U.S. Visa Bulletin December 2025: Small Boost for Indian Employment-Based Green Cards

U.S. Visa Bulletin December 2025: The U.S. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for December 2025 brings some encouraging, though modest, progress for Indian professionals awaiting employment-based (EB) green cards. While family-sponsored categories remain largely stalled, the EB-1 and EB-2 categories have moved forward slightly, providing a sliver of hope for high-skilled Indian applicants.

What Has Changed in U.S. Visa Bulletin December 2025?

For Indian nationals, under the Final Action Dates (which determine when visa numbers are available for approval):

• EB-1 (Priority Workers): The cut-off date has advanced to 15 March 2022 — an improvement of about one month.
• EB-2 (Professionals with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability): The date has moved to 15 May 2013 — advancing by approximately one month and 14 days.
• EB-3 (Skilled Workers and Professionals): The date is now 22 September 2013, up by about one month.
• EB-5 (Investor Category): For Indian applicants, the cut-off date has jumped to 1 July 2021 — offering the largest movement among the employment categories.

In contrast, family-sponsored categories for Indians (such as F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4) saw essentially no forward movement in December, meaning wait times remain long and unchanged in those streams.

Why These Dates Matter

The Visa Bulletin’s “Final Action Dates” chart dictates when an applicant’s priority date (the date their petition was filed) becomes eligible for final approval of the visa. If your priority date is earlier than the listed cut-off, you may proceed to finalise the green card process (subject to all other requirements).

With the modest advances in EB-1 and EB-2, a marginally larger group of Indian professionals now fall within eligible windows for final action. It signals that the queue is inching forward, albeit slowly.

What Applicants Should Do Now

• Check your priority date: Compare the date when your employer-sponsored petition (I-140) was filed with the cut-off date for your category and country.
• Ensure your paperwork is ready: If your priority date now falls before the cut-off, you may be eligible to adjust status or proceed with visa issuance—have your documents and employer support ready.
• Watch “Dates for Filing” charts: These determine when you can submit adjustment or consulate paperwork. Even if the Final Action Date hasn’t caught up, the Filing Date may allow earlier action in some cases.
• Plan for wait times: Although there’s advancement, categories like EB-2 and EB-3 still reflect priority dates from 2013 for Indians—meaning waiting remains substantial.
• Stay informed: Future bulletins could move the dates further, stall or even retrogress — staying updated is key.

The Bigger Picture & Limitations

• The progress, while positive, is limited in scale. Advancements of one month or so mean only small shifts in the overall backlog.
• The largest benefit for Indians in this update was in EB-5, and while EB-1/2 moved, they still lag far behind date of filing.
• Family-sponsored categories showed no improvement, reinforcing that employment-based routes remain the more dynamic path at present.
• Numerical limits and country-caps (India is subject to a 7 % per-country cap on immigrant visas) continue to cause long delays.
• Applicants must still meet all other eligibility criteria (labour certification, I-140 approval, medical, security checks) even if the date becomes current.

Final Takeaway

The December 2025 Visa Bulletin offers a modest but meaningful step forward for Indian applicants in employment-based immigration categories — especially EB-1 and EB-2. While no dramatic breakthrough has been achieved, the movement signals that the system is slowly working through the backlog.

For Indian professionals based on employer sponsorship who find their priority dates now eligible, this is a time to act: ensure your paperwork is current, keep engaged with your lawyer or employer, and be ready to move when your window opens.

At the same time, for many waiting in family-sponsored categories, the journey remains long. In either case, staying updated and prepared ensures you are ready when your turn arrives.