Through employing permutation entropy and the self-correlation function, the time-delay signature (TDS) of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with variable-polarization filtered optical feedback (VPFOF) is evaluated theoretically. The work shows that the feedback rate η, polarizer angle θ p , and filter bandwidth Λ have an obvious influence on the TDS. The evolution maps of the TDS in parameter space ðη; ΛÞ and ðη; θ p Þ are simulated for searching the chaos with weak TDS. Furthermore, compared with a VCSEL with polarization-preserved filtered optical feedback and a VCSEL with variable-polarization mirror optical feedback, this VPFOF-VCSEL shows superiority in TDS suppression.