Compare Employment-Based Green Card Paths
Compare the Paths Side by Side
Pick two or more of the six employment-based green card paths and see them lined up across the things that usually decide which one fits: who petitions, whether PERM is required, the eligibility bar, the queue outlook, government cost, what you get, and the trade-offs. Everything here runs in your browser. Nothing you select is saved or sent anywhere. This is educational, not legal advice.
Build your comparison
Choose the paths you want to look at, then hide any categories you do not care about. Two paths start selected so there is something to read right away.
Pick at least two paths to compare.
Government filing fees are the same across all six paths. They go to USCIS and are separate from any attorney fee. Form I-140 (the immigrant petition) is $715 by mail or $665 online. Form I-907 (optional premium processing of the I-140) is $2,965, paid on top of the I-140 fee. It buys a decision within the posted business-day window and does not shorten the visa-bulletin wait, so confirm the current amount on the official I-907 page. Form I-485 (adjustment of status inside the U.S.) is $1,440 by mail or $1,390 online. What differs between paths is who usually pays, shown in the cost row.
Queue positions are directional, not predictions. Backlogs are charged to your country of birth and move month to month. To see the actual movement, use this site's History and Trends for how each category's cutoff has moved over the years, PERM Processing Time for how long the labor-certification step has taken, and the Queue Position and Timeline Scenarios tool to explore a range from your own dates. For the official current figures, check the USCIS processing-times page and the monthly Visa Bulletin.
The fit notes are trade-offs, not a recommendation. None of this decides your case. Which path is realistic for you depends on the specific facts of your background and your employer, so confirm with a licensed immigration attorney. You can find one through the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
O-1 is not included here. It is a temporary work visa, not one of the six green card paths, so it is left out of this comparison. The EB-2 NIW page has a narrative table that includes O-1 for context.
This page is educational, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not official Amazon guidance. Verify against official USCIS and Department of State sources and consult a licensed immigration attorney.