September US Visa Bulletin quietly shifts date for green card spouses, hints at trouble ahead
If annual limits are reached, categories will be made “unavailable” and no further numbers will be issued for the fiscal year.
- Aug 13, 2025,
- Updated Aug 13, 2025 9:55 AM IST
Spouses and children of U.S. green card holders will see a small but welcome break in wait times next month — the September 2025 U.S. Visa Bulletin advances the F2A category by two months, from April 1, 2025, to June 1, 2025, even as demand surges across most family and employment visa classes.
The F2A category covers spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age of lawful permanent residents. According to the U.S. Department of State’s latest visa bulletin, applicants with priority dates earlier than June 1, 2025, can expect final action to begin sooner.
The bulletin notes that both the USCIS and the State Department have seen a steady rise in demand for employment-based visas this fiscal year. As a result, the Visa Office expects to hit the FY-2025 category limits in most employment-based preference classes in August and September.
If annual limits are reached, categories will be made “unavailable” and no further numbers will be issued for the fiscal year. The Department has already flagged potential shortages in the EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 categories, which could last until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025.
For FY-2025, the worldwide limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants is set at 226,000, while the employment-based preference limit is 150,037. The per-country cap is 7% of these totals — about 26,323 visas — with dependent areas limited to 2%. India, along with China, Mexico, and the Philippines, remains on the list of oversubscribed countries subject to per-country limits.
The bulletin also reminds Diversity Visa (DV) 2025 selectees that eligibility ends on September 30, 2025, and visas may run out before that date.
The movement in the F2A category offers a modest relief for families separated by U.S. immigration backlogs, but the broader warning on employment-based caps suggests that other applicants could see their categories stall — or even retrogress — before the fiscal year closes.
Spouses and children of U.S. green card holders will see a small but welcome break in wait times next month — the September 2025 U.S. Visa Bulletin advances the F2A category by two months, from April 1, 2025, to June 1, 2025, even as demand surges across most family and employment visa classes.
The F2A category covers spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age of lawful permanent residents. According to the U.S. Department of State’s latest visa bulletin, applicants with priority dates earlier than June 1, 2025, can expect final action to begin sooner.
The bulletin notes that both the USCIS and the State Department have seen a steady rise in demand for employment-based visas this fiscal year. As a result, the Visa Office expects to hit the FY-2025 category limits in most employment-based preference classes in August and September.
If annual limits are reached, categories will be made “unavailable” and no further numbers will be issued for the fiscal year. The Department has already flagged potential shortages in the EB-2, EB-3, and EB-5 categories, which could last until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025.
For FY-2025, the worldwide limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants is set at 226,000, while the employment-based preference limit is 150,037. The per-country cap is 7% of these totals — about 26,323 visas — with dependent areas limited to 2%. India, along with China, Mexico, and the Philippines, remains on the list of oversubscribed countries subject to per-country limits.
The bulletin also reminds Diversity Visa (DV) 2025 selectees that eligibility ends on September 30, 2025, and visas may run out before that date.
The movement in the F2A category offers a modest relief for families separated by U.S. immigration backlogs, but the broader warning on employment-based caps suggests that other applicants could see their categories stall — or even retrogress — before the fiscal year closes.