/>iThe U.S. Department of State retrogressed the final action date for the employment-based second preference category (EB-2) for all countries except China and India by six weeks, from October 15, 2023, to September 1, 2023, according to the August 2025 Visa Bulletin. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from individuals with priority dates earlier than the final action dates listed in the August 2025 Visa Bulletin.
Quick Hits
- The EB-2 final action date will retrogress for all countries except China and India, to September 1, 2023.
- The EB-3 final action date for India will advance by one month, to May 22, 2013.
- The State Department has warned of potential unavailability in the EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 categories.
| Employment- based |
All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed |
CHINA- mainland born |
INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | 15NOV22 | 15FEB22 | C | C |
| 2nd | 01SEP23 | 15DEC20 | 01JAN13 | 01SEP23 | 01SEP23 |
| 3rd | 01APR23 | 01DEC20 | 22MAY13 | 01APR23 | 08FEB23 |
| Other Workers | 08JUL21 | 01MAY17 | 22MAY13 | 08JUL21 | 08JUL21 |
| 4th | U | U | U | U | U |
| Certain Religious Workers | U | U | U | U | U |
| 5th Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, R5, NU, RU) |
C | 08DEC15 | 15NOV19 | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: Rural (20%, including NR, RR) |
C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: High Unemployment (10%, including NH, RH) |
C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th Set Aside: Infrastructure (2%, including RI) |
C | C | C | C | C |
Source: U.S. Department of State, August 2025 Visa Bulletin, Final Action Dates Chart
The August 2025 Visa Bulletin reveals no changes in final action dates for the EB-1 category. All countries will remain current in August except for China, which will stay at November 15, 2022, and India, which will remain at February 15, 2022.
The EB-2 category final action date for China will remain current at December 15, 2020. The EB-2 final action date for India will also remain current at January 1, 2013.
In the EB-3 category, there will be no changes in final action dates for all countries except India, which will advance by one month to May 22, 2013.
For the EB-5 Unreserved category, China will advance by nearly two years to December 8, 2015, and India will advance by more than six months to November 15, 2019. All other countries will remain current.
The August 2025 Visa Bulletin also includes updates on the anticipated availability of immigrant visa numbers for the remainder of the fiscal year (FY) ending on September 30, 2025. The State Department said in the Visa Bulletin that the issuance total in the EB-2 category is “rapidly approaching the annual limit for FY-2025,” and “[i]t is likely the annual limit will be reached sometime in August, if not sooner.” If the annual limit is reached, the State Department will “immediately make the preference category ‘unavailable.’”
Similarly, the State Department said that visa issuance totals in the EB-3 category are approaching the annual limit for FY 2025. “It will likely be necessary to either retrogress the final action dates or make the categories “Unavailable” in September, if not sooner.”
Immigrant visa limits will reset at the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2025.
