EB-3 Has Made Significant Progress — Should You Downgrade from EB-2 to EB-3?

In October 2026, the EB-3 Dates for Filing (Chart B) for employment-based green cards made a significant advancement, moving to April 1, 2024, while the Final Action Dates (Chart A) moved to January 8, 2022.

The EB-3 Chart B date is now 1 year and 3 months ahead of the EB-2 Chart B date.

For many EB-2 applicants, this has led them to consider downgrading — essentially, filing a downgrade from EB-2 to EB-3 so that they may potentially have two approved I-140s, one under EB-2 and one under EB-3.

When the time comes, applicants can look at the visa bulletin and determine which category has the earlier Chart B date, and then file the I-485 under that category.

One important point about downgrading is that the employer must agree. The employer not only needs to sign the I-140 paperwork, but also needs to provide the employer's tax returns to demonstrate the ability to pay the proffered green card wage.

1️⃣ For EB-2 Applicants with Earlier Priority Dates

For EB-2 applicants whose priority dates are on or before January 1, 2023, or April 1, 2024, they can consider an EB-2-to-EB-3 downgrade in October and file the EB-3 I-140.

If premium processing is used and everything goes smoothly, they may receive the EB-3 I-140 approval by the end of October, and then file the I-485.

One advantage of filing the I-485 is that you may receive an EAD card in roughly six months. Once you work using the EAD, you are no longer subject to the employment restrictions associated with H-1B status.

Another advantage is that if the employer's I-485 has been pending for more than 180 days, and the employee is subsequently laid off and finds a new employer, they generally do not need to go through the entire PERM → I-140 process again.

At the I-140 stage, the new employer only needs to file a new I-485 Supplement J.

For people who are worried about layoffs or have an unstable employment situation, filing the I-485 earlier may provide an additional layer of security.

2️⃣ For EB-2 Applicants with Priority Dates After April 1, 2024

For EB-2 applicants whose priority dates are after April 1, 2024, if the employer agrees, they can also file an EB-3 downgrade I-140 first.

After having two I-140 approvals, they can then evaluate which I-140 should be used for the I-485 based on the applicable visa bulletin dates.

Of course, it is important to note that downgrading also carries the risk of entering the visa-bulletin “backlog.”

For example, even after successfully downgrading and filing the EB-3 I-485, some applicants may still wait for two years or more before they are scheduled for an interview.

Many applicants may still not be scheduled for an interview.

As for whether you should downgrade, everyone can make that decision based on their own circumstances.

Because if everyone decides to downgrade from EB-2 to EB-3, the EB-3 visa bulletin could also be affected.

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