The E34 visa is the immigrant classification given to the spouse of an EB-3 skilled worker, and it exists only as a derivative of that worker’s case. You do not file your own petition, and you do not have your own priority date. Instead, you inherit your spouse’s classification, their place in line, and their fate: if their EB-3 petition succeeds, yours does; if theirs collapses, so does yours.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas That single fact shapes everything else about the process.
The EB-3 preference covers two kinds of principal workers: skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, coded E31, and professionals with a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent, coded E32. Their spouses take the E34 code. Unmarried children under 21 take E35. All four classifications draw from the same annual EB-3 visa pool.2U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 502.1 – IV Classifications Overview
Who Qualifies as an E34 Spouse
You need a legally valid marriage to an E31 or E32 principal. The marriage must be recognized under the law of the place where it was performed, and it cannot violate U.S. federal public policy. It must also stay intact from the day the employer files the petition until the day you receive your green card. If it ends before then, your eligibility ends with it.
You also have to be admissible to the United States. The grounds for inadmissibility, spelled out in federal law, cover health, criminal history, prior immigration violations, security, and the likelihood of becoming a public charge.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens The one that surprises people most often is unlawful presence: a prior overstay of more than 180 days can trigger a three- or ten-year bar on re-entry, depending on how long you were out of status.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
Two Rules That Do Not Apply to You
Conditional residence, the two-year probationary green card given to spouses married less than two years, does not apply here. That regime is written for spouses of U.S. citizens and of lawful permanent residents in the family-based second preference. The statute explicitly excludes people who receive their status as derivative beneficiaries, which is what E34 is.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters Your card is a standard ten-year green card no matter how recent the marriage.
The Affidavit of Support, Form I-864, generally does not apply either. USCIS exempts principal and derivative applicants in the first, second, and third employment-based preferences, unless a qualifying relative filed the I-140 or holds five percent or more of the sponsoring business.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA If your spouse’s employer is an unrelated company, you can skip that form entirely.
The Wait: Priority Dates and Country Backlogs
Eligibility is one thing. Getting a visa number is another, and this is where most E34 cases stall for years.
Your priority date is the date your spouse’s employer filed the labor certification, or the I-140 if no certification was required. You share that date. You also share your spouse’s country of chargeability, which is normally the country of birth, not citizenship. Because no single country can take more than seven percent of employment-based visas in a year, applicants born in high-demand countries wait far longer than everyone else.
The State Department publishes a Visa Bulletin each month showing which priority dates are being worked. The October 2025 bulletin gave a stark picture of EB-3 final action dates: applicants born in most countries were current through April 2023, China-born applicants were at March 2021, and India-born applicants were at August 2013.7U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for October 2025 For an Indian-born E34 spouse, that is a backlog measured in more than a decade.
Each month USCIS also announces whether adjustment applicants should use the “Dates for Filing” chart or the “Final Action Dates” chart. Dates for Filing typically sits ahead of Final Action Dates, which lets you file the I-485 before a visa is actually available. USCIS has been directing employment-based applicants to the Dates for Filing chart in recent months.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin Check both charts every month. The difference can be months of filing time, or years.
How You Actually Apply
The application path depends on where you are living when your priority date becomes current.
Adjustment of Status From Inside the United States
If you are already in the U.S. in valid status, you file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status You normally need your spouse’s I-140 to be approved first, though concurrent filing of the I-140 and I-485 is possible when the priority date is already current at the time of filing.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status
Consular Processing From Abroad
If you are outside the United States, the National Visa Center takes over the case after the I-140 is approved. You complete Form DS-260, the online Immigrant Visa Application, through the Consular Electronic Application Center.11Consular Electronic Application Center. Consular Electronic Application Center The NVC collects your civil documents and fees, then forwards your case to a U.S. Embassy or Consulate for the interview.
Documents Both Paths Share
Every E34 case needs your spouse’s approved Form I-140 as the foundation.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3 You also need a valid marriage certificate. If the certificate is not in English, expect to pay roughly $20 to $55 per page for a certified translation.
You also need an immigration medical exam. In the U.S., a USCIS-designated civil surgeon completes it and reports the results on Form I-693. Abroad, a panel physician does the same. The doctor hands you the completed form in a sealed envelope. Do not open it. USCIS will reject an unsealed form and you will have to redo the exam.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record The exam runs $250 to $650, paid directly to the doctor, and USCIS does not set that price.
Fees
- Consular processing (DS-260): $345 per person for employment-based immigrant visa processing.14U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
- Adjustment of status (I-485): $1,440 for an adult applicant on paper, or $1,375 filed online. Biometrics are included in that fee.
- USCIS Immigrant Fee: charged after consular approval and paid online before your green card can be produced. Not paying it does not strip your status, but you will not get the physical card.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Immigrant Fee
- Medical exam: $250 to $650.
Attorney fees, translations, and the cost of ordering foreign civil documents sit on top of all of these.
Biometrics and the Interview
If you filed an I-485, USCIS will mail a notice for a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center. Fingerprints, a photograph, and a signature get taken there, and you sign a statement confirming your application is true. Skipping the appointment without rescheduling can lead to a denial.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Your prints run through federal criminal and security databases.
For consular processing, the interview happens at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. A consular officer reviews your documents, asks about your marriage, and confirms details of your spouse’s employment. Questions tend to be direct: how you met, where you live together, what your spouse does. Bring originals of every document you submitted, plus current evidence that the marriage is real and ongoing.
What Can Derail the Case
Because your case rides on your spouse’s petition and your marriage, three disruptions matter most.
Divorce Before Approval
If the marriage ends before you receive permanent residence, you lose E34 eligibility. There is no grace period and no way to preserve derivative status once the qualifying relationship is gone. USCIS reaches its own conclusion about whether a separation or divorce has ended the marriage, regardless of what the couple say they intend. Talk to an immigration attorney about other visa categories if you see this coming; E34 will not survive it.
Death of the Principal Spouse
If the principal worker dies while your case is pending, a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act can let you continue. You need to have been living in the United States when your spouse died and to have kept living here since. You also need a substitute sponsor: a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, at least 18, and a qualifying relative, who files a new Affidavit of Support for you. You will need a death certificate, proof of your U.S. residence, and the substitute sponsor’s tax returns. USCIS keeps discretion to deny reinstatement if it decides approval would not serve the public interest, and that decision is not reviewable.
The Principal Worker Loses the Job
Timing decides everything here. If your spouse loses the job before the I-485 is filed, the I-140 loses its practical basis, because EB-3 requires a standing job offer from a specific employer. In that situation the case usually restarts with a new employer, a new labor certification, and a new petition.
Once the I-485 has been pending for at least 180 days, a rule known as AC21 portability lets the principal change employers without losing the approved I-140, even if the original employer tries to withdraw it. The new position has to be in the same or a similar occupational classification. Your derivative I-485 stays valid as long as the principal’s underlying petition survives, and USCIS policy also recognizes that derivative applicants can remain eligible to adjust after the death of the principal, separately from portability.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 5 – Job Portability after Adjustment Filing and Other AC21 Provisions
After Approval: Work, Travel, and Citizenship
Once approved, you receive a green card that lets you live and work anywhere in the United States indefinitely. No separate work permit is needed. For Form I-9, your green card is a List A document that proves identity and work authorization on its own.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 7.1 Lawful Permanent Residents An employer who demands more documents than that is violating anti-discrimination rules.
You can travel internationally and present your green card when you return. Short trips are fine. Long absences create risk. If you plan to be outside the U.S. for more than a year, file Form I-131 for a re-entry permit before leaving. The permit is valid up to two years and spares you from needing a returning resident visa at a consulate. It does not guarantee admission, but it preserves the presumption that you still intend the United States as your home.18U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. International Travel as a Permanent Resident Even with the permit, spending most of your time abroad can lead an officer to question whether you have abandoned residency.
Your green card also starts the clock toward citizenship. After five years as a permanent resident, with at least 30 months of physical presence in the United States during that period, you become eligible to apply for naturalization. Once you hold the card, it is not tied to your spouse’s employer or to the marriage continuing. A later divorce does not undo the permanent residence you already have.