Summary
- China’s Final Action Date for EB-2 for June will move two months, and its EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker category will move three weeks.
- India will experience no movement in all employment-based Final Action Dates.
- Final Action Dates for other nations’ EB-2 category will move almost four months, and in the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker category, they will move five weeks.
- USCIS will begin accepting foreign applications beginning next month to modify their status in employment if their priority date is earlier than the Final Action Dates listed in the June Visa Bulletin.
Introduction
The United States Department of State released its June 2025 Visa Bulletin, establishing cut-off dates for immigrant visa and Adjustment of Status (AOS) application filing, and consular Immigrant Visa interview approvals.
For a permanent residence priority date to be “current,” it must precede the cut-off date of the monthly Visa Bulletin.
There are two charts within the Visa Bulletin: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing.
The chart of Final Action Dates is the priority date that can be used for final approval of I-485 AOS petitions or Immigrant Visa petitions, leading to permanent residency.
The chart of Dates for Filing is when the immigrants should apply their AOS petitions with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The details the US visa bulletin offers
The US visa bulletin shows immigrant numbers when they become available under ‘Final Action Dates’ and ‘Dates for Filing Applications.’ Immigrant visa applicants discover these dates when they need to send their documents to the National Visa Center.
The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin with visa cutoff dates. The bulletin is utilized to decide who may apply for a change of status and who may travel towards permanent residence.
If your cutoff date is before the current cutoff date listed in the latest Visa Bulletin, you may apply for permanent residence.
The family-sponsored preference immigrant quota for fiscal year 2025 is 226,000 under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 201. For employment-based preference immigrants, the general cap is at least 140,000.
Section 202 states that the per-country numerical limit for preference immigrants is 7% of the aggregate of family-sponsored and employment-based preference annual limits, or around 25,620. The limit for the dependent area is 2%, or 7,320.
Update on employment-based categories
Where final action dates are in question, Indian immigrants who are EB-5 investors or seeking green cards aren’t seeing any changes. As has been the situation in the past few months, there is no movement in final action dates in job-related categories.
- For EB1, the cutoff date for India is still 15-Feb-2022, but it is current for all other countries.
- In the EB2 category, India’s cutoff date is holding steady at 01-Jan-2013, while EB2 for China moves up to 01-Dec-2020. Other countries are pushing forward to 15-Oct-2023.
- India is not seeing any respite in the EB3 category as well, and the cutoff date in this case is 15-Apr-2013. China’s EB3 date moves up to 22-Nov-2020, and other countries move up to 08-Feb-2023.
- In the EB3 Other Workers category, India’s date remains the same as the general EB3 at 15-Apr-2013, and China’s remains 01-Apr-2017. Other countries see some forward movement with a cutoff date of 22-Jun-2021.
- As in the past few months, the EB4 category is closed for everyone. This is expected to continue until the end of the fiscal year on 30-Sep-2025, with hopes that things will again open in October of 2025.
- The EB5 unreserved category is not moving either. India’s unreserved cutoff date is 01-May-2019, and China’s is 22-Jan-2014. The EB5 category is current for all other places and for the three EB5 set-aside categories throughout the US.
Update on family-based categories final action dates
Family-sponsored category cut-off dates as posted by the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin are:
- F-1 Unmarried Sons and Daughters of US Citizens: No changes in Mexico and the Philippines, but others move 2.8 months up to June 8, 2016.
- F-2A Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents: For this category, the same cut-off dates for all nations will stay the same. Mexico will continue to be May 15, 2021, and other nations will continue to be January 1, 2022.
- F-2B Unmarried Children (21 and older) of Permanent Residents: For this category, the Philippines and Mexico will continue to have the same cut-off dates, and other nations will move forward 2 months to September 22, 2016.
- F3 Married Children of US Citizens: Only Philippine and Mexican cut-off dates are unaffected in this category, and the remaining ones advance 2.7 months to June 22, 2011.
- F-4 Adult Sons and Daughters of Adult US Citizens: For this group, cut-off dates by country will all be the same. Mexico continues from March 15, 2001, the Philippines continues from June 1, 2005, India continues from June 15, 2006, and the rest continue from January 1, 2008.
Update on a date for filing in family-based categories
According to the Department of State’s June 2025 Visa Bulletin, released, the cut-off dates when filing during June are as follows:
- F-1 Sons and Daughters Unmarried of US Citizens: The cut-off dates when filing will stay the same on the board. Mexico is still April 1, 2006, the Philippines April 22, 2015, and the rest of the world still September 1, 2017.
- F-2A Spouses and Children of Legal Permanent Residents: Same filing dates for everyone (February 1, 2025) again.
- F-2B Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21+) of Permanent Residents: Nothing changes with this one. Mexico is still April 1, 2007, the Philippines is still October 1, 2013, and everyone else remains January 1, 2017.
- F3 Married Sons and Daughters of US Citizens: The same deadlines apply for this category as well. It shall be June 15, 2001, for Mexico, September 22, 2004, for the Philippines, and July 22, 2012, for any other nation.
- F-4 Adult US Citizen Brothers and Sisters: For this sub-group, the India filing date moves 2 months to December 1, 2006. Otherwise, everything is as before. Mexico still April 30, 2001, the Philippines still January 1, 2008, and the remainder still June 1, 2008.
Final words!
This is the fifth month in a row that USCIS has released its visa bulletin in 2025. The June Visa Bulletin doesn’t mention this, but like last month, it looks like a spike in visa demand might have played a part.
It is disappointing that we haven’t seen more big progress in categories that have been stuck for ages. This is especially since June kicks off the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, and the Department of State hinted that cut-off dates could shift every quarter. People were hoping for better movement.
The legal team at Gehi & Associates will be keeping a close watch on any changes that could impact immigrant visa availability. This means we will keep tabs on what Department of State officials say before the Visa Bulletin comes out, and we will share quick updates on any important changes.
