EB-1 EB-2 EB-3 eligibility tool

Legal information only. Employment-based green card eligibility depends on detailed facts about your qualifications, the job, and current USCIS policy. This tool identifies likely categories only. An immigration attorney confirms eligibility and handles filing. See our full disclaimer.

EB-1 / EB-2 / EB-3 eligibility screener

Your likely EB category

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How do EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 actually differ?

EB-1 covers extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and professors, and multinational executives or managers, and is the only one of the 3 that can skip the labor certification process entirely in most cases. EB-2 covers advanced degree professionals and people with exceptional ability, generally requiring labor certification unless a national interest waiver applies. EB-3 covers skilled workers, professionals with a bachelor's degree, and other workers, and also requires labor certification. The category you qualify for affects both the eligibility bar and, often significantly, your wait time based on annual numerical limits per country.

If your case rests more on a specific employer relationship than independent achievement, it's worth comparing against the temporary work visa categories first, since many EB petitions follow an existing H-1B, L-1, or O-1 status. And once you know your likely category, the priority date checker and green card timeline tracker help translate that into an actual wait time based on your country of birth.

EB-1: no labor certification, but a high bar

EB-1A (extraordinary ability) requires sustained national or international acclaim and can be self-petitioned without an employer sponsor. EB-1B (outstanding researcher or professor) requires international recognition in a specific academic field plus a qualifying job offer. EB-1C (multinational manager or executive) requires at least 1 year working abroad for the same company in a managerial or executive role within the prior 3 years, plus a qualifying US position. All 3 skip the lengthy PERM labor certification process, which is a major timing advantage.

EB-2: advanced degree or exceptional ability, usually with PERM

EB-2 generally requires either a master's degree (or a bachelor's degree plus 5 years of progressive experience) or documented exceptional ability significantly above what's normally encountered in the field. Most EB-2 cases require PERM labor certification, where the employer must test the US labor market and prove no qualified US worker is available for the position. A national interest waiver can bypass both the labor certification and the job offer requirement for candidates whose work substantially benefits the US, often used by researchers and entrepreneurs.

EB-3: the broadest but often slowest category

EB-3 covers skilled workers (positions requiring at least 2 years of training or experience), professionals (positions requiring a bachelor's degree), and other workers (unskilled positions requiring less than 2 years of training). It requires PERM labor certification in nearly all cases. Because EB-3, especially the "other workers" subcategory, has high demand relative to its annual allocation, wait times for applicants born in certain high-demand countries can be substantially longer than EB-1 or EB-2 wait times for the same country.

Frequently asked questions about EB green card categories

Yes, it's common and often strategic to pursue more than one category simultaneously, especially if you qualify for both EB-2 and EB-3, since you can sometimes use whichever has the earlier priority date available for your country. Each category requires its own separate petition and, in most cases, its own labor certification process, so this does involve added cost and complexity.

PERM is the Department of Labor process requiring an employer to test the US labor market through specific recruitment steps, proving no qualified, willing US worker is available for the position before sponsoring a foreign worker. It generally takes several months to over a year depending on Department of Labor processing volumes and whether the case is selected for audit. EB-1 categories skip this requirement entirely, which is one of their biggest advantages.

A national interest waiver lets EB-2 applicants skip both the labor certification process and the specific job offer requirement, self-petitioning instead, if they can show their work has substantial merit and national importance, they're well positioned to advance it, and waiving the job offer requirement benefits the US on balance. It's commonly used by researchers, entrepreneurs, and professionals whose work doesn't fit neatly into a single employer sponsorship.

Yes, significantly. Annual numerical limits apply per category and per country of birth, not country of current residence. Applicants born in countries with very high demand relative to the annual allocation, most notably India and China for employment-based categories, can face wait times of years or even decades longer in EB-2 and EB-3 than applicants born elsewhere. This makes EB-1, which sometimes has more current priority dates, especially valuable for applicants from high-demand countries who qualify.

It depends on the stage of the process. Once your I-485 adjustment of status application has been pending 180 days or more, you can generally change to a same or similar job under a provision called AC21 portability, without restarting the whole process. Changing employers before that point, or before the underlying I-140 petition is approved, can jeopardize the case and typically requires starting over with the new employer.