Employment-Based Green Cards: EB-1 to EB-5, PERM and Priority Dates

Published 3 November 2026

A job-based green card is the main way a foreign worker, researcher, executive or investor becomes a permanent resident without a family tie. The steps — a labor certification, a petition, then the green card application itself — can take years from start to finish.

This guide explains the five categories, how the PERM process works, what a priority date is, and the rules that protect a worker who changes jobs while waiting.

The five categories at a glance

The categories and percentages are set by 8 U.S.C. §1153(b). Unused numbers in EB-4 and EB-5 flow up to EB-1, and unused numbers in each of the first three categories flow down to the next. The worldwide level is at least 140,000 a year, and no single country can use more than 7% of the combined family and employment preference numbers — 25,620 — according to the November 2026 Visa Bulletin. Spouses and unmarried children under 21 come along in the same category and count against the same numbers.

EB-1: priority workers

EB-1 has three groups, and none of them needs a labor certification (USCIS EB-1 page):

• Extraordinary ability (EB-1A). For people at the very top of their field in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. No employer or job offer is needed; the person can file for themselves. The regulation at 8 CFR 204.5(h) asks for either a one-time major international award or evidence meeting at least three of ten criteria, such as nationally recognized prizes, published material about the person, judging the work of others, original contributions of major significance, scholarly articles or a high salary.
• Outstanding professors and researchers (EB-1B). International recognition in an academic field, at least three years of teaching or research, and a permanent job offer from a university or a qualifying research employer.
• Multinational executives and managers (EB-1C). Someone who worked for at least one of the last three years abroad for a company and is coming to work as a manager or executive for its U.S. parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate.

EB-2: advanced degrees and exceptional ability

EB-2 covers professionals with a degree above a bachelor’s, and people of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business. Under 8 CFR 204.5(k), a U.S. bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent followed by five years of progressive experience in the specialty counts as a master’s. “Exceptional ability” means expertise significantly above what is ordinarily found in the field; a degree or license alone is not enough.

Normally an EB-2 case needs an employer and a PERM labor certification. The exception is the national interest waiver (NIW), which lets the worker self-petition with no employer and no PERM. Since Matter of Dhanasar (2016), USCIS grants the waiver when the applicant shows three things: the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance; the applicant is well positioned to advance it; and on balance the U.S. benefits from waiving the job offer and labor certification. The NIW has become the main route for entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers and physicians who do not have, or do not want to depend on, a sponsoring employer.

EB-3: skilled workers, professionals and other workers

EB-3 is the category for most sponsored jobs that do not need an advanced degree (USCIS EB-3 page):

• Skilled workers: jobs that need at least two years of training or experience.
• Professionals: jobs that need a U.S. bachelor’s degree or a foreign equivalent.
• Other workers: jobs that need less than two years of training or experience. This sub-group is capped at 10,000 visas a year by statute, and the November 2026 bulletin says that for fiscal year 2027 the NACARA reduction to that number will be limited to about 150. Its waiting line is longer than the rest of EB-3.

Every EB-3 case needs a full-time, permanent job offer and, except for Schedule A occupations, an approved labor certification. Schedule A, at 20 CFR 656.5, lists jobs the Labor Department has already found to be short of U.S. workers — principally professional nurses and physical therapists — and those employers file the labor certification form directly with USCIS, skipping the recruitment test.

EB-4 and EB-5

EB-4 covers “special immigrants”: religious workers, special immigrant juveniles, members of the armed forces and several smaller groups, most filing Form I-360 (see USCIS’s EB-4 page). EB-4 shares one line in the Visa Bulletin, and in November 2026 its final action date was 15 December 2022 for every country.

EB-5 is for investors. The statute, at 8 U.S.C. §1153(b)(5), sets the minimum investment at $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area (a rural or high-unemployment area) or an infrastructure project. The business must create at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. Of the EB-5 visas, 20% are reserved for rural investments, 10% for high-unemployment areas and 2% for infrastructure. Most investors use the regional center program, which pools investments; the law authorizes it through 30 September 2027. The green card is conditional for two years. USCIS explains the program on its EB-5 page.

PERM: the labor certification, step by step

For EB-2 cases without a waiver and for EB-3, the employer must first prove to the Department of Labor that there is no qualified, willing and available U.S. worker for the job and that hiring the foreign worker will not lower wages. The rules are in 20 CFR part 656. In outline:

1. Prevailing wage. The employer asks the Labor Department’s National Prevailing Wage Center for the wage for that job in that area. The determination is valid for between 90 days and one year, and the employer must offer at least that wage (20 CFR 656.40).
2. Recruitment. For professional jobs the employer must place a 30-day job order with the state workforce agency and two Sunday newspaper ads, plus three more recruitment steps from a list, all within six months before filing. The mandatory steps must be done at least 30 and no more than 180 days before filing (20 CFR 656.17(e)). Any qualified U.S. applicant who responds can sink the case.
3. Filing. The employer files Form ETA-9089 online through the Labor Department’s FLAG system. The filing date becomes the worker’s priority date (20 CFR 656.30(a)).
4. Decision. The application is certified, audited or denied. The waits are long: on the FLAG processing-times page, as of 5 October 2026 analysts were reviewing PERM applications filed in January 2026, and the average case decided in August 2026 had taken 336 days. Prevailing wage requests for PERM filed in June 2026 were being worked on as of 30 September.
5. Use it or lose it. A certification expires if the employer does not file the immigrant petition within 180 days (20 CFR 656.30(b)).

The petition and the green card application

With the labor certification in hand (or without one, for EB-1 and the NIW), the next step is Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, filed with USCIS (USCIS I-140 page). An employer filing it must show it has been able to pay the offered wage from the priority date onward, with annual reports, tax returns or audited financial statements (8 CFR 204.5(g)(2)).

The last step is the green card itself. A worker who is already in the U.S. files Form I-485 to adjust status; one who is abroad goes through the National Visa Center and a consulate. A worker can file the I-485 only when a visa number is available — that is, when the priority date is earlier than the cut-off in the chart USCIS designates for that month. If the date is already current, the I-140 and I-485 can be filed together.

Priority dates and the Visa Bulletin

Your priority date is your place in line. Under 8 CFR 204.5(d), it is the date the Labor Department accepted the PERM application or, for cases with no labor certification, the date USCIS received a complete I-140. Each month the State Department’s Visa Bulletin publishes cut-off dates by category and country of birth. Only four countries have separate columns — China, India, Mexico and the Philippines — and everyone else shares the “all chargeability areas” column.

Two rules protect the priority date. Once an I-140 in EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 is approved, the worker keeps its priority date for any later EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 petition, even with a new employer, unless the approval is revoked for fraud or error (8 CFR 204.5(e)). That is how a worker in EB-3 can “upgrade” to EB-2 without losing years of waiting. We publish the current charts every month on our Visa Bulletin page.

Changing jobs while you wait

A green card based on a job offer is about a future job, not the current one, so changing employers can end the case. Two safety valves exist:

• Portability after 180 days. Under INA §204(j) and 8 CFR 245.25, once an I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more and the I-140 is approved (or later approved), the worker can move to a new job in the same or a similar occupation and keep the case alive. USCIS uses Form I-485 Supplement J to confirm the new offer.
• Forgiveness of short status gaps. Most adjustment applicants must have kept lawful status the whole time. For employment-based cases, INA §245(k) forgives up to 180 days in total of falling out of status, unauthorized work or other violations, as long as the person is in the U.S. after a lawful admission.

Neither rule helps someone who entered without inspection. For most employment-based applicants, finishing the case inside the U.S. requires a lawful entry.

What to do now

• Work out your category honestly. Many workers who assume EB-3 qualify for EB-2, and some who assume they need an employer qualify for EB-1A or a national interest waiver. The difference can be years.
• Start PERM early. With a prevailing wage request, recruitment and almost a year of Labor Department review, an employer that starts today will not have a priority date for months and a certification for over a year.
• Keep your status clean. Lawful entry and continuous status are what let you finish inside the U.S. Track your I-94, your work permit and every extension.
• Get advice before changing jobs or travelling abroad on a pending case.

Getting help

Employment cases involve two agencies, strict timing and an employer’s cooperation, and a mistake in the job description or the recruitment can cost a year. Our directory lists business immigration lawyers and green card lawyers in Miami, or you can browse all listed immigration attorneys. For background, see our guides to family-based green cards and who’s who in U.S. immigration.

Primary sources

• 8 U.S.C. §1153(b) — Employment-based preference categories
• 8 CFR 204.5 — Petitions for employment-based immigrants
• 20 CFR part 656 — Labor certification (PERM)
• Matter of Dhanasar, 26 I&N Dec. 884 (AAO 2016)
• USCIS — Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants
• U.S. Department of Labor — FLAG processing times
• U.S. Department of State — Visa Bulletin for November 2026

This article is general information, not legal advice. Employment-based cases turn on the details of the job, the employer and your immigration history, and the rules change often. Check the official sources linked above, and speak to a licensed immigration attorney about your own case.

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