July 2025 Visa Bulletin: Mostly steady, scattered progress forward

The Department of State has just issued the July 2025 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these priority dates or earlier may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment:

Table B: Dates for Filing

USCIS will continue to use the Table A Final Action Dates chart for I-485 employment-based filings in July 2025. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU Law Analysis

EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 China all moved forward 1-2 weeks in July 2025.

EB-3 All Other and EB-3 Mexico moved forward nearly 2 months.

EB-3 India moved forward 1 week.

All remaining categories stayed steady and made no progress.

As we approach the end of the fiscal year in September, the visa bulletin is unlikely to make significant progress forward and is expected to slow down or remain steady.

In 2024, EB-3 categories retrogressed significantly in July 2024 and September 2024, so the lack of retrogression in this month’s visa bulletin is a positive sign toward a steady conclusion of the fiscal year.

Trump’s Travel Ban will Exacerbate Healthcare Workforce Shortages in the US

On June 4, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the first travel ban of his second term. The 2025 version of the President’s travel ban restricts visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries.

Specifically, the ban prevents issuance of both temporary visas and permanent Green Cards to nationals of the following countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

The ban sets country-specific partial bans on certain visa types for the remaining seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

The ban does not apply to existing Green Card holders, dual nationals (if the individual travels on a passport issued by a country that is not included in the ban), athletes, coaches and immediate relatives traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event, and immediate family immigrants with clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship (e.g., DNA).

The ban will take effect on June 9, 2025, and could impact U.S. employers that rely on global talent, particularly in healthcare and technology, as noted by Boundless Immigration’s blog on the Travel Ban’s negative effect on US employers.

As discussed in an MU blog post earlier this year, immigrants are relied upon extensively in the US healthcare workforce. Citing research analysis by JAMA Network:

• 25% of physicians in the U.S. were born outside of the U.S.
• 17% of the total healthcare workforce, or roughly 3.4 million workers, were born outside the U.S.

The Trump Travel Ban will further restrict visa issuance to foreign-trained healthcare workers who are desperately needed to meet shortages in the US. Current healthcare staffing shortages will be further exacerbated, hospitals will face bottlenecks and healthcare facilities will be unable to meet healthcare needs in the U.S.

Foreign-Trained Nurses Can Help Fill Critical Gaps in the Healthcare Sector

As the U.S. healthcare system grapples with a critical nursing shortage, maintaining lawful, streamlined immigration pathways for foreign-trained nurses is essential to ensuring effective and continuous patient care.

A recently published article by Digital Health Insights (DHI) highlights the severity of this shortage, which is exacerbated by tightening immigration policies and a growing number of nurses leaving the profession.

 

Drawing on data from the Migration Policy Institute, DHI notes that as of 2021, nearly 20%, approximately 2.8 million, of healthcare workers in the United States are immigrants.

 

The total supply of RNs in the U.S. decreased by more than 100,000 from 2020 to 2021, which is the greatest drop in the past 40 years. Between 2020-2022, nursing turnover skyrocketed to 27% nationwide.

 

Due to high demand and Department of State backlogs, foreign-trained nurses who qualify for a Green Card are currently waiting more than two years to enter the U.S. after their cases are approved. An approved case indicates the foreign-trained nurse meets all U.S. requirements to enter the profession and has a U.S. employer sponsor.

 

To address these barriers, DHI proposes innovative solutions, such as extending the National Interest Waiver for Physicians to include other healthcare professionals. Likewise, it suggests that the U.S. follow the example of countries like Canada and the United Kingdom, which have implemented dedicated healthcare visa programs.

 

Meeting the U.S. healthcare workforce shortage—particularly in nursing—requires accessible and effective legal pathways for foreign-trained professionals.