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Begin my evaluationUnderstanding the numbers
The priority-date wait.
Congress caps employment-based green cards at about 140,000 per year, and under the per-country limit at INA §202, no single country of birth may take more than roughly 7% of them. Countries that generate more demand than that share — overwhelmingly India and China — develop multi-year backlogs, while applicants from most other countries move through with little or no wait. Your position in the queue is fixed by your priority date: generally the day your PERM labor certification or I-140 petition was filed. When the Visa Bulletin's cut-off date for your category and country passes your priority date, a visa number becomes available. India-born applicants weighing EB-2 NIW against the backlog can read our EB-2 NIW priority-date strategy for Indian nationals.
By country of birth
Priority dates by category.
Final Action Dates from the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the first of fiscal year 2027. A green card can be approved only if your priority date is earlier than the date shown; "Current" means no wait. Mexico follows the "All other countries" column for employment-based categories, and the Philippines does too except in EB-3. Dates move every month and can retrogress without warning.
Current No wait
Recent 2022 or later
Backlog Before 2022
| Category | All other countries | China (mainland) | India |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 — Extraordinary ability / multinational | Current | Jul 2023 | Feb 2023 |
| EB-2 — Advanced degree / NIW | Jan 2025 | Oct 2021 | Nov 2013 |
| EB-3 — Professionals & skilled workers | May 2024 | Jan 2022 | Jan 2014 |
| EB-3 — Philippines | Aug 2023 | — | |
| EB-5 — Investor (unreserved) | Current | Dec 2016 | Dec 2023 |
| EB-5 — Investor (rural / HUA / infrastructure set-asides) | Current | Current | Current |
These dates change monthly, and they move backward as well as forward. The October 2026 bulletin, the first of FY2027, retrogressed EB-2 for most of the world from Current to January 1, 2025, its first cutoff since March, and moved EB-3 back to May 15, 2024. India gained ground: EB-2 India returned from Unavailable at November 1, 2013, EB-1 India advanced to February 1, 2023, and EB-5 unreserved India returned at December 1, 2023. For October, USCIS is also accepting the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based adjustment, which lets some applicants file an I-485 before their final action date is reached. Our October 2026 bulletin analysis covers both. Confirm each month's cut-offs, and which chart USCIS is accepting, on the official Department of State Visa Bulletin.
The category you file in sets the wait.
Each category has its own line. For applicants born in India and China, EB-1 runs years ahead of EB-2, and an approved I-140 generally keeps its priority date if you later file in a higher category under 8 CFR 204.5(e). EB-1A and the EB-2 NIW are both filed without an employer. A free evaluation tells you which of them your record supports.
What it means for you
Planning around the backlog.
For EB-1 applicants born outside India and China, the priority-date wait is a non-issue and petition approval is most of the battle. EB-2 and EB-3 now carry a wait for everyone. For Indian and Chinese nationals, it is often the single biggest factor in the strategy, and there are levers worth evaluating early.
01
Choose the category carefully
EB-1A (extraordinary ability) sits ahead of EB-2 and EB-3 in the queue for backlogged countries and allows self-petition. For a strong profile, building toward EB-1A can save years over EB-2 NIW. Compare petition times.
02
Lock in an early priority date
Your priority date is your place in line — and it can be retained and ported across petitions. Filing sooner, even in a backlogged category, preserves your position while you pursue a faster path in parallel.
03
Use cross-chargeability
A spouse born in a country with a shorter queue can change the country your case is charged to — potentially skipping the India or China queue entirely. We screen for this at intake.
FAQ
Common questions.
U.S. law caps the number of employment-based green cards any single country of birth can receive each year at roughly 7% of the total. Because India and China generate far more demand than that share, their applicants form multi-year queues while "all other countries" remain current or close to it. Your place in line is set by your priority date — generally the date your PERM labor certification or I-140 petition was filed.
No. The NIW waives the job-offer and labor-certification requirements, which can speed up the petition stage, but it is still an EB-2 immigrant category and is subject to the same per-country priority-date queue. For India-born applicants in particular, an approved NIW can still face a long wait for a visa number. This is why category choice — for example EB-1A versus EB-2 NIW — matters so much for backlogged countries.
Cross-chargeability lets a married couple use the more favorable country of birth between the two spouses for visa-number purposes. If you were born in India but your spouse was born in a country with a shorter queue, you may be able to "charge" the case to your spouse's country and skip the India backlog. It depends on the facts and the timing, and it is one of the first things we evaluate for backlogged-country clients.
The Visa Bulletin publishes two charts. The Final Action Dates chart (Chart A) controls when a green card can actually be approved. The Dates for Filing chart (Chart B) can sometimes let applicants submit an adjustment-of-status application earlier — but only when USCIS announces it will accept Chart B for that month and category. The figures on this page reflect Final Action Dates. Always confirm which chart applies for your category in the current month.
The dates here reflect the October 2026 Visa Bulletin and are provided for general guidance. The Department of State issues a new Visa Bulletin every month, and dates can advance, stall, or retrogress (move backward) with little notice. In October, EB-2 for most countries moved from Current to January 1, 2025, while EB-2 India returned from Unavailable at November 1, 2013. Always confirm the current month's figures on the official Visa Bulletin at travel.state.gov before relying on them.