diff --git a/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.d.ts b/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.d.ts
index 9bdbcf180..1dad8d119 100755
--- a/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.d.ts
+++ b/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.d.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ interface AutoCompleteProps {
     modelValue?: any;
     suggestions?: any[];
     field?: string|Function;
+    optionGroupLabel?: string;
+    optionGroupChildren?: string;
     scrollHeight?: string;
     dropdown?: boolean;
     dropdownMode?: string;
diff --git a/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.vue b/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.vue
index 20bba80bd..bf1363812 100755
--- a/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.vue
+++ b/src/components/autocomplete/AutoComplete.vue
@@ -16,13 +16,25 @@
         <Button ref="dropdownButton" type="button" icon="pi pi-chevron-down" class="p-autocomplete-dropdown" :disabled="$attrs.disabled" @click="onDropdownClick" v-if="dropdown"/>
         <transition name="p-connected-overlay" @enter="onOverlayEnter" @leave="onOverlayLeave">
             <div :ref="overlayRef" class="p-autocomplete-panel p-component" :style="{'max-height': scrollHeight}" v-if="overlayVisible">
+                <slot name="header" :value="modelValue" :suggestions="suggestions"></slot>
                 <ul :id="listId" class="p-autocomplete-items" role="listbox">
-                    <li v-for="(item, i) of suggestions" class="p-autocomplete-item" :key="i" @click="selectItem($event, item)" role="option" v-ripple>
-                        <slot name="item" :item="item" :index="i">
-                            {{getItemContent(item)}}
-                        </slot>
-                    </li>
+                    <template v-if="!optionGroupLabel">
+                        <li v-for="(item, i) of suggestions" class="p-autocomplete-item" :key="i" @click="selectItem($event, item)" role="option" v-ripple>
+                            <slot name="item" :item="item" :index="i">{{getItemContent(item)}}</slot>
+                        </li>
+                    </template>
+                    <template v-else>
+                         <template v-for="(optionGroup, i) of suggestions" :key="getOptionGroupRenderKey(optionGroup)">
+                            <li  class="p-autocomplete-item-group" >
+                                <slot name="optiongroup" :item="optionGroup" :index="i">{{getOptionGroupLabel(optionGroup)}}</slot>
+                            </li>
+                            <li v-for="(item, i) of getOptionGroupChildren(optionGroup)" class="p-autocomplete-item" :key="i" @click="selectItem($event, item)" role="option" v-ripple>
+                                <slot name="item" :item="item" :index="i">{{getItemContent(item)}}</slot>
+                            </li>
+                        </template>
+                    </template>
                 </ul>
+                <slot name="footer" :value="modelValue" :suggestions="suggestions"></slot>
             </div>
         </transition>
     </span>
@@ -49,6 +61,8 @@ export default {
             type: [String,Function],
             default: null
         },
+        optionGroupLabel: null,
+        optionGroupChildren: null,
         scrollHeight: {
             type: String,
             default: '200px'
@@ -102,7 +116,6 @@ export default {
     watch: {
         suggestions() {
             if (this.searching) {
-
                 if (this.suggestions && this.suggestions.length)
                     this.showOverlay();
                 else
@@ -129,6 +142,15 @@ export default {
         }
     },
     methods: {
+        getOptionGroupRenderKey(optionGroup) {
+            return ObjectUtils.resolveFieldData(optionGroup, this.optionGroupLabel);
+        },
+        getOptionGroupLabel(optionGroup) {
+            return ObjectUtils.resolveFieldData(optionGroup, this.optionGroupLabel);
+        },
+        getOptionGroupChildren(optionGroup) {
+            return ObjectUtils.resolveFieldData(optionGroup, this.optionGroupChildren);
+        },
         onOverlayEnter() {
             this.overlay.style.zIndex = String(DomHandler.generateZIndex());
             this.appendContainer();
@@ -328,7 +350,7 @@ export default {
                     //down
                     case 40:
                         if (highlightItem) {
-                            let nextElement = highlightItem.nextElementSibling;
+                            let nextElement = this.findNextItem(highlightItem);
                             if (nextElement) {
                                 DomHandler.addClass(nextElement, 'p-highlight');
                                 DomHandler.removeClass(highlightItem, 'p-highlight');
@@ -336,7 +358,14 @@ export default {
                             }
                         }
                         else {
-                            DomHandler.addClass(this.overlay.firstChild.firstElementChild, 'p-highlight');
+                            highlightItem = this.overlay.firstElementChild.firstElementChild;
+                            if (DomHandler.hasClass(highlightItem, 'p-autocomplete-item-group')) {
+                                highlightItem = this.findNextItem(highlightItem);
+                            }
+
+                            if (highlightItem) {
+                                DomHandler.addClass(highlightItem, 'p-highlight');
+                            }
                         }
 
                         event.preventDefault();
@@ -345,7 +374,7 @@ export default {
                     //up
                     case 38:
                         if (highlightItem) {
-                            let previousElement = highlightItem.previousElementSibling;
+                            let previousElement = this.findPrevItem(highlightItem);
                             if (previousElement) {
                                 DomHandler.addClass(previousElement, 'p-highlight');
                                 DomHandler.removeClass(highlightItem, 'p-highlight');
@@ -407,6 +436,22 @@ export default {
                 }
             }
         },
+        findNextItem(item) {
+            let nextItem = item.nextElementSibling;
+
+            if (nextItem)
+                return DomHandler.hasClass(nextItem, 'p-autocomplete-item-group') ? this.findNextItem(nextItem) : nextItem;
+            else
+                return null;
+        },
+        findPrevItem(item) {
+            let prevItem = item.previousElementSibling;
+
+            if (prevItem)
+                return DomHandler.hasClass(prevItem, 'p-autocomplete-item-group') ? this.findPrevItem(prevItem) : prevItem;
+            else
+                return null;
+        },
         onChange(event) {
             if (this.forceSelection) {
                 let valid = false;
diff --git a/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDemo.vue b/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDemo.vue
index d695f86eb..1a7ec56f5 100755
--- a/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDemo.vue
+++ b/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDemo.vue
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@
                 <h5>Basic</h5>
                 <AutoComplete v-model="selectedCountry1" :suggestions="filteredCountries" @complete="searchCountry($event)" field="name" />
 
+                <h5>Grouped</h5>
+                <AutoComplete v-model="selectedCity" :suggestions="filteredCities" @complete="searchCity($event)" field="label" optionGroupLabel="label" optionGroupChildren="items">
+                    <template #optiongroup="slotProps">
+                        <div class="p-d-flex p-ai-center country-item">
+                            <img src="../../assets/images/flag_placeholder.png" :class="'flag flag-' + slotProps.item.code.toLowerCase()" width="18" />
+                            <div>{{slotProps.item.label}}</div>
+                        </div>
+                    </template>
+                </AutoComplete>
+
                 <h5>Dropdown, Templating and Force Selection</h5>
                 <AutoComplete v-model="selectedCountry2" :suggestions="filteredCountries" @complete="searchCountry($event)" :dropdown="true" field="name" forceSelection>
                     <template #item="slotProps">
@@ -37,6 +47,7 @@
 <script>
 import CountryService from '../../service/CountryService';
 import AutoCompleteDoc from './AutoCompleteDoc';
+import {FilterService,FilterMatchMode} from 'primevue/api';
 
 export default {
     data() {
@@ -44,8 +55,37 @@ export default {
             countries: null,
             selectedCountry1: null,
             selectedCountry2: null,
+            selectedCity: null,
+            filteredCities: null,
             filteredCountries: null,
-            selectedCountries: []
+            selectedCountries: [],
+            groupedCities: [{
+                label: 'Germany', code: 'DE', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Berlin', value: 'Berlin'},
+                    {label: 'Frankfurt', value: 'Frankfurt'},
+                    {label: 'Hamburg', value: 'Hamburg'},
+                    {label: 'Munich', value: 'Munich'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'USA', code: 'US', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Chicago', value: 'Chicago'},
+                    {label: 'Los Angeles', value: 'Los Angeles'},
+                    {label: 'New York', value: 'New York'},
+                    {label: 'San Francisco', value: 'San Francisco'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'Japan', code: 'JP', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Kyoto', value: 'Kyoto'},
+                    {label: 'Osaka', value: 'Osaka'},
+                    {label: 'Tokyo', value: 'Tokyo'},
+                    {label: 'Yokohama', value: 'Yokohama'}
+                ]
+            }]
         }
     },
     countryService: null,
@@ -67,6 +107,19 @@ export default {
                     });
                 }
             }, 250);
+        },
+        searchCity(event) {
+            let query = event.query;
+            let filteredCities = [];
+
+            for (let country of this.groupedCities) {
+                let filteredItems = FilterService.filter(country.items, ['label'], query, FilterMatchMode.CONTAINS);
+                if (filteredItems && filteredItems.length) {
+                    filteredCities.push({...country, ...{items: filteredItems}});
+                }
+            }
+
+            this.filteredCities = filteredCities;
         }
     },
     components: {
diff --git a/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDoc.vue b/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDoc.vue
index 667538ec5..e54b2afcc 100755
--- a/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDoc.vue
+++ b/src/views/autocomplete/AutoCompleteDoc.vue
@@ -60,6 +60,51 @@ export default {
 <pre v-code><code>
 &lt;AutoComplete field="label" v-model="selectedCountry" :suggestions="filteredCountriesBasic" @complete="searchCountryBasic($event)" /&gt;
 
+</code></pre>
+
+                <h5>Grouping</h5>
+				<p>Options groups are specified with the <i>optionGroupLabel</i> and <i>optionGroupChildren</i> properties.</p>
+<pre v-code.script><code>
+export default {
+    data() {
+        return {
+            selectedGroupedCity: null,
+            groupedCities: [{
+                label: 'Germany', code: 'DE', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Berlin', value: 'Berlin'},
+                    {label: 'Frankfurt', value: 'Frankfurt'},
+                    {label: 'Hamburg', value: 'Hamburg'},
+                    {label: 'Munich', value: 'Munich'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'USA', code: 'US', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Chicago', value: 'Chicago'},
+                    {label: 'Los Angeles', value: 'Los Angeles'},
+                    {label: 'New York', value: 'New York'},
+                    {label: 'San Francisco', value: 'San Francisco'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'Japan', code: 'JP', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Kyoto', value: 'Kyoto'},
+                    {label: 'Osaka', value: 'Osaka'},
+                    {label: 'Tokyo', value: 'Tokyo'},
+                    {label: 'Yokohama', value: 'Yokohama'}
+                ]
+            }]
+        }
+    }
+}
+</code></pre>
+
+<pre v-code><code><template v-pre>
+&lt;AutoComplete v-model="selectedCity" :suggestions="filteredCities" @complete="searchCity($event)" 
+    field="label" optionGroupLabel="label" optionGroupChildren="items"&gt;&lt;/AutoComplete&gt;
+</template>
 </code></pre>
 
                 <h5>Force Selection</h5>
@@ -71,10 +116,11 @@ export default {
 </code></pre>
 
 				<h5>Templating</h5>
-				<p>Item template allows displaying custom content inside the suggestions panel. The slotProps variable passed to the template provides an item property to represent an item in the suggestions collection.</p>
+				<p>Item template allows displaying custom content inside the suggestions panel. The slotProps variable passed to the template provides an item property to represent an item in the suggestions collection. 
+                    In addition <i>optiongroup</i>, <i>header</i> and <i>footer</i> slots are provided for further customization</p>
 <pre v-code><code><template v-pre>
 &lt;AutoComplete v-model="brand" :suggestions="filteredBrands" @complete="searchBrand($event)" placeholder="Hint: type 'v' or 'f'" :dropdown="true"&gt;
-	&lt;template #item="slotProps"&gt;
+    &lt;template #item="slotProps"&gt;
 		&lt;img :alt="slotProps.item" :src="'demo/images/car/' + slotProps.item + '.png'" /&gt;
         &lt;div&gt;{{slotProps.item}}&lt;/div&gt;
 	&lt;/template&gt;
@@ -113,6 +159,18 @@ export default {
                                 <td>null</td>
                                 <td>Property name or getter function of a suggested object to resolve and display.</td>
                             </tr>
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>optionGroupLabel</td>
+                                <td>string</td>
+                                <td>null</td>
+                                <td>Property name or getter function to use as the label of an option group.</td>
+                            </tr>
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>optionGroupChildren</td>
+                                <td>string</td>
+                                <td>null</td>
+                                <td>Property name or getter function that refers to the children options of option group.</td>
+                            </tr>
                             <tr>
                                 <td>scrollHeight</td>
                                 <td>string</td>
@@ -227,6 +285,40 @@ export default {
 					</table>
 				</div>
 
+                <h5>Slots</h5>
+				<div class="doc-tablewrapper">
+                    <table class="doc-table">
+						<thead>
+                            <tr>
+                                <th>Name</th>
+                                <th>Parameters</th>
+                            </tr>
+						</thead>
+						<tbody>
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>item</td>
+                                <td>item: Option instance <br />
+                                    index: Index of the option</td>
+                            </tr>
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>optiongroup</td>
+                                <td>item: OptionGroup instance <br />
+                                    index: Index of the option group</td>
+                            </tr>
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>header</td>
+                                <td>value: Value of the component <br />
+                                    suggestions: Displayed options</td>
+                            </tr>
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>footer</td>
+                                <td>value: Value of the component <br />
+                                    suggestions: Displayed options</td>
+                            </tr>
+						</tbody>
+					</table>
+                </div>
+
 				<h5>Styling</h5>
 				<p>Following is the list of structural style classes</p>
 				<div class="doc-tablewrapper">
@@ -285,6 +377,16 @@ export default {
 &lt;h5&gt;Basic&lt;/h5&gt;
 &lt;AutoComplete v-model="selectedCountry1" :suggestions="filteredCountries" @complete="searchCountry($event)" field="name" /&gt;
 
+&lt;h5&gt;Grouped&lt;/h5&gt;
+&lt;AutoComplete v-model="selectedCity" :suggestions="filteredCities" @complete="searchCity($event)" field="label" optionGroupLabel="label" optionGroupChildren="items"&gt;
+    &lt;template #optiongroup="slotProps"&gt;
+        &lt;div class="p-d-flex p-ai-center country-item"&gt;
+            &lt;img src="../../assets/images/flag_placeholder.png" :class="'flag flag-' + slotProps.item.code.toLowerCase()" width="18" /&gt;
+            &lt;div&gt;{{slotProps.item.label}}&lt;/div&gt;
+        &lt;/div&gt;
+    &lt;/template&gt;
+&lt;/AutoComplete&gt;
+
 &lt;h5&gt;Dropdown, Templating and Force Selection&lt;/h5&gt;
 &lt;AutoComplete v-model="selectedCountry2" :suggestions="filteredCountries" @complete="searchCountry($event)" :dropdown="true" field="name" forceSelection&gt;
     &lt;template #item="slotProps"&gt;
@@ -304,6 +406,7 @@ export default {
 
 <pre v-code.script><code>
 import CountryService from '../../service/CountryService';
+import {FilterService,FilterMatchMode} from 'primevue/api';
 
 export default {
     data() {
@@ -311,8 +414,37 @@ export default {
             countries: null,
             selectedCountry1: null,
             selectedCountry2: null,
+            selectedCity: null,
+            filteredCities: null,
             filteredCountries: null,
-            selectedCountries: []
+            selectedCountries: [],
+            groupedCities: [{
+                label: 'Germany', code: 'DE', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Berlin', value: 'Berlin'},
+                    {label: 'Frankfurt', value: 'Frankfurt'},
+                    {label: 'Hamburg', value: 'Hamburg'},
+                    {label: 'Munich', value: 'Munich'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'USA', code: 'US', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Chicago', value: 'Chicago'},
+                    {label: 'Los Angeles', value: 'Los Angeles'},
+                    {label: 'New York', value: 'New York'},
+                    {label: 'San Francisco', value: 'San Francisco'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'Japan', code: 'JP', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Kyoto', value: 'Kyoto'},
+                    {label: 'Osaka', value: 'Osaka'},
+                    {label: 'Tokyo', value: 'Tokyo'},
+                    {label: 'Yokohama', value: 'Yokohama'}
+                ]
+            }]
         }
     },
     countryService: null,
@@ -334,6 +466,19 @@ export default {
                     });
                 }
             }, 250);
+        },
+        searchCity(event) {
+            let query = event.query;
+            let filteredCities = [];
+
+            for (let country of this.groupedCities) {
+                let filteredItems = FilterService.filter(country.items, ['label'], query, FilterMatchMode.CONTAINS);
+                if (filteredItems && filteredItems.length) {
+                    filteredCities.push({...country, ...{items: filteredItems}});
+                }
+            }
+
+            this.filteredCities = filteredCities;
         }
     }
 }
@@ -358,11 +503,21 @@ export default {
                 <h5>Basic</h5>
                 <AutoComplete v-model="selectedCountry1" :suggestions="filteredCountries" @complete="searchCountry($event)" field="name" />
 
+                <h5>Grouped</h5>
+                <AutoComplete v-model="selectedCity" :suggestions="filteredCities" @complete="searchCity($event)" field="label" optionGroupLabel="label" optionGroupChildren="items">
+                    <template #optiongroup="slotProps">
+                        <div class="p-d-flex p-ai-center country-item">
+                            <img src="../../assets/images/flag_placeholder.png" :class="'flag flag-' + slotProps.item.code.toLowerCase()" width="18" />
+                            <div>{{slotProps.item.label}}</div>
+                        </div>
+                    </template>
+                </AutoComplete>
+
                 <h5>Dropdown, Templating and Force Selection</h5>
                 <AutoComplete v-model="selectedCountry2" :suggestions="filteredCountries" @complete="searchCountry($event)" :dropdown="true" field="name" forceSelection>
                     <template #item="slotProps">
                         <div class="country-item">
-                            <img src="https://www.primefaces.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/placeholder.png" />
+                            <img src="../../assets/images/flag_placeholder.png" :class="'flag flag-' + slotProps.item.code.toLowerCase()" />
                             <div>{{slotProps.item.name}}</div>
                         </div>
                     </template>
@@ -378,15 +533,46 @@ export default {
 </template>
 
 <script>
-import CountryService from '../service/CountryService';
+import CountryService from '../../service/CountryService';
+import {FilterService,FilterMatchMode} from 'primevue/api';
+
 export default {
     data() {
         return {
             countries: null,
             selectedCountry1: null,
             selectedCountry2: null,
+            selectedCity: null,
+            filteredCities: null,
             filteredCountries: null,
-            selectedCountries: []
+            selectedCountries: [],
+            groupedCities: [{
+                label: 'Germany', code: 'DE', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Berlin', value: 'Berlin'},
+                    {label: 'Frankfurt', value: 'Frankfurt'},
+                    {label: 'Hamburg', value: 'Hamburg'},
+                    {label: 'Munich', value: 'Munich'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'USA', code: 'US', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Chicago', value: 'Chicago'},
+                    {label: 'Los Angeles', value: 'Los Angeles'},
+                    {label: 'New York', value: 'New York'},
+                    {label: 'San Francisco', value: 'San Francisco'}
+                ]
+            },
+            {
+                label: 'Japan', code: 'JP', 
+                items: [
+                    {label: 'Kyoto', value: 'Kyoto'},
+                    {label: 'Osaka', value: 'Osaka'},
+                    {label: 'Tokyo', value: 'Tokyo'},
+                    {label: 'Yokohama', value: 'Yokohama'}
+                ]
+            }]
         }
     },
     countryService: null,
@@ -408,6 +594,19 @@ export default {
                     });
                 }
             }, 250);
+        },
+        searchCity(event) {
+            let query = event.query;
+            let filteredCities = [];
+
+            for (let country of this.groupedCities) {
+                let filteredItems = FilterService.filter(country.items, ['label'], query, FilterMatchMode.CONTAINS);
+                if (filteredItems && filteredItems.length) {
+                    filteredCities.push({...country, ...{items: filteredItems}});
+                }
+            }
+
+            this.filteredCities = filteredCities;
         }
     }
 }`,
diff --git a/src/views/listbox/ListboxDoc.vue b/src/views/listbox/ListboxDoc.vue
index dc79467d0..d4a852f99 100755
--- a/src/views/listbox/ListboxDoc.vue
+++ b/src/views/listbox/ListboxDoc.vue
@@ -100,14 +100,12 @@ export default {
                 In addition <i>optiongroup</i>, <i>header</i>, <i>footer</i>, <i>emptyfilter</i> and <i>empty</i> slots are provided for further customization.</p>
 <pre v-code><code><template v-pre>
 &lt;Listbox v-model="selectedCars" :options="cars" :multiple="true" :filter="true" optionLabel="brand" listStyle="max-height:250px" style="width:15em"&gt;
-	&lt;template #header&gt;&lt;/template&gt;
     &lt;template #option="slotProps"&gt;
 		&lt;div&gt;
 			&lt;img :alt="slotProps.option.brand" :src="'demo/images/car/' + slotProps.option.brand + '.png'" /&gt;
 			&lt;span&gt;{{slotProps.option.brand}}&lt;/span&gt;
 		&lt;/div&gt;
 	&lt;/template&gt;
-    &lt;template #footer&gt;&lt;/footer&gt;
 &lt;/Listbox&gt;
 </template>
 </code></pre>