E-Paper
US visa bulletin: Employment-based visas at risk of unavailability, Indian applicants can still file for F2A green cards
The US Visa Bulletin September 2025 warns that employment-based green card categories may become unavailable due to increased demand.
The US State Department has published the September 2025 Visa Bulletin, which details the availability of immigrant visas for the last month of the fiscal year.
While the majority of India's employment-based (EB) green card categories are stagnant and could be inaccessible by the end of September, Indian lawful permanent residents can still apply for green cards for their spouses and minor children as the filing dates for the F2A category are still open (01JUN25) for all nations in September 2025.
Here's what Indian applicants need to know
Final Action Dates in September for Indian applicants in employment-based categories are still set at 15FEB22 for EB-1, 01JAN13 for EB-2, 22MAY13 for EB-3 (Professionals/Skilled Workers), and 22MAY13 for EB-3 Other Workers. While EB-5 (Unreserved) remains at 15NOV19 for India, EB-4 is still unavailable for all nations as the annual limit has already been achieved. Indian candidates are still eligible for all three of the EB-5 set-aside categories: infrastructure, high unemployment, and rural.
US Visa Office warns of potential EB visa shortages
The US Visa Office has warned that the majority of EB annual restrictions could be outpaced in August and September 2025. If this occurs, the impacted EB classifications will be “unavailable” until the next fiscal year begins on October 1, 2025, when visa number allotment will be reset.
The bulletin states that this fiscal year, the State Department and USCIS have observed a consistent increase in the demand for employment-based visas. Consequently, the Visa Office anticipates that the majority of employment-based preference classes will reach the FY-2025 category limits in August and September.
If the annual restrictions are met, categories will be declared “unavailable,” and no more fiscal year figures will be released. The Department has already identified potential shortfalls in the EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 categories, which may persist until September 30, 2025, the end of the fiscal year.
What we know about worldwide limit for family
The global cap for employment-based preference immigrants is 150,037, and the cap for family-sponsored preference immigration is 226,000 for FY-2025. Dependent areas are restricted to 2%, while the per-country ceiling is 7% of the overall totals, or around 26,323 visas.
India is still listed as an oversubscribed nation with per-country restrictions, along with China, Mexico, and the Philippines.
The bulletin notifies those who were chosen for the Diversity Visa (DV) 2025 that eligibility expires on September 30, 2025, and that visas may be exhausted before that.
