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| November 2024 | October 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| October 2024 | October 1, 2016 | Dates for Filing |
| September 2024 | December 15, 2015 | Final Action Dates |
Full history back to April 2022 is tracked — 53 monthly bulletins in total.
What a priority date actually is
Your priority date is the day your employer properly filed the immigrant petition on your behalf. It is your place in line, and it never changes.
Every month the State Department publishes a cutoff date for each category and country of birth. When the cutoff passes your priority date, a visa number is available to you. Because the law caps how many green cards any one country can receive per year, applicants born in high-demand countries wait far longer than the worldwide line for the exact same category.
Country of birth is what matters — not citizenship, not where you live now. That single fact is why two colleagues doing identical work at the same company can be years apart in the same queue.
This page is information, not legal advice. It reports published government data and nothing more. Cutoff dates move unpredictably and individual cases turn on facts this page cannot know. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed immigration attorney.
Sources
Cutoff dates from USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts, August 2026 edition, which republishes the U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin. History compiled from 53 monthly USCIS bulletin pages (April 2022–August 2026). Chart type is recorded as published; where a source page did not state it, it is marked rather than assumed. See How We Research.