Overview: EB-2 generally requires an advanced degree, or a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive experience, or exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. EB-3 covers bachelor's-degree professionals, skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, and other workers, under a lower minimum standard. Both typically require Labor certification (PERM)The Department of Labor process in which an employer shows that no qualified U.S. worker is available for a position, required for most EB-2 and EB-3 petitions.See it in the glossary labor certification, but Visa BulletinA monthly State Department publication showing which family and employment visa categories currently have visas available.See it in the glossary movement between the two categories can differ significantly by country, which is often what actually decides the choice.
EB-2's advanced degree and exceptional ability standard
EB-2 requires a job that itself requires an advanced degree or its equivalent (a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience), or a PetitionerThe person or employer who files a petition on behalf of a beneficiary, such as a relative filing an I-130 or an employer filing an I-140.See it in the glossary who can show exceptional ability, a degree of expertise significantly above what is ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business.
EB-3's professional, skilled worker, and other worker standard
EB-3 covers three subcategories: professionals, whose job requires a U.S. bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent as the normal requirement; skilled workers, whose job requires at least two years of training or experience; and other workers, whose job requires less than two years of training, which carries its own separate, smaller numerical allocation.
Why the same PERM case can sometimes support either
A position requiring a bachelor's degree could potentially be certified and filed under EB-3 as a professional; whether it could also support EB-2 generally depends on whether the job itself genuinely requires an advanced degree or the petitioner independently qualifies through exceptional ability, not simply on the petitioner happening to hold an advanced degree.
Visa Bulletin movement differences by country
Depending on the country of ChargeabilityThe country an applicant's visa number is counted against for per-country limits, normally the country of birth rather than citizenship or residence.See it in the glossary and the specific month, EB-3 has at times moved faster than EB-2 for the same country, and at other times the reverse has been true; this movement is genuinely unpredictable over a multi-year horizon and has to be checked against the current Visa Bulletin rather than assumed from past patterns.
How the choice is actually made at the PERM stage
The job requirements listed on the labor certification application, not the individual's personal preference, determine which category the resulting I-140Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, filed by an employer (or in some categories the worker) to classify a person under an employment-based category.See it in the glossary petition can be filed under; an employer generally has to decide the job's actual minimum requirements before PERM is filed, since that decision shapes which category is available afterward.
What happens if the position doesn't clearly fit either
A position with ambiguous or overstated requirements can create real problems at the PERM and I-140 stages; USCIS and the Department of Labor both scrutinize whether the stated requirements genuinely reflect the actual minimum needs of the job, not simply whichever category currently has more favorable Visa Bulletin movement.
Official sources
- USCIS: employment-based immigration: second preference EB-2
- USCIS: employment-based immigration: third preference EB-3
- U.S. Department of State: Visa Bulletin
Related reading
- EB-2 and the National Interest Waiver
- EB-3 Skilled Workers and Professionals
- The EB-2 to EB-3 "Downgrade" Strategy
TR Immigration is an independent immigration information platform. It is not a law firm. Nothing here is legal advice, an eligibility determination, or a prediction about your case. Rules and fees change often, so confirm anything you rely on against the official page it links to.