Where the line is right now

USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for family-sponsored adjustment-of-status filings in September 2026. That designation changes month to month, and it determines which cutoff actually governs when you can file.

Has it moved backward?

The cutoff for Mexico has moved backward 1 times since October 2015. When that happens, people who were eligible to file stop being eligible.

• May 2016 — moved backward from April 1, 1996 to September 8, 1995, a loss of 206 days.

Who is in this line

This line is for the unmarried sons and daughters, age 21 or older, of lawful permanent residents. The Mexican community guides show where people born in Mexico have settled in the U.S.

What a priority date actually is

Your priority date is the day USCIS accepted your relative’s petition, Form I-130. 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. A visa number is available only under the Final Action chart, and only when the priority date is earlier than that cutoff. A Dates for Filing cutoff controls filing, not visa issuance. 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. Two people in this same family category can be years apart in line if they were born in different countries.