Updated November 12, 2026

EB-2 Visa Priority Date: How It Is Set, How to Read the Visa Bulletin, and How to Keep Your Place in Line

Your EB-2 visa priority date (also written EB2 visa priority date) sets your place in the waiting queue for a U.S. Green Card based on the day the Department of Labor receives Form ETA-9089 for PERM cases, or the day USCIS receives Form I-140 for National Interest Waiver and Schedule A cases. Under USCIS and Immigration and Nationality Act rules, employment-based preference visas have an annual baseline limit of 140,000 visas divided by category and country of birth. You can file Form I-485 or complete consular processing once your priority date is strictly earlier than the cut-off date on the applicable monthly Visa Bulletin chart.

What an EB-2 visa priority date is and how it is set (PERM, NIW, and Schedule A)

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) uses your EB-2 priority date to determine your place in the immigrant visa queue. Employment-based preference visas have a statutory baseline limit of 140,000 visas per year (while family-sponsored preference visas have a 226,000 baseline limit), which may be exceeded when prior fiscal year visas go unused. Because visa numbers are split by percentage across preference tiers and capped per country of chargeability, a backlog forms whenever demand exceeds annual supply.

Standard employer-sponsored EB-2 petitions for advanced degree professionals (a degree above a bachelor's, or a bachelor's degree plus at least 5 years of progressive post-bachelor's specialty experience) or persons of exceptional ability (meeting at least 3 of 6 regulatory criteria) lock their priority date on the day the Department of Labor (DOL) receives Form ETA-9089 for processing (or, for ETA Form 750 filings before March 28, 2005, the earliest date accepted in DOL's employment service system). You must meet every job requirement specified on the labor certification as of that priority date. Effective July 16, 2007, approved labor certifications expire after 180 days, so USCIS must receive Form I-140 within 180 days of DOL certification (or the next business day if day 180 falls on a weekend or legal holiday) or USCIS rejects the petition.

EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) self-petitioners and DOL Schedule A occupations (Group I professional nurses and physical therapists, and Group II exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or performing arts, including college and university teachers) skip DOL certification, so their priority date is the date USCIS properly receives Form I-140. If an NIW or Schedule A Form I-140 is denied, no priority date is established. Requesting premium processing on Form I-907 (by mail when filed with Form I-140, or online via PDF upload for a pending IOE Form I-140) speeds up Form I-140 review and locks priority date retention sooner upon approval, yet it never changes your priority date or speeds up the Visa Bulletin.

How your EB-2 priority date is set by pathway (uscis.gov and dol.gov)

Where to find your EB-2 priority date on Form I-797 and fix missing records

Your assigned EB-2 priority date appears on Form I-797, Notice of Action, for your Form I-140 petition. Check the Priority Date box rather than the Notice Date (when USCIS printed the notice). For NIW and Schedule A filings, the Priority Date matches the Form I-140 Receipt Date. For PERM-based EB-2 filings, the Priority Date box shows the earlier date DOL accepted Form ETA-9089.

Before adjudicating Form I-485, USCIS officers order the underlying petition into your A-file and verify the priority date directly against the Form I-140 or permanent labor certification. If the filing date in the certification section of Form ETA-9089 is blank, USCIS may request a corroborative statement or other evidence from DOL clarifying the true priority date. If there is proof a petition was filed, USCIS cannot locate it, and it was never sent to the National Visa Center, you must recreate the petition at no additional fee and the recreated petition keeps the original priority date.

How to read the EB-2 Visa Bulletin: Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing

Each month, DOS publishes two employment-based charts in the Visa Bulletin: Application Final Action Dates (when immigrant visas and Green Cards may finally be issued) and Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates to submit documents to the National Visa Center or, when authorized by USCIS, file Form I-485). Within 1 week of each DOS bulletin, USCIS posts which chart governs domestic Form I-485 filings. For November 2026 (updated November 2, 2026), USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for all employment-based preference categories, though any category that is current or has a later date on Final Action Dates may use Final Action Dates.

A visa must be available at two stages: when you file Form I-485 (under the USCIS-designated chart for that month) and when USCIS approves Form I-485 (always governed by Application Final Action Dates). Under the strict comparison rule, a visa is available only if your cell shows C (Current) or your priority date is strictly earlier than the published cut-off date. A priority date matching the exact cut-off date is not current, and U means visa numbers are unauthorized and temporarily unavailable.

October 2026 Employment-Based Dates for Filing comparison (uscis.gov, updated September 29, 2026)

Country of chargeability and spousal cross-chargeability rules

Your Visa Bulletin column is set by your country of chargeability, which is usually your country of birth rather than citizenship or residence. Holding a second passport does not move an applicant born in an oversubscribed country out of that birth country's queue.

Under spousal cross-chargeability in the USCIS Policy Manual, if one spouse's birth country is backlogged and the other spouse's birth country has an available visa, the couple may charge both visas to the more favorable country of birth. When an EB-2 principal uses a derivative spouse's country of birth, both spouses must be eligible to adjust status, USCIS treats both as principals, keeps their Form I-485 files together in a family pack with a cross-chargeability notation, and approves both at the same time.

• Principal backlogged, spouse's birth country current: Charge the principal's visa to the derivative spouse's country of birth and file together for simultaneous approval.
• Principal current, spouse's birth country backlogged: Charge the derivative spouse's visa to the principal's country of birth (adjusting together or later).
• Derivative child backlogged: Charge the child's visa to either parent's more favorable country of chargeability.
• Parents using a child's birth country: Never permitted, because parents cannot cross-charge to a child's country of birth.

Priority date retention, porting across EB categories, and AC21 job changes

Under 8 CFR 204.5(e), a beneficiary of two or more approved immigrant petitions in EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 is entitled to the earliest priority date for all subsequently filed EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petitions. That lets you upgrade to EB-1, file in EB-3, or move to a new employer (which must secure a new PERM labor certification if the new role requires one) while keeping your original place in line. Include a copy of the earlier Form I-797 approval notice when filing Form I-485 so the officer applies the retained date.

You lose priority date retention from an earlier EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition only if USCIS revoked the petition for fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, or material error, if DOL revoked the labor certification, or if USCIS or DOS invalidated the labor certification. Petitions already used to immigrate or revoked after failing to timely apply for an immigrant visa also cannot be reused.

After your Form I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, job portability under INA Section 204(j) allows you to move to a new job offer with the same or a different employer in the same or a similar occupational classification, confirmed on Form I-485J, without starting a new PERM or Form I-140.

Worked example written by our team (invented applicants): Priya, born in Mumbai, had Company A file Form ETA-9089 on May 10, 2017, followed by an approved EB-2 Form I-140 within 180 days of DOL certification. In 2024, Company B completed a new PERM and EB-2 Form I-140 approval retaining her May 10, 2017 priority date. In October 2026, EB-2 India's Dates for Filing cut-off is January 15, 2015, keeping her waiting. If Priya wins approval on a self-petitioned EB-1A Form I-140, her retained May 10, 2017 date clears EB-1 India's July 1, 2024 cut-off. Alternatively, if she marries Mateo, born in Colombia (All Chargeability Areas, March 15, 2026 cut-off), they can file Form I-485 together using spousal cross-chargeability.

Visa retrogression, concurrent filing, and maintaining lawful status

Visa retrogression occurs when monthly visa demand exceeds supply and cut-off dates move backward, typically late in the fiscal year before a fresh visa allocation opens on October 1. Under 8 CFR 245.1(g)(1), USCIS cannot reject properly filed Form I-485 applications within a month even if DOS reports mid-month that numbers ran out. If retrogression leaves no visa number at final adjudication, USCIS completes your interview and security checks and holds your otherwise approvable file at a Service Center until DOS allocates a visa number, later updating expired checks or issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) if needed.

Applicants physically inside the United States may concurrently file Form I-485 with Form I-140 (or while Form I-140 is pending) whenever a visa number is immediately available under the active Visa Bulletin chart. Concurrent filing is never available for consular processing abroad. When mailing Form I-140 and Form I-485 together, keep supporting documents in two separate form stacks rather than combining them. USCIS decides Form I-140 first and mails separate notices.

A locked priority date grants no lawful stay on its own. Under INA 245(a) and 245(c), employment-based adjustment applicants must generally be inspected and admitted or paroled and maintain valid status up to filing Form I-485, subject to limited statutory provisions under INA 245(k) or INA 245(i). Travelers can check remaining admission days via U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Traveler Compliance Check under the View Compliance tab on the I-94 website or CBP Link Mobile Application (which sends email reminders at 10 days remaining), though domestic USCIS extensions or adjustments may not display.

To see queue volume ahead of your priority date, check two spreadsheets in the USCIS Immigration and Citizenship Data library: Pending Applications for Employment-Based Preference Categories (inventory as of October 5, 2026) and Form I-140, I-360, I-526 Approved EB Petitions Awaiting Visa Final Priority Dates (Fiscal Year 2026, Quarter 3). Note that the USCIS I-485 inventory excludes consular cases at DOS and approved petitioners who have not yet filed Form I-485.

Derivatives, CSPA age checks, and your 7-step filing checklist

Your spouse (E-21) and unmarried children under age 21 (E-22) share your EB-2 priority date once Form I-140 is approved. Derivatives may accompany you within 6 months of your LPR admission or adjustment, or follow to join later with no fixed time limit if the qualifying relationship existed before you became an LPR, continues through their adjustment, and you remain an LPR without naturalizing first. A child born after your adjustment to a marriage that existed when you became an LPR also receives your priority date. For children nearing 21, USCIS officers run Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age calculations during adjudication.

Work through this 7-step readiness checklist written by our team before your EB-2 priority date becomes current.

• 1. Audit Form I-797: Verify the Priority Date box matches your DOL Form ETA-9089 filing date or Form I-140 receipt date, and attach earlier Form I-797 approvals if retaining an older date.
• 2. Track the 180-day PERM clock: Make sure USCIS receives any PERM-based Form I-140 within 180 days of DOL certification.
• 3. Check USCIS's monthly chart notice: Confirm within 1 week of the new Visa Bulletin whether Dates for Filing or Final Action Dates governs Form I-485 acceptance.
• 4. Verify I-94 compliance: Confirm continuous lawful status on your I-94 and USCIS extension notices to avoid INA 245(c) bars.
• 5. Complete Form I-693: Schedule your immigration medical exam with a USCIS-designated civil surgeon.
• 6. Check Form I-864 exemption: Employment-based applicants skip Form I-864 unless a relative filed Form I-140 or owns 5% or more of the petitioning firm.
• 7. Separate concurrent packets or prepare for port of entry: Mail concurrent I-140 and I-485 stacks separately inside the U.S., or remember for consular processing that CBP officers at the port of entry make the final admissibility decision.

What officers check about your priority date at the Green Card interview

At a USCIS adjustment interview or consular interview abroad, the officer verifies your priority date, ongoing job offer (or NIW endeavor), and timely qualifications. Prepare around these four questions without memorizing scripts.

• When did you complete the degree or 5 years of progressive experience for this role? Checks that you met all labor certification job requirements as of the priority date. Bring diplomas, transcripts, and dated experience letters.
• Are you still working for, or planning to join, the Form I-140 employer? Checks employer viability and job offer validity, or INA 204(j) portability after 180 days pending. Bring a current employment letter, pay stubs, or Form I-485J.
• How is a visa number available for your birth country today? Checks spousal cross-chargeability or priority date retention. Bring your marriage certificate and spouse's birth certificate, or your earlier Form I-797 approval notice.
• What endeavor are you advancing under your National Interest Waiver? Checks ongoing eligibility through final adjudication. Bring updated evidence of your work in the approved endeavor.

Practice example

Your latest Form I-140 was filed this year, so how are you applying to adjust status under a 2016 EB-2 priority date?

State clearly in one or two sentences which employer filed your earlier approved Form I-140, the exact priority date printed on that earlier Form I-797 approval notice, and that you are retaining that priority date under USCIS rules for multiple approved employment-based petitions. Confirm that the earlier petition was approved and was never revoked for fraud, willful misrepresentation, material error, or labor certification invalidation. Next, identify your current approved or pending Form I-140, name your sponsoring employer (or explain that you self-petitioned under a National Interest Waiver), and state the offered role so your explanation matches your filing packet. Bring both Form I-797 approval notices to the interview, along with a copy of the certified Form ETA-9089 if PERM applied, and current employment verification or Form I-485J if your adjustment application has been pending for 180 days or more.

Under the USCIS Policy Manual, an adjudicating officer must verify both your underlying immigrant petition and whether an earlier priority date remains valid for visa availability. Knowing both petition dates and bringing the prior Form I-797 approval notice lets the officer confirm retention under 8 CFR 204.5(e) without holding your case for extra file review.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.