QueueCheckofficial waits, shared dates

F3 priority dates in the Visa Bulletin

F3 covers married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, of any age, together with their spouses and unmarried children under 21 as derivatives. The derivative rule matters here more than in most categories: one petition can eventually move a whole household.

The tables below show the current cut-offs, the latest movement, and the verified history from the State Department's own documents.

Written and checked by the QueueCheck editorial team. Last checked September 29, 2026. How we verify information

Where F3 stands in October 2026

Final Action Dates

22OCT14

All other chargeability areas. A visa number can be authorized only for priority dates earlier than a listed cut-off.

Dates for Filing

01NOV14

USCIS has not yet named the chart that governs family-sponsored adjustment filings for October 2026, checked 2026-09-29. Both dates above are the bulletin's own.

The final action position is unchanged from September 2026.

Open QueueCheck Visa Bulletin Checker

Verified history, month by month

Every row is transcribed from the State Department's published bulletin document for that month, never from trackers or memory. The table grows as months are added.

F3 verified monthly cut-offs
Bulletin monthFinal ActionDates for Filing
October 202622OCT1401NOV14
September 202622OCT1401NOV14
August 202615MAY1201MAR13
July 202615APR1208DEC12
June 202615FEB1208DEC12
May 202615FEB1208DEC12
April 202622DEC1122NOV12
March 202608SEP1122JUL12
February 202608SEP1122JUL12
January 202608SEP1122JUL12
December 202508SEP1122JUL12
November 202508SEP1122JUL12
October 202508SEP1122JUL12

Why F3 runs slower than the unmarried line

The category is allocated 23,400 visas a year plus any numbers the first and second preferences do not use, and in practice the spillover is small. Demand has kept the worldwide queue at more than a decade, with Mexico and the Philippines carrying separate columns far behind that.

Divorce, not movement, is the sharpest edge in this category's mechanics: a beneficiary whose marriage ends while the case waits converts to F1 as an unmarried son or daughter, generally a faster line. The chart never mentions it, and it changes which row a family should be reading.

F3: married children of U.S. citizens: every country in October 2026

The same category across all chargeability areas, both charts. Your column is your country of birth, not citizenship or residence.

F3: married children of U.S. citizens cut-offs by chargeability area
ChartAll other chargeability areasChina (mainland born)IndiaMexicoPhilippines
Final Action22OCT1422OCT1422OCT1401JUL0122JUL06
Dates for Filing01NOV1401NOV1401NOV1401DEC0222OCT06

Common questions

Do my spouse and children immigrate with me on an F3 petition?

A spouse and unmarried children under 21 can accompany or follow to join as derivatives on the same petition and priority date. Children who marry or turn 21 before the case completes can lose derivative status, subject to Child Status Protection Act calculations, which is a common and painful surprise in a queue this long.

How does the F3 wait compare with the sibling category?

The current charts for both are on this page's tables and the F4 tracker's. Historically F4 has run slower for most countries, but the comparison flips for some columns in some years, which is exactly what the per-country history tables exist to show.

Sources and scope

Transcribed from the Department of State's October 2026 Visa Bulletin (Number 19, Volume XI), checked against both the official HTML page and the seven-page published PDF. The published document contains the family-sponsored and employment-based charts and no Diversity Visa table. USCIS's separate October adjustment-of-status chart selection had not been posted when checked on September 29, 2026. The USCIS chart designation is verified on its filing-charts page when each month is entered. This page records position, never predictions, and none of it is legal advice; the official pages govern wherever anything differs.

Other tracked categories

Background reading: how to read the Visa Bulletin and the US Green Card wait page.

Plan the steps after your priority date is reached

The bulletin answers visa availability. If permanent residence later begins, these resources cover the separate setup, card-delivery and travel questions that follow.

New Immigrant U.S. Setup Planner

After admission or adjustment, turn Green Card delivery, Social Security, address, health, work, money and travel into a private checklist.