November 2025 vs. October 2025 Visa Bulletins — What Changed (and What Didn’t)

The U.S. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin serves as a monthly roadmap for immigrants, attorneys, and employers tracking when green card applicants can move forward with their cases. Each bulletin lists two critical timelines. Final Action Dates, which determine when visas may actually be issued, and Dates for Filing, which indicate when applicants can submit adjustment of status paperwork to USCIS.

With the start of Fiscal Year 2026 (October 2025), the Department of State issued back-to-back bulletins for October and November 2025, reflecting how early-year visa number allocation is stabilizing after the reset of annual limits. Comparing these two editions reveals how each visa category—family-based, employment-based, and diversity lottery has evolved as the new fiscal year progresses.

Below is a detailed, data-driven comparison between the October 2025 and November 2025 Visa Bulletins, focusing strictly on the official figures published by the State Department.

TL;DR

• Employment-Based (EB) Final Action & Filing: No changes from October to November.
• Family-Sponsored Final Action: Mostly unchanged, with two small moves:
  • F4 (All Chargeability) advanced ~2 weeks.
  • F2B (China & India) advanced ~9 days.
• Family-Sponsored Dates for Filing: Several advancements (wider filing eligibility), notably in F2A (All), F2B (All; China/India), F3 (All), F4 (All; India).
• Diversity Visa (DV) monthly cutoffs: Same month-to-month for October→November. The preview cutoffs (next month) change for Algeria in December.
• Religious Workers (SR, EB-4 subcategory): Unavailable in both months (pending potential legislative extension).

Family-Sponsored Categories

A) Final Action Dates — Month-to-Month Changes

Only changes we can confirm from the text you provided are shown below; all other family final action entries remained the same between October and November.

Notes & context (Final Action):

• F1, F2A, F3, F4 (country-specific lines other than those above): no explicit changes appeared in the provided tables.
• F2A retains the same split note in both months: EXEMPT from per-country limit: PD earlier than 01FEB23; SUBJECT to per-country limit (all except Mexico): PD 01FEB23 to <01FEB24; Mexico’s F2A numbers are all exempt.

B) Dates for Filing — Month-to-Month Changes

This is where most of the action is in the Family section.

Unchanged Filing entries (from what’s visible in the pasted tables):

• F1 (All / China / India): 01SEP17 in both months.
• Philippines & some Mexico lines are shown in your paste, and where visible they remain unchanged across the two months (e.g., F3 Philippines 01OCT13; F4 Philippines 30APR01).

Employment-Based (EB) Categories

A) Final Action Dates — No Changes

All EB final action entries in your October and November tables are identical:

• EB-1: All C; China: 22DEC22; India: 15FEB22.
• EB-2: All 01DEC23; China: 01APR21; India: 01APR13.
• EB-3: All 01APR23; China: 01MAR21; India: 22AUG13.
• EB-3 Other Workers: All 15JUL21; China: 01DEC17; India: 22AUG13.
• EB-4: 01JUL20 for all chargeability areas.
• EB-5 Unreserved: All C; China: 08DEC15; India: 01FEB21.
  EB-5 Set-Asides (Rural, High Unemployment, Infrastructure): all Current in both months.

NACARA note for EB-3 Other Workers (the small annual-limit reduction) is unchanged month-to-month in your excerpts (FY2026 reduction ~150).

B) Dates for Filing — No Changes

The EB Filing chart as pasted is the same in October and November, including:

• EB-1 Filing: All C; China: 15MAY23; India: 15APR23.
• EB-2 Filing: All C; China: 15JUL24; India: 01DEC13 (as written in your paste; both months show the same date).
• EB-3 Filing: All: 15JUL24; China: 01JUL23; India: 01JAN22.
• EB-3 Other Workers Filing: All: 01JUL23; China: 01DEC21; India: 01OCT18.
• EB-4 Filing: 01DEC21 (All/India) and 15FEB21 (China/Mexico/Philippines) in both months.
• EB-5 Filing: Unreserved C for All; China 01JUL16; India 01APR22; all three set-asides C.

If any of those EB filing lines look surprising, I’ve left them exactly as they appear in your pasted bulletins, and the month-to-month comparison is based on those values precisely (no external assumptions).

Diversity Visa (DV)

Current-Month Cutoffs (Operational Month)

• October DV (for DV-2026):
  Africa 17,500 (Algeria 14,500; Egypt 16,000); Asia 10,000 (Nepal 6,000); Europe 7,750; N. America (Bahamas) 20; Oceania 1,100; S. America/Caribbean 1,850.
• November DV (for DV-2026):
  Same values as above in your pasted November bulletin.

Next-Month Preview Section (“C” in each bulletin)

• October bulletin’s “C” shows November DV cutoffs — they match the November bulletin’s current-month DV table above.
• November bulletin’s “C” shows December DV cutoffs — same overall regional levels, but Algeria’s limit rises from 14,500 → 17,250 for December while Egypt remains 16,000.

Employment Fourth Preference: Certain Religious Workers (SR)

• Status: Unavailable in both October and November bulletins you provided.
• Each bulletin includes the same note: authority under H.R. 1968 extended SR through September 30, 2025; after midnight September 29, 2025, SR is not issuable unless Congress extends it. If extended, SR would align with EB-4 dates.

At-a-Glance: Key Movements Table

Practical Takeaways

• If you’re waiting in Family categories, November expands filing in several places—most notably F2A (All), F2B (All; China/India), F3 (All), and F4 (All; India)—which can allow earlier document submission/AOS filing if USCIS authorizes using the Filing chart for AOS.
• If you’re in EB categories, no movement to act on between these two months—planning/timing remains the same as October based on your excerpts.
• DV-2026 selectees see no month-to-month change in October→November operational cutoffs; watch the December preview if chargeable to Algeria.

Executive Summary

• Employment-Based (EB): No month-to-month movement in either Final Action or Dates for Filing across EB-1 through EB-5 (including set-asides).
• Family-Sponsored (FB): Modest Final Action advances and broader Dates for Filing eligibility in several lines.
• Diversity Visa (DV): Operational cutoffs are unchanged from October to November; the preview for December raises Algeria.
• EB-4 Certain Religious Workers (SR): Unavailable in both months.

What Moved — At a Glance

Family-Sponsored: Final Action (movement only)

All other FB final action lines shown in the provided tables remain unchanged.

Family-Sponsored: Dates for Filing (movement only)

Unchanged examples from your excerpts: F1 Filing (All/China/India) stays at 01SEP17; several Philippines/Mexico lines shown remain as pasted.

Employment-Based: Final Action & Filing

• No changes between October and November in the values shown for EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-3 Other Workers, EB-4, EB-5 (Unreserved and all Set-Asides).

Diversity Visa (DV)

• Operational month cutoffs: Identical in October and November (Africa 17,500—Algeria 14,500; Egypt 16,000 | Asia 10,000—Nepal 6,000 | Europe 7,750 | Bahamas 20 | Oceania 1,100 | South America/Caribbean 1,850).
• Preview month (“C” section): December raises Algeria from 14,500 → 17,250; other regions remain at the same levels listed above.

EB-4 Certain Religious Workers (SR)

• Unavailable in both October and November; each bulletin notes expiration after September 29, 2025, pending any new legislation.

Narrative Analysis

Family-Sponsored Categories

November brings incremental relief at both ends of the process:

1. Final Action:
   • F4 (All Chargeability) ticks forward by roughly two weeks, a modest but positive signal for long-waiting siblings of U.S. citizens.
   • F2B (China & India) nudges ahead by 9 days, continuing a slow cadence typical of this line when demand is steady.
2. Dates for Filing:
   • F2A (All) advances by about five months (from 08OCT06 → 01MAR07), widening the pipeline for spouses and children of permanent residents to prepare and submit applications when USCIS authorizes the Filing chart.
   • F2A (China/India/Mexico) and F2B (All) each gain one month, while F2B (China/India) gains roughly two months.
   • F3 (All) jumps five months, a notable broadening of filing eligibility for married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
   • F4 (All) picks up about two weeks, and F4 (India) advances three months, allowing earlier document assembly for many.

Overall, November’s family charts continue a pattern of larger movements on the Filing side than on Final Action, which is common when the Department of State manages pipelines to match annual limits and demand.

Employment-Based Categories

Across Final Action and Filing, every EB line remains unchanged from October to November in the provided tables. That includes:

• EB-1: Worldwide Current, with China 22DEC22 and India 15FEB22 on Final Action; Filing stays at C (worldwide), China 15MAY23, India 15APR23.
• EB-2 & EB-3 (incl. Other Workers): Final Action and Filing values are identical month-over-month, preserving the same expectations for adjudication and document preparation.
• EB-5: Unreserved lines hold steady; Set-Asides (Rural, High Unemployment, Infrastructure) remain Current on both Final Action and Filing.

Diversity Visa (DV)

Operational cutoffs are stable October→November. The only forward look is the December preview that raises Algeria’s Africa sub-limit, signaling some redistribution capacity within regional demand without changing regional tops.

EB-4 Certain Religious Workers (SR)

Both months list SR as Unavailable, reflecting the program’s lapse post-September 29, 2025. Each bulletin also notes that if Congress acts, availability could resume and align with EB-4’s dates.

Practical Implications for Applicants

• Family: The wider Filing windows in November (especially F2A, F2B, F3, F4) may enable earlier document submission where USCIS authorizes the Filing chart for AOS. Final Action movement is modest but positive for F4 (All) and F2B (China/India).
• Employment: With no changes, expectations set in October remain valid for November across EB-1 to EB-5. Planning around PERM/I-140/I-485 timing should assume steady state unless USCIS announces chart usage changes.
• DV: No operational shifts in November; Algeria applicants should note the December preview increase.