US visa bulletin October 2025: Big relief for Indians waiting for green cards, good news for EB categories

The US visa bulletin for oct 2025, released by the U.S. Section of State, has revealed major movements of dates for India in the first visa bulletin for the fiscal year 2026 set to begin on October 1. The Final Action Date for EB-5 (unreserved) India applications is set to move forward by nearly 15 months. Some positive movement was also noticed in other EB categories.

The EB-5 visa, an immigrant investor visa program, gives a green card to investors. The Final Action Date for India moved to February 1, 2021, from November 15, 2018.

The Final Action Date in the family visa category, F2A visa, meant for spouses and children of permanent residents, saw a movement of 17 months from September 1, 2022 to February 1, 2024.

The Final Action Date refers to the cutoff date used by the US State Department to decide whether a green card/visa can be issued or approved. In case one’s priority date is earlier than the Final Action Date in their category, a visa is available now.

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The US visa bulletin October 2025 also revealed that the cap of family visa for 2026 is 226,000. "The fiscal year 2026 limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants determined in accordance with Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320," the bulletin said.

The Visa Bulletin highlights preference categories for family-sponsored immigrants. It provides important information for navigating the Green Card process. The following are the categories:

The limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants for the fiscal year is set at 226,000. Specific allocations are made for each preference category. Further, per-country limits are set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits. Immigrant visas are issued in order of priority, depending on the petition’s filing date.

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Preference immigrants’ children and spouses are entitled to the same status and consideration as the principal applicant. If visa issuances surpass the per-country limit, visa prorating provisions come into effect for oversubscribed chargeability areas, which include China (mainland born), India, Mexico, and the Philippines. These provisions are meant to make sure there is fair allocation of visas among applicants from different countries.

The allocation of immigrant visas in the employment-based preference categories ensures a balanced distribution among different types of skilled and unskilled workers, professionals, and investors.

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