EB-3 Green Card: PERM, I-140, and Family Process

The EB-3 green card is an employment-based path to U.S. permanent residency for skilled workers, professionals with a bachelor’s degree, and workers in positions requiring less than two years of training. It runs through a sponsoring employer, who must first prove no qualified U.S. worker is available, then file an immigrant petition, and finally hand off to the worker for the last step once a visa number opens up. Congress allocates roughly 40,000 EB-3 visas each fiscal year, but a 7% per-country cap means applicants from high-demand countries like India can face waits exceeding a decade.¹

Which EB-3 Subcategory Fits Your Job

Classification depends on the job’s minimum requirements, not your personal qualifications. Someone with a master’s degree filling a position that only requires two years of experience is still classified as a skilled worker, not a professional.²

Skilled workers fill jobs that require at least two years of training or experience and are not temporary or seasonal. Relevant college coursework can count toward the training requirement.
Professionals fill jobs requiring a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent, and must hold that degree at the time of filing.
Other workers fill positions that require less than two years of training or experience, spanning industries like food processing, hospitality, janitorial services, and manufacturing.

Every EB-3 position must be permanent and full-time. The employer makes the classification when filing, and USCIS evaluates it based on the job description rather than the applicant’s resume.

How Long the Wait Really Is

Federal law allocates 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based visa pool to EB-3, which works out to roughly 40,000 visas per year. The “other workers” subcategory is separately capped at no more than 10,000 visas annually. Unused EB-1 or EB-2 numbers flow down to EB-3, which occasionally speeds things up.¹

On top of the category limit, no single country’s nationals can receive more than 7% of employment-based visas issued in a fiscal year.³ This hits applicants born in India and mainland China hardest. As of the June 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-3 applicants from India have a final action date of December 15, 2013, meaning only those who filed labor certifications more than twelve years ago are currently receiving green cards. Mainland China’s cutoff sits at August 1, 2021, and most other countries have a cutoff of June 1, 2024.⁴

These dates shift monthly and occasionally move backward (retrogression) when demand exceeds supply within a fiscal year. Check the Visa Bulletin every month to track your place in line.

Step One: PERM Labor Certification

Before anything reaches USCIS, the employer must prove to the Department of Labor that no qualified, willing, and available U.S. worker can fill the position. This process is called PERM (Program Electronic Review Management), and it’s the longest and most procedurally demanding step in the EB-3 timeline.

Prevailing Wage Determination

The employer starts by requesting a prevailing wage determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center. The NPC sets the minimum salary the employer must offer based on the occupation, skill level, and geographic area. Unless a collective bargaining agreement covers the role, the NPC uses Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data.⁵ The determination is valid for 90 days to one year, so the employer needs to move promptly.

Recruiting U.S. Workers

The employer then conducts a genuine recruitment campaign to test the domestic labor market. At minimum, this includes placing a job order with the state workforce agency and running two print advertisements in a newspaper of general circulation, or one print ad plus one in a professional journal for certain occupations. The employer files Form ETA-9089, the Application for Permanent Employment Certification, to document the effort.⁶

For professional positions, the employer must also complete at least three additional recruitment steps from a list of ten that includes job fairs, the employer’s own website, online job boards, campus recruiting, trade publications, and radio or television ads. Every U.S. applicant who responds must be evaluated, and the employer must be prepared to explain rejections based on the job’s legitimate minimum requirements, not a preference for the foreign worker. The Department of Labor audits a percentage of PERM applications, both randomly and when a filing looks unusual.

Who Pays for PERM

The employer cannot seek or receive any payment from the foreign worker for costs related to the labor certification. That includes attorney fees, advertising costs, and any other PERM-related expenses. The worker can hire and pay for their own separate immigration attorney, but if the same lawyer represents both sides, the employer must cover the full cost.⁷ Violations can result in denial and potential debarment from the PERM program.

Step Two: Filing the I-140 Petition

Once the Department of Labor certifies the PERM application, the clock starts ticking. The approved labor certification is valid for only 180 calendar days, and the employer must file Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers) with USCIS before it expires. USCIS rejects any petition submitted with an expired certification.⁸

The petition packages the approved labor certification with evidence of the worker’s qualifications and the employer’s ability to pay. USCIS scrutinizes ability to pay closely: the employer must show it can pay the offered wage starting from the priority date and continuing until the worker becomes a permanent resident, using annual reports, federal tax returns, or audited financial statements. Employers with 100 or more workers may submit a statement from a financial officer instead.⁹

After USCIS receives the petition, it issues a Form I-797 receipt notice confirming the filing and establishing the priority date. That date is your place in line.¹⁰ The job description, worksite location, and salary on the I-140 must match the PERM application exactly. Discrepancies are among the most common reasons for a request for evidence or a denial.

You Keep Your Priority Date

Once the I-140 is approved, you keep your priority date even if you later change employers and a new petition is filed on your behalf. The only exceptions are USCIS revocation for fraud, revocation of the underlying labor certification by the Department of Labor, or a finding that the approval was based on a material error.¹¹ For anyone facing a long backlog, this portability lets you carry your original place in line forward to a new job without starting over.

Step Three: Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing

When the monthly Visa Bulletin shows your priority date is current, meaning a visa number is available for your country and category, you take the final step toward permanent residency.

If you’re already in the United States on a valid nonimmigrant visa, you file Form I-485 to adjust status without leaving the country.¹² This stage involves biometrics, a medical examination by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon, and a background check. The medical exam is performed by a private doctor from the USCIS-approved list, and costs are not standardized; expect to pay several hundred dollars depending on your location.

If you’re outside the United States, you go through consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate. That involves an in-person interview, a medical exam performed by an embassy-approved physician, and supporting documents including police certificates. Timelines range from a few months to over a year depending on the consulate’s workload.

Working and Traveling While You Wait

For applicants who file Form I-485, the waiting period comes with both protections and risks.

You can file Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) and Form I-131 (Application for Travel Document) alongside your I-485. When both are filed together, USCIS issues a combination card that works as both an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and an advance parole travel document. The EAD lets you work for any employer in the United States, not just your sponsor, while advance parole lets you travel internationally and return without abandoning your pending green card application.¹³

The travel piece is critical. If you leave the United States while your I-485 is pending and you don’t have advance parole, USCIS treats your application as abandoned. There is no grace period.

For H-1B holders facing long waits, an approved I-140 unlocks the ability to extend H-1B status beyond the standard six-year limit. If your priority date is not yet current, you can renew your H-1B in three-year increments under AC21 Section 104(c), keeping your work authorization intact while you wait for a visa number.¹⁴

Changing Jobs Before the Green Card Arrives

The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21) provides relief through job portability. If your I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, you can change employers without losing your green card case, as long as the new position is in the same or a similar occupation described in your original labor certification.¹⁵ USCIS evaluates similarity by actual duties, not job titles, using the Department of Labor’s occupational classification system as a guide. The new job doesn’t have to be in the same city, and the new employer doesn’t have to match the original salary.

If your employer withdraws the I-140 after your I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, the approved petition generally remains valid and your case can still proceed. If the withdrawal happens before that 180-day mark, you lose the petition and your pending adjustment goes down with it. Timing matters.

Portability only kicks in at the I-485 stage. During the PERM and I-140 phases, you’re tied to the sponsoring employer. If you leave before your I-485 has been pending for 180 days, a new employer would need to restart the process, though you can retain your original priority date from the first approved I-140.

Bringing Your Spouse and Children

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can immigrate with you as derivative beneficiaries on the same EB-3 petition. They don’t need separate employer sponsorship. Their priority date mirrors yours, and they file their own I-485 applications or go through consular processing when your date becomes current.

Derivative family members count against the same annual visa allocation as the principal applicant, which contributes to the overall backlog. If a child turns 21 while the case is pending, they may age out and lose eligibility, though the Child Status Protection Act provides some relief by freezing the child’s age under certain conditions.

What the EB-3 Process Costs

The EB-3 process involves multiple government fees spread across different stages and different payers.

The Form I-140 filing fee is $715, paid by the employer.¹⁰ If the employer wants a faster decision, premium processing through Form I-907 is available for $2,965 as of March 1, 2026, and guarantees USCIS action within 15 business days.¹⁶ Premium processing only speeds up the I-140 decision; it has no effect on how fast a visa number becomes available.

The employer bears all PERM-related costs, including attorney fees and advertising. The worker separately pays for the I-485 (or consular processing fees), the medical exam, and any EAD or advance parole applications. USCIS updates its fee schedule periodically, so check the current Form G-1055 before filing. Attorney fees for the worker’s portion commonly run several thousand dollars.

The total out-of-pocket cost across the full EB-3 process, combining employer and employee expenses, can easily reach $10,000 to $15,000 or more when legal fees, government filing fees, recruitment advertising, and medical exams are all counted. If you’re in a long backlog, budget for renewals too, because you may need to renew your EAD and advance parole documents several times before reaching the finish line.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1152 – Numerical Limitations on Individual Foreign States
4
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2026
5
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.40 – Determination of Prevailing Wage for Labor Certification Purposes
6
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.17 – Basic Labor Certification Process
7
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.12 – Improper Commerce and Payment
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 6 – Permanent Labor Certification
9
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.5 – Petitions for Employment-Based Immigrants
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 8 – Documentation and Evidence
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While Your Green Card Application Is Pending with USCIS
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FAQs for Individuals in H-1B Nonimmigrant Status
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5 – Job Portability after Adjustment Filing and Other AC21
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Increase Premium Processing Fees