Bulletin archive

April 2025 Visa Bulletin

Effective April 1, 2025 · Fiscal Year 2025
Source: archived HTML
Data verified August 24, 2026

Your line

Across the whole bulletin
62moved
2retrogressed
88held
Bulletin day

What changed in the April 2025 bulletin

  1. F3 All other countries · China · IndiaF3, All other countries · China · India: advanced 9 months+9mLargest since 2015The same move for all other chargeability areas, China, and India.
  2. F2B MexicoF2B, Mexico: advanced 6 months+6mCutoff now January 1, 2006.
  3. F1 the PhilippinesF1, the Philippines: advanced 4 months+4mCutoff now July 15, 2012.
  4. F1 All other countries · China · IndiaF1, All other countries · China · India: advanced 4 months+4mThe same move for all other chargeability areas, China, and India.
  5. F2B the PhilippinesF2B, the Philippines: advanced 3 months+3mCutoff now January 22, 2012.
  6. F4 the PhilippinesF4, the Philippines: advanced 3 months+3mCutoff now January 1, 2005.
  7. F4 IndiaF4, India: advanced 2 months+2mLargest since 2021Cutoff now June 15, 2006.
  8. F2B All other countries · China · IndiaF2B, All other countries · China · India: advanced 2 months+2mThe same move for all other chargeability areas, China, and India.
  9. F3 the PhilippinesF3, the Philippines: advanced 8 weeks+2mCutoff now March 22, 2003.
  10. F3 MexicoF3, Mexico: advanced 8 weeks+2mCutoff now January 15, 2001.
  11. F1 MexicoF1, Mexico: advanced 6 weeks+1mCutoff now January 1, 2005.
  12. F4 MexicoF4, Mexico: advanced 2 weeks+2wCutoff now March 15, 2001.
  13. EB4 All countriesEB4, All countries: became Unavailable○ UnavailableNo visa numbers authorized in this bulletin.
  14. EB4 Religious Workers All countriesEB4 Religious Workers, All countries: became Unavailable○ UnavailableNo visa numbers authorized in this bulletin.
  15. EB5 ChinaEB5, China: retrogressed 2.5 years−2y 6mCutoff now January 22, 2014.
  16. EB5 IndiaEB5, India: retrogressed 2.2 years−2y 2mCutoff now November 1, 2019.
  17. EB2 ChinaEB2, China: advanced 5 months+5mLargest since 2021Cutoff now October 1, 2020.
  18. EB3 Other Workers the PhilippinesEB3 Other Workers, the Philippines: advanced 4 months+4mCutoff now May 22, 2021.
  19. EB3 Other Workers All other countries · MexicoEB3 Other Workers, All other countries · Mexico: advanced 4 months+4mThe same move for all other chargeability areas and Mexico.
  20. EB3 ChinaEB3, China: advanced 3 months+3mCutoff now November 1, 2020.
  21. EB3 Other Workers ChinaEB3 Other Workers, China: advanced 3 months+3mCutoff now April 1, 2017.
  22. EB3 IndiaEB3, India: advanced 8 weeks+2mCutoff now April 1, 2013.
  23. EB3 Other Workers IndiaEB3 Other Workers, India: advanced 8 weeks+2mCutoff now April 1, 2013.
  24. EB2 All other countries · Mexico · the PhilippinesEB2, All other countries · Mexico · the Philippines: advanced 5 weeks+1mThe same move for all other chargeability areas, Mexico, and the Philippines.
  25. EB2 IndiaEB2, India: advanced 4 weeks+1mCutoff now January 1, 2013.
  26. EB3 All other countries · Mexico · the PhilippinesEB3, All other countries · Mexico · the Philippines: advanced 4 weeks+1mThe same move for all other chargeability areas, Mexico, and the Philippines.
  27. EB1 IndiaEB1, India: advanced 2 weeks+2wCutoff now February 15, 2022.
4 categories unchanged · Final action dates · how stamps are judged

In brief

The April 2025 bulletin’s biggest family move: F3 for all other chargeability areas, China, and India advance 9 months. 2 other family categories hold unchanged. On the employment side, EB4 for all countries become Unavailable.

Read the full breakdown of the April 2025 bulletin

For F3 (all other chargeability areas, China, and India), this is the largest single-bulletin F3 advance in our archive (since Oct 2015). For EB2 (China), this is the largest single-bulletin EB2 advance since 2021. For F4 (India), this is the largest single-bulletin F4 advance since 2021.

For issuance of Green Cards
Primary source

From the Department’s notes for April 2025

4 sections, reproduced verbatim from the U.S. Department of State’s April 2025 Visa Bulletin. The Department’s words, not ours.

A. STATUTORY NUMBERS FOR PREFERENCE IMMIGRANT VISASThis bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during April for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for…

This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during April 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 March 3rd . 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 2025 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 MAY

For May , immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2025 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

35,000

Except: Algeria 34,500

Egypt 32,500

Morocco 30,000

ASIA

6,500

Except: Iran 6,450

Nepal 6,450

EUROPE

16,000

Except: Russia 15,950

Uzbekistan 9,000

NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)

20

OCEANIA

1,550

SOUTH AMERICA,

and the CARIBBEAN

2,250

D. ANNUAL LIMIT REACHED IN THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED FOURTH PREFERENCE (EB-4) CATEGORYThe State Department, working in close collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has issued all…

The State Department, working in close collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has issued all available immigrant visas in the Employment-Based Fourth Preference (EB-4) category, which includes visas made available to certain religious workers under the SR visa category, for fiscal year (FY) 2025 and the category was made unavailable on February 28, 2025. Since all available EB-4 visas for FY 2025 have been used, embassies and consulates may not issue visas in these categories for the remainder of the fiscal year. The annual limits will reset with the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2026) on October 1, 2025. At that point, embassies and consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in this category to qualified applicants.

E. RETROGRESSION OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIFTH PREFERENCE (EB-5) UNRESERVED FINAL ACTION DATES FOR CHINA AND INDIA

Increased demand and number use by China and India in the EB-5 unreserved visa categories, combined with increased Rest of World demand and number use, made it necessary to retrogress the final action dates to hold number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2025 annual limits. Please note that it may also become necessary to establish a final action date for Rest of World countries if demand and number use continues to increase. This situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments will be made accordingly.

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.

Get the movement, monthly

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.