March 2025 Visa Bulletin Released: What Employers Need to Know

The Department of State released the March 2025 Visa Bulletin and USCIS has confirmed they will continue to utilize the Final Action Dates chart for employment-based Adjustment of Status applications. The Final Action Dates chart notes moderate advancement across several employment-based categories including:

• EB-2 and EB-3 India Final Action Dates will advance by six weeks;
• EB-2 China Final Action Dates will advance by two weeks;
• EB-2 Worldwide Final Action Dates will advance by six weeks;
• EB-3 China Final Action Dates will advance by one month; and
• EB-3 Other Workers India will advance by six weeks, the Philippines will advance by five weeks, and all other countries will advance by approximately two months.

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 Final Action Dates across all employment-based categories will hold steady from last month:
  • EB-1 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines) remains current.
  • EB-1 China: Final Action Dates will maintain a filing cutoff date of November, 8, 2022.
  • EB-1 India: Final Action Dates will maintain a filing cutoff date of February 1, 2022.

EB-2, Second Preference Category

• EB-2 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico, and Philippines) will advance by six weeks to May 15, 2023.
• China: Final Action Dates will advance by two weeks to May 8, 2020.
• India:  Final Action dates will advance by six weeks to December 1, 2012.

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

• EB-3 Worldwide (including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico and Philippines) will maintain a filing cut-off date of December 1, 2022.
• China: Final Action Dates will advance by one month to August 1, 2020.
• India: Final Action Dates will advance by six weeks to February 1, 2013.

EB-3 Other Workers

• Other Workers (including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico) will advance by approximately two months to February 1, 2021.
• Philippines will advance by five weeks to January 15, 2021.
• China will maintain a filing cut-off date of January 1, 2017.
• India will advance by six weeks to February 1, 2013.

EB-5: Fifth Preference Category (Immigrant Investors)

• EB-5 Final Action Dates across all employment-based categories will hold steady from last month:
  • For the EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5), India will remain unchanged at January 1, 2022 and China will maintain a cut-off date of July 15, 2016. 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 March Visa Bulletin, modest advancement is observed under Final Action Dates for EB-2 and EB-3 China and India, as well as for EB-2 Worldwide and EB-3 Other Workers by approximately two weeks to two months, depending on the employment-based category and country.

Due to continued high demand for green cards across all employment-based categories, moderate advancement in the visa bulletin is likely to continue in the coming months to ensure efficient visa allocation. As a result, Employers should work closely with immigration counsel to promptly file eligible Adjustment of Status applications, as ongoing backlogs and strong demand are expected to further extend the green card process for many foreign nationals.

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