November 2025 Visa Bulletin
Data verified August 24, 2026
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What changed in the November 2025 bulletin
- F3 MexicoCutoff now May 1, 2001.
- F2B All other countries · China · IndiaThe same move for all other chargeability areas, China, and India.
In brief
- 16 of 150 cutoff entries moved; 0 retrogressed.
- Largest move: F3 for Mexico, +2w.
- Final action dates moved in 2 family-sponsored categories and 0 employment-based categories.
The November 2025 bulletin’s biggest family move: F3 for Mexico advances 2 weeks. 5 other family categories hold unchanged. Employment-based final action dates hold.
| Category | All Areas | China-mainland born | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens | Nov 8, 2016no change | Nov 8, 2016no change | Nov 8, 2016no change | Nov 22, 2005no change | Jan 22, 2013no change |
| F2ASpouses and Children of Permanent Residents | Feb 1, 2024no change | Feb 1, 2024no change | Feb 1, 2024no change | Feb 1, 2023no change | Feb 1, 2024no change |
| F2BUnmarried Sons and Daughters (21+) of Permanent Residents | Dec 1, 2016advanced 9 days | Dec 1, 2016advanced 9 days | Dec 1, 2016advanced 9 days | Dec 15, 2007no change | Oct 1, 2012no change |
| F3Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens | Sep 8, 2011no change | Sep 8, 2011no change | Sep 8, 2011no change | May 1, 2001advanced 2 weeks | Sep 22, 2004no change |
| F4Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens | Jan 8, 2008no change | Jan 8, 2008no change | Nov 1, 2006no change | Apr 8, 2001no change | Mar 22, 2006no change |
| Category | All Areas | China-mainland born | India | Mexico | Philippines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens | Sep 1, 2017no change | Sep 1, 2017no change | Sep 1, 2017no change | Mar 1, 2007advanced 5 months | Apr 22, 2015no change |
| F2ASpouses and Children of Permanent Residents | Oct 22, 2025advanced 4 weeks | Oct 22, 2025advanced 4 weeks | Oct 22, 2025advanced 4 weeks | Oct 22, 2025advanced 4 weeks | Oct 22, 2025advanced 4 weeks |
| F2BUnmarried Sons and Daughters (21+) of Permanent Residents | Mar 8, 2017advanced 2 months | Mar 8, 2017advanced 2 months | Mar 8, 2017advanced 2 months | May 15, 2009advanced 5 months | Oct 1, 2013no change |
| F3Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens | Jul 22, 2012no change | Jul 22, 2012no change | Jul 22, 2012no change | Jul 1, 2001advanced 2 weeks | Nov 1, 2005advanced 3 months |
| F4Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens | Mar 1, 2009no change | Mar 1, 2009no change | Dec 15, 2006no change | Apr 30, 2001no change | Jan 1, 2008no change |
From the Department’s notes for November 2025
5 sections, reproduced verbatim from the U.S. Department of State’s November 2025 Visa Bulletin. The Department’s words, not ours.
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS FOR PREFERENCE IMMIGRANT VISAS
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during November for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.
Unless otherwise indicated on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website at
www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo , individuals seeking to file applications for adjustment of status with USCIS must use the “Final Action Dates” charts below for determining when they can file such applications. When USCIS determines that there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants for such visas, USCIS will state on its website that applicants may instead use the “Dates for Filing Visa Applications” charts in this Bulletin.
1. Procedures for determining dates. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; USCIS reports applicants for adjustment of status. Allocations in the charts below were made, to the extent possible, in chronological order of reported priority dates, for demand received by October 1st . If not all demand could be satisfied, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The final action date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits. If it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress a final action date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new final action date announced in this bulletin. If at any time an annual limit were reached, it would be necessary to immediately make the preference category “unavailable”, and no further requests for numbers would be honored.
2. The fiscal year 2026 limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants determined in accordance with Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.
3. INA Section 203(e) provides that family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition in behalf of each has been filed. Section 203(d) provides that spouses and children of preference immigrants are entitled to the same status, and the same order of consideration, if accompanying or following to join the principal. The visa prorating provisions of Section 202(e) apply to allocations for a foreign state or dependent area when visa issuances will exceed the per-country limit. These provisions apply at present to the following oversubscribed chargeability areas: CHINA-mainland born, INDIA, MEXICO, and PHILIPPINES.
4. Section 203(a) of the INA prescribes preference classes for allotment of Family-sponsored immigrant visas as follows:
FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
First : ( F1 ) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.
Second : Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:
A. ( F2A ) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. ( F2B ) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents: 23% of the overall second preference limitation.
Third : ( F3 ) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.
Fourth : ( F4 ) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.
C. THE DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN DECEMBER
For December , immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2026 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:
Region
All DV Chargeability Areas Except
Those Listed Separately
AFRICA
17,500
Except: Algeria 17,250
Egypt 16,000
ASIA
10,000
Except: Nepal 6,000
EUROPE
7,750
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)
20
OCEANIA
1,100
SOUTH AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
1,850
D. EXPIRATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT FOURTH RELIGIOUS WORKERS (SR) CATEGORY
H.R. 1968, signed on March 15, 2025, extended the Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR) category until September 30, 2025. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight September 29, 2025.
The final action date for this category has been listed as “Unavailable” for November. In the event there is legislative action extending the category, it is likely it will become available effective immediately. If extended, the category will be subject to the same final action dates as the other Employment Fourth Preference categories per applicable foreign state of chargeability.
E. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2026 (DV-2026) RESULTS
The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the selectees who are eligible to participate in the DV-2026 Diversity Visa (DV) program. Random selection of DV participants was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which makes up to *55,000 permanent resident visas available annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 129,516 prospective applicants (i.e., selectees and their spouses and children) have been registered, can confirm their selection, and may be eligible to make an application for an immigrant visa. Since selection is random and blind to the number of family members who might immigrate with the selectee, and it is likely that some of the selectees will not complete their cases or will be found ineligible for a visa, this larger figure should ensure that all DV-2026 numbers can be used during fiscal year 2026 (FY26: October 1, 2025, until September 30, 2026).
Entrants registered for the DV-2026 program were selected at random from 20,822,624 qualified entries received during the 37-day application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, until noon, Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, November 7, 2024. The visas will be apportioned among the six geographic regions to ensure a maximum of seven percent are issued to persons chargeable to any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete all required steps.
Selectees who are physically present with legal status in the United States may apply to adjust their status by first contacting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *55,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2026 will end. Selectees who do not receive visas or status by September 30, 2026, will derive no further benefit from their DV-2026 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2026 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2026.
Dates for the DV-2027 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months. Those interested in entering the DV-2027 program should check the Department of State’s Diversity Visa web page in the coming months.
*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. This will result in reduction of the DV-2026 annual limit to approximately 54,850. Additionally, Section 5104 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 amended the NACARA’s provisions on the Diversity Visa program such that the number of visas made available under the NDAA will also be deducted from the 55,000 DVs annually allocated. This will result in an additional reduction of the DV-2026 annual limit to approximately 51,850.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state of chargeability of prospective applicants (i.e., selectees and their spouses and children) who have been registered for the DV-2026 program:
AFRICA
ALGERIA 5,457
ESWATINI 3
MOZAMBIQUE 4
ANGOLA 763
ETHIOPIA 3,287
NAMIBIA 3
BENIN 1,064
GABON 62
NIGER 109
BOTSWANA 7
GAMBIA, THE 198
RWANDA 1,252
BURKINA FASO 252
GHANA 1,642
SENEGAL 478
BURUNDI 1,616
GUINEA 1,051
SIERRA LEONE 639
CABO VERDE 35
GUINEA-BISSAU 10
SOMALIA 1,554
CAMEROON 3,533
KENYA 3,949
SOUTH AFRICA 187
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 19
LESOTHO 6
SOUTH SUDAN 72
CHAD 482
LIBERIA 1,593
SUDAN 5,226
COMOROS 12
LIBYA 276
TANZANIA 404
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 2,210
MADAGASCAR 48
TOGO 2,473
CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE 448
MALAWI 159
TUNISIA 202
COTE D’IVOIRE 926
MALI 268
UGANDA 1,513
DJIBOUTI 204
MAURITANIA 261
ZAMBIA 236
EGYPT 5,527
MAURITIUS 2
ZIMBABWE 327
EQUATORIAL GUINEA 12
MOROCCO 3,670
ERITREA 206
Western Sahara 2
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN 4,200
JORDAN 1,092
SINGAPORE 6
BAHRAIN 18
KUWAIT 101
SRI LANKA 1,028
BHUTAN 278
LAOS 68
SYRIA 624
BURMA 1,540
LEBANON 141
TAIWAN 247
CAMBODIA 811
MALAYSIA 17
THAILAND 360
INDONESIA 385
MONGOLIA 227
TIMOR-LESTE 1
IRAN 4,137
NEPAL 3,933
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 154
IRAQ 616
OMAN 11
YEMEN 2,449
ISRAEL 153
QATAR 66
JAPAN 141
SAUDI ARABIA 577
EUROPE
ALBANIA 1,590
GERMANY 420
POLAND 343
ARMENIA 2,639
GREECE 58
PORTUGAL 40
AUSTRIA 35
HUNGARY 121
Macau 5
AZERBAIJAN 1,817
IRELAND 30
ROMANIA 161
BELARUS 1,545
ITALY 267
RUSSIA 5,510
BELGIUM 26
KAZAKHSTAN 2,723
SERBIA 324
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 51
KOSOVO 172
SLOVAKIA 26
BULGARIA 142
KYRGYZSTAN 3,324
SLOVENIA 6
CROATIA 14
LATVIA 53
SPAIN 84
CYPRUS 8
LITHUANIA 79
SWEDEN 34
CZECH REPUBLIC 44
MOLDOVA 1,208
SWITZERLAND 22
DENMARK 8
MONTENEGRO 57
TAJIKISTAN 3,708
ESTONIA 17
NETHERLANDS 24
TURKEY 3,191
FINLAND 20
Aruba 4
TURKMENISTAN 2,542
FRANCE 309
NORTH MACEDONIA 165
UKRAINE 5,283
French Polynesia 1
NORTHERN IRELAND 10
UNITED KINGDOM 1,303
New Caledonia 4
NORWAY 6
UZBEKISTAN 3,754
GEORGIA 1,406
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE 23
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA 599
MICRONESIA 1
SAMOA 14
Christmas Island 1
NAURU 8
SOLOMON ISLANDS 4
Cocos (Keeling) Islands 55
NEW ZEALAND 229
TONGA 100
COOK ISLANDS 24
Tokelau 4
VANUATU 13
FIJI 2,094
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 14
KIRIBATI 15
REPUBLIC OF PALAU 3
SOUTH AMERICA
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 2
ECUADOR 1,270
PERU 1,596
ARGENTINA 124
GRENADA 5
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 11
BARBADOS 3
GUATEMALA 367
SAINT LUCIA 9
BELIZE 2
GUYANA 24
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 8
BOLIVIA 269
NICARAGUA 167
SURINAME 8
CHILE 83
PANAMA 36
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 139
COSTA RICA 99
PARAGUAY 19
URUGUAY 13
DOMINICA 8
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2026: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (including Hong Kong SAR), Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
F. U.S. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISAS (SIVs)
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024, signed into law on December 22, 2023, may affect certain current and former employees of the U.S. Government abroad, as well as certain surviving spouses and children of deceased employees of the U.S. government abroad, applying for SIVs or adjustment of status, as described in section 101(a)(27)(D) of the INA. This does not affect certain Iraqis and Afghans applying for SQ and SI SIVs. Applicants should contact the consular section at which they filed their Form DS‑1884 for further information on the impact of that law on their case.
F. FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON VISA PROCESSING AT U.S. EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES, PLEASE VISIT THE BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS WEBSITE AT TRAVEL.STATE.GOV
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Understanding the Two Charts
Final Action Dates
For issuance of Green Cards. If your priority date is earlier than the date shown for your category and country, a visa number is available and your case can be approved. “Current” means all priority dates are being processed; “Unavailable” means no visa numbers are authorized this month.
Dates for Filing
For submitting I-485 applications. This chart shows the earliest priority date at which you may assemble and submit documents — ahead of final action — when USCIS designates this chart as usable for the month. It lets applicants get in line earlier while waiting for a visa number.