US visa April 2025 bulletin: Interview wait time for Indians to go up | Here's why
The US Department of State released the April 2025 Visa Bulletin, introducing several changes to employment-based (EB) immigrant visa categories
The US Department of State released the April 2025 Visa Bulletin this week, introducing several changes to employment-based (EB) immigrant visa categories. India's EB-5 Unreserved category has retrogressed by over two years to November 1, 2019, while China's EB-5 Unreserved category has moved back approximately two and a half years to January 22, 2014.
Why US Visa April 2025 Bulletin is causing longer interview wait times | Explained
India’s EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories were advanced. EB-4 visas are currently unavailable for all countries until October 1, 2025.
The April 2025 Visa Bulletin shows significant retrogression in certain employment-based visa categories, particularly for India and China in the EB-5 Unreserved category. This means that applicants will face longer wait times, which can indirectly lead to an increased demand for interview slots.
Family-sponsored categories
A retrogression in family-sponsored categories is also set to contribute to longer processing times and potential increases in interview demand.
The visa bulletin mentions two important dates:
Final Action Dates: When your Green Card can be approved.
Dates for Filing: When you can submit your final application paperwork.
USCIS decides which date to use for employment-based green cards, and for April 2025, they are using the final action dates.
Family-based Green Cards (India):
Waiting Longer: Most family-based categories in India are seeing their wait times get longer.
Examples:
If you're an unmarried adult child of a US citizen (F1), the approval date has moved back, meaning you'll wait longer.
If you are a sibling of a US citizen, that category also moved backward, meaning longer wait times.
Even though some ‘Dates for filing’ moved forward, the final action dates are what matter for application approval.
FLAG deleting H-1B records
The Foreign Labor Access Gateway (FLAG) began deleting older case records starting March 20, 2025. This means if a case was finalized on March 22, 2020, it will be deleted on March 22, 2025.
