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 All Other Countries has moved backward 2 times since October 2015. When that happens, people who were eligible to file stop being eligible.

• September 2017 — moved backward from May 8, 2004 to January 1, 2002, a loss of 858 days.
• May 2016 — moved backward from May 1, 2004 to July 22, 2003, a loss of 284 days.

Who is in this line

This line is for the brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. The citizen who files the petition has to be at least 21. All Other Countries is a chargeability line, not one community. The community guides cover Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Mexican, and Nigerian communities.

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.