EB-1A vs EB-2 India
EB-2 and EB-1 are different legal tests and different queues. Switching categories does not move your EB-2 priority date into EB-1. It starts an EB-1 case, which India can use only if the extraordinary-ability file holds.
The dates, as of October 2026
Final action, India: EB-1 is 1 February 2023. EB-2 is 1 November 2013. Dates for filing, India: EB-1 is 1 July 2024. EB-2 is 15 January 2015. From the Department of State Visa Bulletin for October 2026. USCIS chooses which chart adjustment-of-status filers may use. Check that month’s USCIS page before you file an I-485.
Rest of world EB-1 is current. India is not. The difference is the per-country limit, not a different EB-1A regulation.
What does not transfer
An approved EB-2 or NIW is not three EB-1A criteria. A master’s degree is the EB-2 path, not an EB-1A box. NIW national-importance letters are not final merits. We score EB-1A only.
- EB-1A: three of ten criteria, or one true major award, then final merits. Self-petition. No labor certification.
- EB-2: advanced degree or exceptional ability, usually with a PERM labor certification, unless it is an NIW.
- A thin EB-1A file is not a backup EB-2. They fail for different reasons.
When EB-1A is the conversation
You already have independent exhibits for at least three criteria, or you can name the exhibits you still need and you are willing to collect them before anyone drafts an I-140. If the free check says too early, stay on the EB-2 date you have. Do not pay for a category the file cannot reach.
Related: EB-1A vs EB-2 India, Indian software engineers, citations, software engineers.
This is not a law firm and does not file petitions. USCIS decides each case on its own record.