October 2025 Visa Bulletin

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the October 2025 Visa Bulletin, which is the first visa bulletin of fiscal year (FY) 2026. All cutoff dates listed below refer to the final action chart (i.e., Chart A), unless otherwise specified.

Visa Bulletin Summary

Employment-Based, First Preference (EB1) Category

In the EB1 category, China’s cutoff date advances to 22.Dec.2022. The EB1 cutoff date for India continues to be set at 15.Feb.2022. The EB1 category remains current for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Second Preference (EB2) Category

In the EB2 category, India’s cutoff date moves ahead to 01.Apr.2013. EB2 China also sees relief, with its cutoff date set at 01.Apr.2021. The EB2 cutoff date for all other countries is set at 01.Dec.2023.

Employment-Based, Third Preference (EB3) Category

EB3 India’s cutoff date improves to 22.Aug.2013. China’s EB3 cutoff date moves to 01.Mar.2021. The EB3 cutoff date for all other countries of chargeability remains set at 01.Apr.2023.

EB3 Other Workers

In the EB3 Other Workers category, India’s cutoff date aligns with the standard EB3 cutoff at 22.Aug.2013. For China, the cutoff date progresses to 01.Dec.2017. The EB3 other workers category carries a cutoff date of 15.Jul.2021 for all other countries of chargeability.

Employment-Based, Fourth Preference (EB4) Category

In the EB4 category, the cutoff date for all countries moves to 01.Jul.2020.

The EB4 program for certain religious workers is currently scheduled to expire after midnight 29.Sep.2025. If Congress does not extend the program by that date, the EB4 category for certain religious workers will be unavailable.

Employment-Based, Fifth Preference (EB5) Category

The EB5 unreserved category for India progresses to 01.Feb.2021. Meanwhile, China’s unreserved cutoff date retains its 08.Dec.2015 cutoff date. The EB5 category remains current for all other chargeability areas and for the three EB5 set-aside categories (rural, high unemployment, and infrastructure) across all countries.

Conclusion

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