State Department August 2025 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State has released the August 2025 Visa Bulletin. D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the employment-based priority dates. In August 2025, USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications based on the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Preference chart. To be eligible to file an adjustment of status application in August 2025, foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than that listed on the Final Action Dates chart.

The EB-1 Final Action Date for India will remain at February 15, 2022, and the Final Action Date for China will remain at November 15, 2022. All other countries will remain current.

The EB-2 Final Action Date for India will remain at January 1, 2013 and China will remain at December 15, 2020. All other countries have retrogressed by six weeks to September 1, 2023. According to the Department of State, the EB-2 issuance total for this category is rapidly approaching its annual limit for FY-2025. DOS has indicated that it is likely the annual limit will be reached in August.

The EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action Date for India will advance by four weeks to May 22, 2013, while China will remain at December 1, 2020, and the Philippines will remain at February 8, 2023. All other countries will remain at April 1, 2023.

The EB-4 category will be “unavailable” in August and continuing through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025. The category was made “unavailable” on February 28, 2025, by which time all available EB-4 visas for the 2025 fiscal year had been used. The annual limit will reset at the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2025. 

With respect to the Final Action Date for the EB-5 Unreserved categories, India will advance by six months to November 15, 2019, while China will advance by twenty two months to December 8, 2015. All other countries will remain current. The EB-5 “Set-Aside” categories (Rural, High unemployment, and Infrastructure) will remain current for all countries.

President Trump Announces Plans to Sell "Gold Cards"

President Trump has announced plans to sell “gold cards” to wealthy foreigners. The program, which will require applicants pay “about $5 million” to obtain a green card and a path to citizenship, according to the President, would replace the EB-5 visa––a green card pathway enacted in 1990 based on investment and U.S. job creation.

Details are limited but D&S will provide updates as they become available.

USCIS Updates Guidance on Analysis of Employers’ Ability to Pay for Employment-Based Green Cards

USCIS issued policy guidance updating how it determines an employer’s ability to pay the wage being offered to the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition (Form I-140), when the beneficiary changes employers while their I-140 is pending. Generally, employers sponsoring employment-based green cards must demonstrate their continuing ability to pay as of the I-140’s priority date until the beneficiary obtains their green card. To demonstrate their ability to pay, employers with fewer than 100 employees are required to submit annual reports, tax returns, or audited financial statements for each year from the priority date; employers with 100 or more employees may instead submit a statement from a financial officer attesting to their ability to pay.

The beneficiary of an I-140 who changes employers and whose petition has been pending for at least 180 days can “port” their petition to the new employer, so long as the new job is in a similar occupation as the original job. The updated guidance explains that, when the beneficiary of a pending I-140 ports their petition to a new employer, USCIS determines ability to pay by only reviewing facts in existence from the priority date to the time of filing—in other words, USCIS will look to the employer who filed the petition’s ability to pay. For petitions that require a Labor Certification Application (PERM), the priority date is the date the PERM was received by the Department of Labor (DOL), and USCIS will make its determination based on the facts in existence from that date to the I-140 filing date. For petitions that do not require a PERM, the priority date is the I-140 filing date, and USCIS will make its determination based on the facts in existence on that date.

Please note that the above is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific questions about how the update to the ability-to-pay analysis may apply to your circumstances, please contact your team at D&S.

Department of State July 2016 Visa Bulletin Summary

The Department of State released the July 2016 Visa Bulletin this week.  D&S provides a Monthly Summary of the family and employment-based priority dates.  For the second and third employment-based preference categories, Application Filing dates remained unchanged.

There was modest forward movement of 1 month for both EB-2 and EB-3 India.  EB-2 and EB-3 China, which both both experienced significant retrogression last month, remain unchanged with priority dates for both categories remaining at January 1, 2010.

Final Action dates for EB-3 Worldwide and EB-3 Mexico each progressed 2 weeks and EB-3 Philippines progressed 3.5 months.

Notably, EB-5 China Final Action dates remained unchanged at February 15, 2014.

Today USCIS posted an announcement on its website informing family-based and employment-based adjustment of status applicants that they must use the "Application Final Action Dates" chart in the DOS Visa Bulletin for July 2016.