Updated November 3, 2026

EB-2 visa requirements: advanced degree, exceptional ability, NIW and PERM

To qualify for EB-2, you need an advanced degree (a US master's or higher, or a bachelor's plus 5 years of progressive experience after it) or exceptional ability shown by at least 3 of 6 criteria in 8 CFR 204.5(k). Most applicants also need a permanent job offer and a certified PERM labor certification, unless they self-petition through a National Interest Waiver (NIW) under the three-prong Matter of Dhanasar test.

Every rule below comes from USCIS, its Policy Manual, 8 CFR 204.5 and the Department of Labor, checked on November 3, 2026.

What is the EB-2 visa?

EB-2 is the employment-based second preference immigrant visa, and it leads to a green card. Under 8 CFR 204.5(k) there are two ways to qualify: as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree (or its equivalent), or as a person with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business.

A standard EB-2 needs a US employer to offer a full-time permanent job, get a certified PERM labor certification from the Department of Labor (DOL) and file Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers. Two routes skip the DOL step: Schedule A occupations and the NIW. With an NIW, USCIS waives both the job offer and the labor certification, so you can file Form I-140 for yourself.

Once the I-140 is approved, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may be able to come to the US in E-21 and E-22 immigrant status, or adjust status with you if they're already in the country.

Who counts as an advanced degree professional?

Every EB-2 applicant, NIW included, must first qualify as an advanced degree professional or a person of exceptional ability. USCIS checks this threshold before it looks at any waiver request.

• A US degree above a bachelor's, or a foreign equivalent degree. If the specialty customarily requires a doctorate, you need a US doctorate or a foreign equivalent.
• A US bachelor's (or foreign equivalent) plus at least 5 years of progressive experience in the specialty after the degree counts as a master's. Without at least a bachelor's or foreign equivalent, you can't use the advanced degree classification.

The job must need the degree too. The offered position, or the occupation behind an NIW endeavor, must be a profession under INA 101(a)(32) or need at least a bachelor's for entry, and the job itself must require an advanced degree. The USCIS Policy Manual gives an example: a person with a master's or Ph.D. in engineering who proposes to open a bakery would struggle to qualify, because a baker doesn't typically need a bachelor's. It also notes that most registered nurse positions don't require an advanced degree according to O*Net, except managerial roles like director of nursing or advanced roles like nurse practitioner.

All 5 years must come after the bachelor's (USCIS may count from the date of a provisional degree certificate if you had finished all substantive requirements by then), and they must relate to your specialty. A chemistry degree followed by 5 years as a restaurant manager doesn't equal a master's in chemistry. For PERM cases, you must have the full 60 months on or before the day the employer files Form ETA-9089.

Our example: finish your bachelor's requirements on June 1, 2021, start full-time progressive work in your specialty on June 15, 2021, and the earliest date you reach 5 years is June 15, 2026.

What counts as exceptional ability?

Exceptional ability means expertise significantly above what's ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts or business, and you must show you'll substantially benefit the US national economy, cultural or educational interests, or welfare in the future. Under Kazarian v. USCIS and the Policy Manual, officers review it in two steps. Step 1 is evidence meeting at least 3 of these 6 criteria:

Meeting 3 isn't the finish line. If the criteria don't readily apply to your occupation, comparable evidence can count for Step 1, though general claims or witness letters alone don't. In Step 2, the officer makes a final merits determination on all the evidence, deciding whether its quality shows expertise significantly above the ordinary. Association membership, for example, meets Step 1, but its caliber is weighed in Step 2.

For the experience criterion, the employer letters must document at least 120 months of full-time experience. Part-time roles count only if they add up to 120 months of full-time equivalent work.

What is the National Interest Waiver and the Dhanasar test?

An NIW asks USCIS to waive the job offer, and with it the PERM requirement, because doing so is in the national interest. After you meet the advanced degree or exceptional ability threshold (where your area of exceptional ability directly relates to your proposed endeavor), you must pass the three prongs set by the 2016 precedent decision Matter of Dhanasar.

What doesn't count by itself: classroom teaching, adapting code for an employer's clients, opening a car dealership, or working in an occupation with a national labor shortage doesn't by itself establish national importance. A national labor shortage alone doesn't satisfy Prong 3 either.

What you file instead of PERM. An NIW I-140 goes with the employee-specific parts of an uncertified permanent labor certification: a completed Form ETA-9089, Appendix A and a signed Form ETA-9089, Final Determination (or Form ETA-750B).

How does USCIS weigh STEM, founder and athlete cases?

• STEM: an advanced STEM degree, especially a Ph.D., tied to the endeavor and to work furthering a critical and emerging technology (or another STEM area important to US competitiveness or national security) is an especially positive factor under Prong 2. Together with that work and being well positioned to advance it, it's a strong positive factor under Prong 3. Letters from interested US government agencies or quasi-government bodies, such as federally funded research and development centers, can support all three prongs.
• Entrepreneurs: owning a US company alone rarely establishes eligibility. Helpful evidence includes an ownership stake with an active, central role, outside investment or binding commitments from angel investors or venture capital firms, a startup incubator or accelerator, government grants or awards, intellectual property, media articles, revenue growth and US job creation (especially in economically depressed areas), and third-party letters.
• Athletes: athletes can seek exceptional ability in the arts, but an approved labor certification or a major league contract doesn't prove it by itself. A professional athlete's labor certification stays valid on a move to another team in the same sport (in an association of 6 or more teams with combined revenues over $10,000,000 a year, or an affiliated minor league team). FLAG labor certifications filed on or after June 1, 2023 no longer list minimum job requirements for athletes, so petitioners should send them with the I-140.

Worked example: two Ph.D.s, two outcomes

Written by our team from USCIS Policy Manual scenarios. Both applicants are invented, and both hold a US Ph.D. in chemical engineering.

How does PERM work for EB-2?

Unless you have an NIW or Schedule A, the employer needs a certified PERM from DOL's Employment and Training Administration before filing the I-140. PERM certifies that there aren't enough US workers able, willing, qualified and available for the job in that area, and that hiring you won't hurt the wages and working conditions of similar US workers. The employer needs a valid Federal Employment Identification Number (FEIN) and a physical US location where US workers can be referred.

1. Define the job: a permanent, full-time role with its actual minimum requirements and duties, under 20 CFR 656.17 (professional and non-professional jobs), 656.18 (college and university teachers) or 656.10 (professional athletes).
2. Prevailing wage: request and receive a Prevailing Wage Determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) before filing.
3. Recruit and post notice: test the US labor market with the required recruitment and post a Notice of Filing under 20 CFR 656.10.
4. File Form ETA-9089: online in DOL's FLAG system (after creating Login.gov and FLAG accounts) or by mail. For FLAG filings on or after June 1, 2023, DOL issues a signed Form ETA-9089, Final Determination.

The 180-day clock. A certified PERM is valid for 180 days from certification. USCIS must receive the I-140 before that, or it rejects the petition. If day 180 falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, USCIS accepts petitions received the next business day.

Schedule A skips DOL review for two groups: Group I (professional nurses and physical therapists) and Group II (exceptional ability in the sciences or arts, including college and university teachers, and in the performing arts). The employer files the I-140 with USCIS along with an uncertified Form ETA-9089 and its appendices, a signed Final Determination, and a valid NPWC prevailing wage tracking number in Section E, Item 1.

What goes with Form I-140?

Form I-140 (edition 06/07/24) can be filed online or by mail, except together with Form I-907 for premium processing, which must go by mail. For a pending I-140 with an IOE receipt number, a standalone I-907 can go online or by mail. Your answers to Questions 5 and 6 in Part 1 (nonprofit or government research status, and number of full-time employees) decide whether you qualify for a reduced Asylum Program Fee. USCIS tells self-petitioners to answer No to Question 5 and Yes to Question 6. Paper forms need a handwritten signature, and USCIS rejects typed names, stamps, autopens and pasted signature images.

• Ability to pay, 8 CFR 204.5(g)(2): any petition with a job offer must show the employer can pay the offered wage from the priority date until you become a permanent resident, with annual reports, federal tax returns or audited financial statements. For an employer with 100 or more workers, USCIS may accept a statement from a financial officer.
• Experience letters, 8 CFR 204.5(g)(1): whenever the petition relies on experience or training, letters from current or former employers or trainers, each with the writer's name, address and title and a specific description of your duties or training.

EB-2 fees and visa numbers in 2026

Premium processing speeds up only the USCIS decision on the I-140. It doesn't move your place in the visa line, and USCIS lists per-country limits among the things that set how long you wait, so people born in high-demand countries can wait longer.

How do EB-2 priority dates work?

Employment-based preference visas are generally capped at 140,000 a year across all employment categories (plus unused family-sponsored visas from the year before), with percentage limits by country of chargeability, usually your country of birth. When demand exceeds supply, the State Department uses your priority date to set your place in line.

An approved EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 I-140 lets you keep the earliest priority date for any later EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 petition, unless USCIS revokes the approval for fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, material error, or a revoked or invalidated labor certification. If you're on a temporary visa and face a layoff, our H-1B 60-day grace period guide covers keeping status between employers. To compare timelines, see EB-3 visa processing time and EB-5 visa requirements.

When can you apply for the green card itself?

An approved I-140 isn't a green card. You wait until a visa is available for your category and country in the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin. Use its Final Action Dates chart unless USCIS's Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page says the Dates for Filing chart applies that month. A visa is available when your priority date is earlier than the cutoff, or the chart shows C (current). If dates move backward (retrogression), new numbers generally open when the fiscal year begins on October 1.

Inside the US, if you were inspected and admitted or paroled, you file Form I-485. With a visa available, you can file it with the I-140, while the I-140 is pending, or after it's approved. Filing both by mail, keep each form's documents in its own stack. Outside the US, USCIS forwards the approved I-140 to the National Visa Center for consular processing. Our documents checklist and US visa interview tips help you prepare for that interview.

• Key I-485 documents: Form I-485 with its fee, the I-797 notice for your I-140 (unless filing together), Form I-693 medical exam, your I-94 and proof of continuous lawful status (or an INA 245(k) exemption), two passport-style photos, a birth certificate and photo ID.
• Supplement J: employer-sponsored applicants file it to confirm the job offer still stands (unless filing with the I-140). NIW self-petitioners don't, and instead sign a statement that they intend to work in the field named in the I-140.
• Form I-864: needed only if a US citizen or permanent resident relative filed the I-140, or owns 5% or more of the for-profit company that did.
• Changing jobs, INA 204(j): once your I-485 has been pending 180 days or more, your approved I-140 stays valid for a new job in the same or a similar occupation, shown on Supplement J.
• Work permit, 8 CFR 204.5(p): E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, O-1 or L-1 workers with an approved I-140 whose priority date isn't current may apply for a 1-year work permit if USCIS finds compelling circumstances.
• Switching categories: with a pending I-485, you can move it to another approved I-140 where a visa is available, with a written request and Supplement J (no new I-485 fee) sent to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox.

A question to practice

"Tell me about the work you plan to do in the United States under your National Interest Waiver petition, and how it impacts your field beyond your current employer."

A strong answer covers: the specific endeavor rather than a job title, its impact beyond one employer, and concrete progress or adoption of your work by others.

Visaful is an AI mock interview app for US visa interviews: an AI officer asks your visa's questions out loud and shows what to fix.

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.