THE UNITED STATES’ VISA BULLETIN FOR MAY 2025
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Introduction
The US Visa Bulletin is actually of utmost importance to individuals who are about to immigrate to the United States. The US Department of State publishes the monthly bulletin with the latest information regarding visa availability, including the priority dates of the different categories of immigration like family-based, work-based, and other visas. To green card or resident or work visa applicants in the US, reading the Visa Bulletin is pertinent in knowing when they can expect their immigration.
The US Department of State has just published its Visa Bulletin for May 2025. The Visa Bulletin sets per-country cut-off dates impacting immigrant visa available numbers and numbers for Adjustment of Status (AOS) petition and consular Immigrant Visa interview and approval. In order to be “current,” the applicant’s priority date should be earlier than the cut-off date on the monthly Visa Bulletin.
The two main charts in the Visa Bulletin are the Dates for Filing chart and the Final Action Dates chart. The Final Action Dates chart shows when the priority date becomes current, or when Immigrant Visa petitions or I-485 AOS petitions can be approved and an immediate grant of permanent residence can be granted. The Dates for Filing chart shows when prospective immigrants may file their AOS petitions with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Main highlights of the visa bulletin
In May, the India EB-3 Final Action Date is moving two weeks forward. However, the India EB-5 Final Action Date is retrogressing six months. The Final Action Dates for all other employment-based categories and countries are unchanged. In the next month, USCIS will start accepting petitions for employment-based status changes for aliens with a priority date earlier than the Final Action Dates in the May Visa Bulletin.
The update on family-sponsored immigration
Family-sponsored immigration enables US citizens and legal permanent residents to sponsor their relatives to acquire a green card. The May 2025 Visa Bulletin reports certain important updates in some family-sponsored categories:
- F1 (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of US Citizens).
During May 2025, the F1 category will have some forward progress for certain countries, specifically India, Mexico, and the Philippines. Particularly:
- India: The priority date moves forward by about 6 months.
- Mexico: Minor advance in the priority date.
- Philippines: A huge leap with a 1-year advance in the priority date.
- F2A (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents).
For the F2A category, priority dates of all countries’ applicants are moving to current. This means that children and spouses of US permanent residents can apply for their visas without waiting for a priority date to be available, speeding up the process.
- F3 (Spouses of U.S. Citizens’ Children).
In the F3 category, progress is slower in May 2025, with India and Mexico still having longer wait times. The Philippine applicants, however, are seeing a more favorable progress of about 8 months.
- F4 (Siblings of US Citizens).
For F4, the advance is moderate for all but most countries, with Mexico and India being the longest waiters. China and the Philippines both advanced in the priority dates somewhat, but again, most of them are stuck in limbo.
The update on employment-sponsored immigration
According to the State Department’s Visa Bulletin of May, here are the inside scoop on the Final Action cutoff dates for receiving an immigrant visa or changing your status for employment-sponsored immigration:
- EB-1: For India, it is still at February 15, 2022, and for China, still at November 8, 2022. Everyone else is good.
- EB-2: India stays at January 1, 2013, and China stays at October 1, 2020. The others will stay at June 22, 2023.
- EB-3 for Skilled Workers and Professionals: India is moving two weeks forward to April 15, 2013, and China stays at November 1, 2020. The others will stay at January 1, 2023.
- EB-5: China in the EB-5 unreserved categories will stay at January 22, 2014, but India will revert half a year to May 1, 2019. All else will be fine. EB-5 set-aside categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will also stay current.
USCIS has posted on their Visa Bulletin webpage that they will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the May Visa Bulletin Final Action Dates. To apply for an employment-based adjustment in May, foreign nationals must have a priority date earlier than what is listed for their category and country.
Just a heads up, the State Department announced on February 28, 2025, that all FY 2025 EB-4 immigrant visas were exhausted as of that date, so they had to make that category unavailable. EB-4 will not be available until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025. No adjustment of status applications or immigrant visas can be approved in the EB-4 category before then. The yearly limit will reset when the new fiscal year starts on October 1, 2025.
The May Visa Bulletin explains that the State Department was compelled to retrogress the EB-5 unreserved category for India because of heavy demand. They also explained that they might well have to charge a Final Action Date to Worldwide EB-5 applicants in that category if demand keeps increasing.
Final words!
The May 2025 update of the US Visa Bulletin is useful information on how priority dates are moving in different immigration categories. Some, like F2A, are moving quickly, while others, like F3 and F4, are moving slowly. For employment-based applicants, things are generally good, especially for the EB-1 category, but there are still more applicants than visas, especially for those from India and China.
However, just like last month, it seems like an increase in visa demand could be a factor. It is frustrating to see not much progress, but we might notice some changes in July when the new fiscal year kicks in since the State Department has mentioned before that they could tweak cut-off dates every few months.
The immigration lawyers at Gehi and Associates are keeping tabs on everything that impacts immigrant visa availability. This include any comments from State Department officials before the Visa Bulletin is released, and they will give quick updates on any big changes.
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