Green Card Update: Family Visas Move Ahead, Full List of Changes

The U.S. State Department has released the May 2025 Visa Bulletin, showing forward movement in several family-sponsored green card categories. The bulletin, which governs immigrant visa availability, indicates that priority dates for certain family preference categories have advanced, offering relief to applicants who have been waiting for years.

In the F2A category for spouses and children of permanent residents, the cutoff date moved to January 1, 2022, a shift of several weeks from the previous month. The F1 category for unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens also saw progress, with the date advancing to April 1, 2017. Meanwhile, the F3 category for married children of citizens moved to March 1, 2010, and the F4 category for siblings of citizens advanced to July 1, 2007.

Employment-based categories remained largely unchanged, with most showing no movement from April levels. The EB-1 category for priority workers remains current for all countries except India and China, where cutoff dates are set at January 1, 2022, and January 1, 2020, respectively. The EB-2 category for professionals with advanced degrees saw minor advances for India and China.

The State Department also noted that the final action dates and filing dates for family-sponsored visas are now aligned for most categories, simplifying the application process. Applicants are advised to check the bulletin for specific country cutoffs, as backlogs vary significantly by nationality. The next bulletin is expected in mid-June.