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February 2025 Visa Bulletin: Visa dates experience little movement
There has been little movement, but it will be interesting to see if India will have any in the coming months due to the Department of State's uncertainty about whether they can advance visa movement.
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) publishes current immigrant visa availability information on its Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletin shows when immigrant visas are available for issuance to prospective immigrants based on their individual priority dates. Every month, the DOS publishes two charts per visa preference category on its Visa Bulletin. The charts are based on the Application Final Dates and Dates for Filing Applications.
The Final Action Dates chart illustrates the dates when visas may finally be issued, and the Dates for Filing Applications demonstrate the earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply.
USCIS has decided to change back to using the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications. This is a change from the recent few months’ practice. Moreover, USCIS has decided to continue to follow the Dates for Filing for Family-Sponsored Adjustment of Status Applications table. While the February 2025 visa bulletin demonstrates movement dates for individuals across the globe, this article will specifically focus on the dates that impact Indian nationals.
Family-Sponsored Preference Cases Specific for Indian Nationals / USCIS- Family-based First Preference Category (F-1 – Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): India’s visa cut-off date will remain on September 1, 2017.
- Family-based Second Preference Category (F2A – Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents): India’s visa cut-off date also remains on July 15, 2024.
- Family-based Second Preference Category (F2B – Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents: India’s visa cut-off date will remain on January 1, 2017.
- Family-based Third Preference Category (F3 – Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens): India’s visa cut-off date advances by a few months to July 22, 2012.
- Family-based Fourth Preference Category (F4 – Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens): India’s visa cut-off date moves up a few days to August 15, 2006.
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Employment-Sponsored Preference Cases Specific for Indian Nationals / USCIS
- Employment-based First (Priority Workers): There is no change in the EB-1 cutoff dates for February. For India, the visa availability date remains on February 1, 2022.
- Employment-based Second (Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability): India’s visa availability moved slightly to October 15, 2022.
- Employment-based Third (Skilled Workers, Professionals) India’s visa cut-off date advances slightly to December 15, 2012. This is the same for other workers as well.
- Employment-based Fourth (Certain Special Immigrants): Due to Congress’ decision to extend this program through March 4, 2025, the EB-4 category for Indian nationals now has a visa availability date of January 1, 2021.
- Certain Religious Workers: The visa availability for certain religious workers is January 1, 2021.
- Employment-based Fifth (Employment Creation – which is the EB-5 immigrant investor visa category): In the Unreserved category, EB-5 visas availability date status on January 1, 2022, for India. Finally, in the Final Action Dates chart for EB5 Set Asides (which covers Rural, and High Unemployment, and Infrastructure areas) for Indian born applicants, the visa number continue to remain ‘Current.’
As readers can see from the description provided, there has been minimal movement for both the Family-Based Preference Cases and Employment-Based Preference Cases. It is evident even in the first few months of the new Fiscal Year 2025, the U.S. Department of State is doing its best to try and keep the various employment-based visa numbers in steady movement and to not have the visa numbers be used up too quickly.
It will be interesting to see if India will have any movement in the coming months due to the uncertainty set by the Department of State as to whether they will have enough leeway to move ahead with more visa movement advancements. We will continue to observe the steps taken by the Department of State and USCIS as we move further into the Fiscal Year 2025 and through the upcoming months.
Clement C. Chang Esq is a Senior Associate at Pasricha & Patel, LLC. He has spent several years providing exceptional legal services in employment-based immigration, labor certification, family-based immigration, and immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions. Visit Pasricha & Patel, LLC’s website here: www.pasricha.com
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