May 2025 Visa Bulletin Breakdown: Who’s Moving Forward and Who’s Stuck?

The May 2025 Visa Bulletin has just been released, and there’s a lot to unpack. For those following family-based petitions, there’s some long-awaited good news. Unfortunately, employment-based applicants — especially those from India — face less favorable updates, including some retrogression.

In this comprehensive breakdown, we’ll walk you through all the key changes, chart movements, and what to expect in the coming months. Whether you’re adjusting your status from within the U.S. or waiting overseas, this analysis will help you understand what this bulletin means for your green card journey.

USCIS Filing Chart Guidance: What Chart Should You Use?

Each month, USCIS designates which visa bulletin chart to use when applying for adjustment of status within the United States. For May 2025, here’s the official guidance:

• Employment-Based Applicants: Use the Final Action Dates chart.
• Family-Based Applicants: Use the Dates for Filing chart — same as last month.

Visa Bulletin Highlights at a Glance

Let’s start with the major highlights before diving deeper into each category.

Family-Based Petitions: Positive Movement Continues

There’s clear forward progress in several family-based preference categories this month. The biggest winner is the F2A category, which advanced significantly. We also saw noteworthy movement in F4 (siblings of U.S. citizens) and F3 (married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens) — especially for applicants from the Philippines and Mexico.

Employment-Based Petitions: Mixed Results

The employment-based side presents a mixed picture:

• Some advancement in EB3 India (Final Action Dates moved forward by 2 weeks).
• EB5 for India retrogressed by 6 months due to high demand.
• No changes for EB2 and minimal movement in other employment-based categories.

Let’s break this down further.

Employment-Based Categories – Final Action Dates

If you’re applying for a green card through employment and are in the U.S., this is the chart you need to watch closely.

• EB1: Remains current for all countries except India and China.
• EB2: No movement from April 2025.
• EB3 India: Moved forward by 2 weeks to April 15, 2013.
• EB3 Other Workers: Also advanced by 2 weeks to April 15, 2013.
• EB4 (Religious Workers): Unavailable due to the full allocation of FY2025 visas by February 28, as previously predicted.
• EB5 India (Unreserved): Retrogressed by 6 months to May 1, 2018, due to a spike in demand and concerns that the program may be phased out.

➡️ Key Takeaway: For EB3 India, while the forward movement is modest, it’s a hopeful sign. However, don’t expect significant changes before August 2025.

Family-Based Categories – Dates for Filing

The Dates for Filing chart tells us when applicants inside the U.S. in valid status can submit their adjustment of status applications.

Biggest Winner: F2A Category

• F2A (Spouses & Children of Green Card Holders):
  • Advanced by 3.6 months to February 1, 2025.
  • Great news if you’re in the U.S. legally (e.g., on a student or work visa) and married to a green card holder. This shortens the gap significantly, and we might even see it become current by June or July 2025.

Other Notable Movements:

• F4 (Siblings of U.S. Citizens):
  • Advanced by 2 months to June 1, 2008 for most countries.
• F1 Mexico (Unmarried Sons/Daughters of U.S. Citizens):
  • Advanced by 3.6 months to April 22, 2005.

Family-Based Categories – Final Action Dates

Now let’s look at the Final Action Dates — the dates that determine when a green card can actually be issued.

Updates at a Glance:

• F1 Mexico: Advanced 3.6 months to April 22, 2005.
• F2B Philippines: Moved up 2.4 weeks to February 8, 2012.
• F3 Philippines: Jumped 6 months to September 22, 2003.
• F4 Philippines: Progressed by 5 months to June 1, 2005.
• F4 (All Other Countries): Advanced 5 months to January 1, 2008.