Visa Bulletin for January 2025: EB-3 Final Action & Filing Dates Released

The U.S. Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for January 2025 (Number 97, Volume X), which governs when employment-based immigrant visa applicants — including EB-3 skilled workers, professionals, and unskilled workers — may file adjustment of status applications or proceed with consular processing. For FY2025, the worldwide employment-based preference immigrant limit remains at least 140,000, and the per-country limit is set at 7% of the combined family and employment-based annual ceilings, equating to 25,620 visas. The dependent area per-country limit is 2%, or 7,320. These caps continue to create significant backlogs for high-demand nationalities. The bulletin identifies four oversubscribed chargeability areas subject to per-country prorating provisions: China-mainland born, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. EB-3 applicants born in these countries face extended waiting periods due to heavy demand relative to available visa numbers. Allocations were made in chronological order of priority dates based on demand received by December 3rd. USCIS will separately announce on uscis.gov/visabulletininfo whether applicants may use the more permissive 'Dates for Filing' chart rather than the 'Final Action Dates' chart for adjustment of status filings. EB-3 applicants should consult both charts in the full bulletin and monitor the USCIS website to confirm which chart governs their ability to file. Priority date movement can vary significantly month to month, particularly for India and China chargeability, making regular bulletin review essential for planning purposes.