November 2025 Visa Bulletin: Corrected Historical Dates and Filing Guidance

The November 2025 Visa Bulletin is a historical record of immigrant visa availability for that month. It is not the chart to use for a filing today. This article was reviewed November 10, 2026 to correct a mixture of October and November dates in the earlier version and to explain how the charts affect green card planning.

For a current case, consult the State Department's latest Visa Bulletin and USCIS's chart selection for the month of filing. An old cutoff date does not establish present eligibility, even if the person's petition has already been approved.

What changed in November 2025?

Comparing the official October 2025 bulletin with the November 2025 bulletin shows that the listed employment-based cutoff dates did not advance between those months. The earlier discussion of substantial EB-2, EB-3 and EB-5 movement described prior changes rather than November movement.

Family categories did show selected advances. For example, the F2B final-action date for the general, China and India columns moved from November 22 to December 1, 2016. Mexico's F3 final-action date moved from April 15 to May 1, 2001. Several family filing dates also advanced, as reflected below.

This distinction matters when assessing trends. A date can be substantially better than an older month's date while remaining unchanged in the month being discussed. Always identify both months before describing an advance or retrogression.

Which chart did USCIS authorize?

USCIS's November 2025 filing guidance, preserved in this copy of the agency's notice, used the Dates for Filing charts for both family-sponsored and employment-based preference adjustment applications. The earlier article's contrary instruction to use employment Final Action Dates for filing was incorrect.

Filing eligibility and approval eligibility remain different. A person could be eligible to submit I-485 under the selected filing chart while still waiting for a visa number under the Final Action chart. All other adjustment requirements also had to be satisfied.

For consular processing, applicants should follow National Visa Center instructions for document submission. A Dates for Filing cutoff is not itself an interview appointment or an authorization for a consulate to issue an immigrant visa.

How to read the historical dates below

The date format follows the bulletin: 01DEC23 means December 1, 2023. A priority date must be earlier than the listed cutoff, not equal to it. “Current” means no listed priority-date cutoff for otherwise qualified applicants; “Unavailable” means numbers are not authorized in that category.

The general column means all chargeability areas except those separately listed. Chargeability is usually based on birthplace, not simply citizenship or residence. Cross-chargeability can apply in appropriate circumstances and deserves individual review.

Our priority-date guide explains the queue. The grouped rows below preserve the original article's four-chart coverage while correcting its dates and making every country value explicit.

Family-sponsored Dates for Filing: November 2025

The original family filing chart used October values for several rows. For November, Mexico F1 advanced to March 1, 2007; F2A to October 22, 2025; and the listed F2B and selected F3 dates also advanced. F4 filing dates remained unchanged from October.

Family-sponsored Final Action Dates: November 2025

Mexico's F2A date was February 1, 2023, not February 1, 2022 as the earlier table stated. The bulletin also distinguished F2A numbers exempt from the per-country limit from those subject to it; applicants should consult that note rather than assuming every F2A allocation works identically.

F1 covers unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens; F2A covers spouses and children of permanent residents; F2B covers their unmarried adult sons and daughters; F3 covers married sons and daughters of citizens; and F4 covers siblings of adult citizens. Qualifying immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are outside these numerical preference queues. Our family-based green card guide explains the relationships and remaining requirements.

Employment-based Final Action Dates: November 2025

The separate Certain Religious Workers entry must not be merged into ordinary EB-4. The published November bulletin listed that category as unavailable following the statutory program expiration and explained that legislative extension could change availability. That is historical reporting, not a statement about the program's status today.

Employment-based Dates for Filing: November 2025

For employment planning, identify the correct subcategory before comparing dates. EB-3 Other Workers is not interchangeable with EB-3 skilled workers and professionals. Likewise, an EB-5 reserved category has its own eligibility requirements; a favorable chart does not move an investor into that category automatically.

Priority dates and annual limits

For many immigrant petitions, the priority date is the date of proper petition filing. When labor certification is required, it generally comes from the date DOL accepted the labor-certification application for processing. It is therefore inaccurate to say every priority date is the I-140 receipt date.

The November bulletin described the employment-based worldwide annual level as at least 140,000. The earlier article treated that floor as a fixed final total. Statutory allocation and unused-number rules can affect annual availability, and a numerical limit is not a forecast of how quickly any particular category will move.

Dates may advance, remain stationary or retrogress as demand and available numbers change. A year's worth of calendar movement in a cutoff is not a promise that every applicant's waiting time will shrink by a year. Avoid planning an irreversible job or travel decision around an unsupported prediction.

Can premium processing shorten the visa queue?

Premium processing can accelerate a qualifying petition adjudication, but it does not create an immigrant visa number or advance a priority date. The earlier claim that every eligible I-140 receives a 15-business-day decision was too broad: covered categories have different service periods, and the promised action is not necessarily approval.

Review the exact classification and current USCIS service terms before requesting it. Our I-140 processing guide and premium processing guide distinguish adjudication speed from visa availability.

Category changes and transfer of an adjustment basis

Moving from EB-3 to EB-2 requires eligibility for the new classification and an appropriate petition; a new labor certification may be necessary. Retention of an earlier priority date has conditions and exceptions. See our EB-3 to EB-2 porting guide before treating a favorable chart as sufficient reason to switch.

A request to transfer the underlying basis of a pending I-485, sometimes called interfiling, is a separate procedural issue. Evaluate the new petition, visa availability, continued adjustment eligibility and effects on dependents. Ordinary job portability is another distinct concept; the terms should not be used interchangeably.

A filing and monitoring checklist

An accepted I-485 is not immediate work or travel authorization. Those issues require their own documents and conditions. Our adjustment and consular processing comparison explains the remaining stages.

Get advice based on the current month and your record

Bring your petition notices, priority-date evidence, immigration history and family details to a free evaluation. The purpose is to identify an available, legally supported next step—not to promise that a historical bulletin or a predicted advance guarantees approval. Request a Free Evaluation.