 "US visa bulletin Feb 2025: EB-2, EB-3 advance for Indian green card seekers")
The United States Department of State (DOS) released the February 2025 Visa Bulletin on Tuesday, revealing modest progress in the EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based green card categories for Indian applicants. However, most other employment-based categories remain static.
What is the US visa bulletin?
The Visa Bulletin is a key resource for green card applicants, outlining when they can submit their applications and when final decisions on their cases might be made. It considers the availability of visas and demand across categories and countries.
The bulletin is divided into two key sections:
Dates for filing: Indicates when applicants can begin submitting their applications for adjustment of status or immigrant visas.
Final action dates: Predicts when an applicant’s case might be approved, leading to permanent residency.
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Applicants follow one of two paths:
1. Adjustment of status: For those already in the US, this allows a change of status to permanent residency.
2. Immigrant visa application: For those outside the US, applications are submitted through a consulate or embassy.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications for those whose priority date is earlier than the final action dates listed in the February Visa Bulletin.
Final action dates for February 2025
The final action dates for immigrant visa issuance or adjustment of status approval are as follows:
EB-1: India – February 1, 2022; China – November 8, 2022; all other countries – current.
EB-2: India advances to October 15, 2012; China – April 22, 2020; all other countries – April 1, 2023.
EB-3 professionals and skilled workers: India progresses to December 15, 2012; China moves to July 1, 2020; all other countries – December 1, 2022.
EB-3 other workers: India advances to December 15, 2012; China – January 1, 2017; all other countries – December 8, 2020.
EB-4: All countries – January 1, 2021.
EB-5 unreserved: China – July 15, 2016; India – January 1, 2022; all other countries – current.
EB-5 set-asides: Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure – current for all countries.
Modest movement in Indian categories
For Indian applicants, the EB-2 category moves ahead by two weeks, now set at October 15, 2012. EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers advance similarly, with the new cut-off at December 15, 2012. Meanwhile, EB-1 remains unchanged at 1 February 2022.
USCIS has confirmed that it will honour final action dates for employment-based categories in February 2025. This means eligible applicants can proceed with adjustment of status filings if their priority date precedes the specified dates.
Breakdown of employment-based visas
Employment-based green cards are divided into five categories, each with specific allocations:
EB-1: 28.6% of total visas, including unused EB-4 and EB-5 visas
EB-2: 28.6% of total visas, including unused EB-1 visas
EB-3: 28.6% of total visas, with 10,000 reserved for other workers
EB-4: 7.1% of global visas
EB-5: 7.1% of worldwide visas for investors