Dr. William:

I am currently on H1B visa and it is my 4th year of stay in H1B. From your web site, I now know that EB1-Extraordinary Ability does no need labor certification and can file I-140/I-485 concurrently. I believe that I am eligible to apply for EB1-Extraordinary Ability. Since the immigration visa retrogressed for my home country, what is my priority date and make me eligible for the I-140/I-485 concurrent filing if I file the EB1-Extraordinary Ability application now?

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Answer: 

If you file the I-140 EB1-Extraordinary Ability petition for your green card, a labor certification is not needed. The priority date is the date of your filing of I-140 petition. In the labor certification waiver cases including the EB1-Extraordinary Ability and National Interest Waiver, the priority date is determined by the date of filing of the immigrant petition I-140 form.

You can not file concurrent I-485 now as the EB-1 is currently retrogressed for your home country. The State Department has released a prediction that the EB-1 visa numbers would progress rapidly during the next several months. You should watch closely the EB-1 visa number progression in the Visa Bulletins.