EB-2 to EB-3 Downgrade Strategy: Porting Priority Dates Between Employers

Priority date porting is a strategy that allows employment-based green card applicants to retain an earlier priority date when switching employers or visa categories. In this scenario, the applicant holds a November 2013 EB-2 priority date from Employer A and is awaiting a new PERM approval under Employer B. When Employer B files the I-140 petition, the applicant can request to port the earlier 2013 priority date. This is done by including documentation of the previously approved I-140 from Employer A at the time of filing. The ported date does not invalidate the original I-140, though that petition's independent usefulness diminishes once the new I-140 is approved. The applicant is also considering an EB-2 to EB-3 downgrade strategy. When EB-3 cut-off dates advance ahead of EB-2 — as has occurred periodically — applicants can file a new I-140 under EB-3 using the same PERM and then port their earlier priority date to that petition, potentially enabling an earlier I-485 filing. For EB-3 applicants in similar situations, the key action items are: confirm the original I-140 is still valid and undisturbed, work with immigration counsel to formally request priority date retention when filing the new I-140, and monitor the Visa Bulletin monthly to identify when the ported date becomes current under EB-3. This type of cross-employer and cross-category porting is governed by AC21 portability rules and INA 203(d), and requires careful coordination between employers and legal counsel to execute correctly.