New USCIS Visa Bulletin Creates Opportunity to File for Permanent Residency Sooner than Expected

The U.S. Department of State has released its visa bulletin for October 2025. In the bulletin, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from individuals with a priority date that is earlier than the applicable "Date for Filing" listed in the U.S. Department of State’s October 2025 visa bulletin.

In the September 2025 bulletin, USCIS had stated that individuals were required to use the listed "Final Action Dates" to determine whether they were eligible to file to complete their permanent residence processing. Changing from using the "Final Action Dates" to "Date for Filing" charts will allow many individuals to file their applications for permanent residence sooner than anticipated.

Additionally, the new visa bulletin shows significant progress for many individuals from India. In particular, the Final Action Date for EB-5 (unreserved) India applications will move forward by almost 15 months, while other EB categories also see some positive development.

This is a positive development for many individuals who are currently undergoing the permanent residence process. Please feel free to contact a member of the immigration team at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP to see how this might affect your own process.

View the October 2025 visa bulletin on the U.S. Department of State’s website.