Question 1

What is a priority date?

Accepted Answer

Your priority date is the date your employer filed a labor certification (PERM) or immigrant petition (I-140) on your behalf — whichever applies for your category. It establishes your place in the employment-based green card queue. For EB-2 NIW, it is the date your I-140 self-petition was received by USCIS.

Question 2

What does it mean for a priority date to be current?

Accepted Answer

Your priority date is current when it falls on or before the Final Action Date listed in the most recent Visa Bulletin for your category and country of chargeability. When current, you may be eligible to file Form I-485 in the United States or proceed with consular processing abroad.

Question 3

Does this tool use Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing?

Accepted Answer

Final Action Dates. The Final Action Date is the cutoff at which a visa number is available and a green card can be issued. The Dates for Filing chart, when authorized by USCIS, allows earlier I-485 filing but does not guarantee visa availability.

Question 4

How long is the EB-2 India green card wait?

Accepted Answer

EB-2 India has the longest active backlog of any employment-based category. Recent Final Action Date movement implies a wait measured in many years, and possibly decades, for newly assigned priority dates. The calculator on this site projects a category- and country-specific estimate based on the last five years of Visa Bulletin movement.

Question 5

Does this work for EB-2 NIW?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Select EB-2 as your category and your country of birth as the country of chargeability. Final Action Dates apply to EB-2 regardless of whether the underlying petition is employer-sponsored or a National Interest Waiver — NIW cases share the same priority date queue as all EB-2 petitions.

Question 6

Can priority dates move backward?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Retrogression occurs when the U.S. Department of State adjusts Final Action Dates downward to keep visa number consumption within statutory caps. A date that was current can become not-current. The pessimistic estimate produced by this tool reflects periods of slow movement and retrogression.

Question 7

Is this legal advice?

Accepted Answer

No. This tool provides informational projections based on historical Visa Bulletin data. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified immigration attorney.

Green card timeline questions and answers