August 2025 Visa Bulletin Released: What Employers Need to Know

The Department of State released the August 2025 Visa Bulletin and USCIS has confirmed they will accept the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based Adjustment of Status applications. The Final Action Dates chart notes retrogression for EB-2 Worldwide, Mexico and the Philippines with modest advancement for EB-3 India, as further detailed below. All other employment-based categories will continue to remain the same for August pursuant to the Final Action Dates chart.

• EB-2 Worldwide, Mexico and the Philippines will retrogress by six weeks to September 1, 2023.
• EB-3 India will advance by one month to May 22, 2013.
• The Dept. of State has noted that EB-2, EB-3, and Other Workers categories may retrogress or become unavailable once annual limits are reached due to high demand, which could occur as early as August/September or possibly sooner depending on the particular category and number usage.
• EB-5 Unreserved Final Action Dates for China will advance by almost two years while India will advance by more than six months. While advancement for these categories is noted in August, the Dept. of State has warned that if the annual limit is reached, these countries may become unavailable through the end of the fiscal year.

EMPLOYMENT-BASED (EB) PRIORITY DATE SUMMARY FOR FINAL ACTION DATES 

USCIS confirmed that it will honor the Final Action Dates chart for purposes of eligibility to file an Adjustment of Status application. The Final Action Dates  are as follows:

EB-1, First Preference Category

• EB-1 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines) will remain current.
• EB-1 China: Final Action Dates will maintain a filing cutoff date of November 15,
• EB-1 India: Final Action Dates will maintain a filing cutoff date of February 15, 2022.

 EB-2, Second Preference Category

• EB-2 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines) will retrogress by approximately six weeks to September 1, 2023.
• China: Final Action Dates will hold steady at December 15, 2020.
• India:  Final Action dates will remain at January 1, 2013.

EB-3, Third Preference Category (Professional and Skilled Workers)

• EB-3 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico) will maintain a filing cutoff date of April 1, 2023.
• Philippines: Final Action Dates will remain at February 8, 2023.
• China: Final Action Dates will hold steady at December 1, 2020.
• India: Final Action Dates will advance by one month to May 22, 2013.

Other Workers

• Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Philippines) will maintain a filing cutoff date of July 8, 2021.
• China: Final Action Dates will remain at May 1, 2017.
• India: Final Action Dates will advance by one month to May 22, 2013.

EB-5: Fifth Preference Category (Immigrant Investors)

• For the EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5), India will advance more than six months to November 15, 2019 and China will advance by almost two years to December 8, 2015. All other countries will remain current.
• The EB-5 “Set-Aside” categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will remain current.

Individuals with a priority date that is before the published cut-off date may file an Adjustment of Status application based on the dates outlined above.

WHAT SHOULD EMPLOYERS EXPECT?  

As noted in the August Visa Bulletin, The Dept. of State has indicated that due to increased number usage and high demand, retrogression was required for EB-2 Worldwide as this category is rapidly approaching annual limits. It is anticipated that the annual limit may be reached in August, which would require the EB-2 Worldwide category to become unavailable. Visa demand and number usage also remains high for EB-3 and Other Workers which may result in further retrogression or unavailability once annual limits are reached. This may occur as early as September or sooner depending on number usage and demand.

In the April Visa Bulletin, the EB-5 Unreserved Final Action dates for India and China were retrogressed due to high demand. As EB-5 number usage for China has not materialized as predicted, advancement for China by almost two years was implemented in August to further number use. The Dept. of State expects for India to have unused family preference numbers which may be allocated to employment-based categories, including EB-5 Unreserved. Accordingly, Final Action Dates for EB-5 Unreserved India have advanced for August by more than six months. While EB-5 Unreserved Final Action dates for both China and India were advanced in August, the Dept. of State has warned that if the annual limit is reached, these countries may become unavailable through the end of the fiscal year.

With further retrogression likely being implemented next month or sooner depending on the particular category and number usage, Employers are advised to submit Adjustment of Status applications for eligible applicants as soon as possible.

For additional information, please contact your designated Gibney representative or email info@gibney.com.