The U.S. Department of State has released its October 2025 Visa Bulletin imposing per-country cut-off dates that regulate immigrant visa availability and the flow of Adjustment of Status (AOS) applications and consular Immigrant Visa application interviews and approvals. In order to be “current,” the priority date held by a person applying for permanent residence must be before the cut-off date specified in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

 

The Visa Bulletin includes both a Dates for Filing chart and a Final Action Dates chart. The Final Action Dates chart indicates when a priority date is current and I-485 AOS applications or Immigrant Visa applications may be approved and permanent residence granted. The Dates for Filing chart, when followed by USCIS, indicates when intending immigrants may file their AOS applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

 

The October 2025 Dates for Filing chart includes major forward movement from the September 2025 bulletin for the various EB categories and countries of chargeability. This had been expected, since October will be the first month of the Department of States’ 2026 fiscal year, and a significant influx of new immigrant visa numbers occurs at the start of each fiscal year.

• • EB-1 cut-off dates remain Current for the Rest of the World, Mexico and the Philippines. EB-1 India moves forward to 04/15/2023. EB-1 China moves forward to 05/15/2023.

• • The India EB-2 category moves forward to 12/01/2013. The India EB-3 category moves forward to 08/15/2014.

• • The China EB-2 category moves forward to 12/01/2021, and the China EB-3 category moves forward to 01/01/2022.

• • The Rest of the World, Mexico and the Philippines EB-2 category moves forward to 07/15/2024. The Rest of the World, Mexico, and the Philippines EB-3 category move forward to 07/1/2023.

The October Visa Bulletin’s Final Action Dates chart for the Employment-Based (EB) categories has more modest advancements from the September Visa Bulletin:

• • Under the Final Action Dates chart, EB-1 Rest of the World, Mexico, and Philippines remain Current. EB-1 China moves forward to 12/22/2022 and EB-1 India remains at 02/15/2022.

• • The EB-2 India category moves forward to 04/01/2013. EB-2 China moves forward to 04/01/2021. The EB-2 categories for the Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines move forward to 12/01/2023.

• • The EB-3 category for Rest of World and Mexico stay at 04/01/2023. The EB-3 India category advances to 08/22/2013. The EB-3 China category moves forward to 03/01/2021. The EB-3 category for the Philippines moves forward to 04/01/2023.

 

Dates for Filing Chart Will Control in October 2025

Each month, USCIS chooses either to follow the Final Action or the Dates for Filing chart. For October 2025, USCIS will follow the Dates for Filing chart for Employment-Based AOS application filings. To be eligible to file an Employment-Based (EB) AOS application, a foreign national must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for his or her preference category and country of chargeability. The “C” listing indicates that the category is “current” and that applications may be approved with any priority date, however recent.

Employment- based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	15MAY23	15APR23	C	C
2nd	15JUL24	01DEC21	01DEC13	15JUL24	15JUL24
3rd	01JUL23	01JAN22	15AUG14	01JUL23	01JUL23

 

 

T&S Takeaway

This is the first month in nine months that USCIS has chosen to impose Dates for Filing EB dates. This has been done in recognition of the fact that the significant forward movement in the October Visa Bulletin’s cut-off dates means that large numbers of intending immigrants will become eligible to file adjustment of status applications in October 2025.  All such persons are encouraged to file their adjustment of status applications as soon as possible, since it is possible that cut-off date retrogression may occur later in the year.

As we noted last month, the fact that October is the first month of the first quarter of the Department of State’s fiscal year means that this forward movement in a number of categories was expected.

The attorneys of Tafapolsky & Smith LLP will monitor and analyze all developments affecting immigrant visa availability, including all statements made by the Department of State officers in the relevant Visa Bulletin and will provide immediate updates on any significant developments.