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EB-2 advanced degree and exceptional ability: the worldwide queue

Enter the priority date from your EB-2 Form I-140, PERM-based or National Interest Waiver, to see whether you can file or be approved this month.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error

Where will you apply?

October 2026 bulletin

Current

Your date is before the Final Action cutoff: a green card can be approved this month.

Final Action DateJanuary 1, 2025
Date for FilingMarch 15, 2026
I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing)You can file
I-485 employment, national average (August 2026)11.8 months
Government fees (paper filing, with work permit and travel permit)$3,645
How this was calculated
  1. Fees: I-140 $715 + I-140 $600 + I-485 $1,440 + I-765 $260 + I-131 $630 (USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and State Department visa fees).

Fee details, line by line

Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error

In the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-2 for applicants born outside India and mainland China has a Final Action Date of January 1, 2025 and a Date for Filing of March 15, 2026; Mexico and the Philippines share that column. The line had been Current from April through September 2026, and the first bulletin of fiscal year 2027 put a cutoff back on it, a move the State Department explained as necessary to keep issuances within the quarterly and annual limits. A priority date later than the Final Action Date cannot be approved yet, even if Form I-485 was filed during the Current months. India (November 1, 2013) and China (October 1, 2021) queue on separate, much older dates under the 7% per-country cap. How long the petition itself takes depends on its type: the latest USCIS range is 3 to 6.5 months for a standard EB-2 I-140 and 30 to 33 months for one requesting a National Interest Waiver.

Who files in the second preference

EB-2 covers members of the professions holding an advanced degree and people of exceptional ability. Its share is 28.6% of the worldwide employment level plus whatever EB-1 does not need, as the October 2026 bulletin recalls. Unless a National Interest Waiver is requested, the petition rests on a PERM labor certification that the employer obtains first, which is the usual route for someone already working in the United States on an H-1B or L-1. With a waiver, Form I-140 is filed without one. Both kinds of approved petition end up in the same row of the bulletin.

October 2026: the end of a Current spring

For the rest of the world, the Final Action Date was listed as Current in every bulletin from April to September 2026. The October bulletin reset it to January 1, 2025, with the Date for Filing at March 15, 2026. That pattern is not new. EB-2 was Current every October from 2013 to 2022, then a cutoff appeared: July 8, 2022 in October 2023, March 15, 2023 in 2024 and December 1, 2023 in 2025. The deepest single drop in the archive came in September 2018, when the box went from Current (C) to January 1, 2013 for one month and returned to Current (C) the next. In all, the line has stepped backwards 10 times since 2001.

Two I-140 clocks under one row

The petition stage can matter more than the bulletin for this column. In the September 2026 USCIS release, a standard EB-2 Form I-140 (E21) took 3 to 6.5 months, while one requesting a National Interest Waiver took 30 to 33 months. The priority date is the day the Department of Labor accepted the PERM application for labor-certified cases and the I-140 receipt date for waiver cases, so a long NIW review does not cost queue position; it delays the moment the approved petition can be used.

India, China and everyone else

Applicants born in India stand at November 1, 2013 and those born in mainland China at October 1, 2021, both far behind the worldwide line. Each has its own page: EB-2 India and EB-2 China. This month USCIS accepts the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based I-485 applications. Applicants weighing a second petition in the third preference can compare the two rows with the EB-2 to EB-3 calculator.

What the back-test says about this column

Forecasts for a rest-of-world date a year behind the cutoff missed by a median of 12 months between October 2012 and October 2025, and the range caught the real outcome 38 % of the time. That is below our bar, so the calculator gives the cutoff, the distance and the filing status, without a forecast. Questions about a particular petition belong with a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative.

EB-2 in the October 2026 bulletin

USCIS asks applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart this month to file Form I-485.
CountryFinal ActionDates for FilingChange this month
All other countriesJanuary 1, 2025March 15, 2026▼ 608 days
China (mainland born)October 1, 2021January 1, 2023▲ 30 days
IndiaNovember 1, 2013January 15, 2015▲ 61 days
MexicoJanuary 1, 2025March 15, 2026▼ 608 days
PhilippinesJanuary 1, 2025March 15, 2026▼ 608 days
EB-2 All other countries: Final Action cutoff by bulletin month since December 2001200220072012201720222002200620102014201820222026
Solid line: Final Action Date. Dashed line: Dates for Filing (since October 2015). A drop is a retrogression.

Every October since 2002

October opens each federal fiscal year, so it is the cleanest point to compare one year with the next.
BulletinFinal Action DateYears behind the bulletin
October 2002Current (C)–
October 2003Current (C)–
October 2004Current (C)–
October 2005Current (C)–
October 2006Current (C)–
October 2007Current (C)–
October 2008Current (C)–
October 2009Unavailable (U)–
October 2010Current (C)–
October 2011Current (C)–
October 2012Unavailable (U)–
October 2013Current (C)–
October 2014Current (C)–
October 2015Current (C)–
October 2016Current (C)–
October 2017Current (C)–
October 2018Current (C)–
October 2019Current (C)–
October 2020Current (C)–
October 2021Current (C)–
October 2022Current (C)–
October 2023July 8, 20221.2
October 2024March 15, 20231.5
October 2025December 1, 20231.8
October 2026January 1, 20251.7

How our forecast did for this case

Back-test from October 2012 to October 2025, each month using only the bulletins known that month.
Distance behind the cutoffMedian error, our modelMedian error, “last 12 months” ruleRange held the real dateStart months testedPublished?
6 months6 months9 months29 %38No reliable forecast
12 months12 months18 months38 %37No reliable forecast
24 months1 months598 months50 %6No reliable forecast
48 months0 months599 months100 %1No reliable forecast

Questions people ask

Why did EB-2 for the rest of the world get a cutoff in October 2026?

The October 2026 bulletin says that some employment categories for rest-of-world applicants retrogressed so that visa issuances stay within the fiscal year 2027 quarterly and annual limits. EB-2 had been listed as Current for six bulletins in a row. The State Department does not publish the demand figures behind the decision, and it says it will keep monitoring the situation.

Does an EB-2 National Interest Waiver petition get a different cutoff?

No. A National Interest Waiver changes how the I-140 is filed, without a PERM labor certification from an employer, but the approved petition still sits in the EB-2 row of the Visa Bulletin under the country of birth. What differs is the USCIS processing time, which has been much longer for NIW petitions than for standard EB-2 petitions.

Are EB-2 Mexico and EB-2 Philippines separate from the worldwide EB-2 date?

Not at present. The bulletin prints a Mexico and a Philippines column, but in EB-2 they have carried the same date as the rest of the world. People born in either country therefore use the cutoff on this page. Only India and mainland China have had their own EB-2 date in recent years.

Can a pending EB-2 I-485 survive a retrogression?

A Form I-485 that USCIS has accepted stays pending when the cutoff moves back; it is not denied for that reason. It simply cannot be approved until the Final Action Date passes the priority date again. Renewals of the work permit and travel document tied to that pending case stay available at the reduced fees listed in the G-1055.

Keep going

EB-2 India

The longest-running employment backlog: cutoff, filing chart, history since 2001 and our graded forecast.

EB-2 China

Advanced-degree workers born in mainland China: a slow but regular queue, and one where our forecast passes its test.

I-140 processing time

Immigrant worker petition times for all eight published I-140 categories, next to each category’s Visa Bulletin cutoff.

EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade

When the EB-3 line for your country is ahead of EB-2, and what moving down a category involves.

Priority date portability

Keeping your place in line when you change employers or petitions, and what AC21 adds after 180 days.

Official sources and data

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Data for 2026, checked on