Quotas for Employment Based Immigration

The worldwide quota for employment based immigration includes 40,000 visas allocated to each of the following three employment-based categories:

EB-1: 1) Outstanding professors and researchers, 2) Those of extraordinary ability ("one of that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor"), and 3) managers and executives who are transferring from a subsidiary company abroad.

EB-2: Those whose jobs require a minimum of a Master's degree (or a Bachelor's degree plus five years of experience). This category normally involves a labor certification application, unless the petitioner can establish that the employment is in the "national interest."

EB-3: Professionals, and skilled and unskilled workers. This category requires a labor certification application.

In addition, there are 10,000 visas allocated for each country to the following two categories:

EB-4: Religious workers.

EB-5: Investors.

In addition to the 40,000 immigrant visas mentioned above, the quota for the EB-1 category is increased by the unused immigrant visas from the EB-4 and EB-5 categories. The quota for the EB-2 category is increased by the unused immigrant visas from the EB-1 category. And the quota for the EB-3 category is augmented by the unused immigrant visas from the EB-2 category.

Under present law, each country is allocated only 9,800 employment based visas, which includes not only principal applicants (the employees), but also their spouses and children. Based on its calculation of supply and demand, the State Department has established backlogs for immigrant visas for those born in India and China. These backlogs are administered through a system of cutoff dates announced by the State Department each month. An applicant's priority date -- the date the labor certification is filed -- must be earlier than the cut-off date when the application for adjustment of status (I-485) or immigrant visa application is filed and when it is approved.

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