EB-3 Green Card Steps: PERM, I-140, and Visa Filing

The EB-3 green card process moves through three sequential stages: the sponsoring employer first obtains a PERM labor certification from the Department of Labor, then files Form I-140 with USCIS to have the worker classified as an employment-based immigrant, and finally the worker files Form I-485 from inside the United States or a DS-260 from abroad to receive lawful permanent residence. The middle wait, between petition approval and eligibility to file for the green card, is set by a country-based visa queue that can run from a couple of years to over a decade depending on where the applicant was born.¹

EB-3 covers three subgroups: skilled workers in jobs requiring at least two years of training or experience, professionals holding at least a bachelor’s degree, and other workers in positions needing less than two years of training. Every step depends on a sponsoring employer. Nothing in this process can be started by the worker alone.

Step 1: PERM Labor Certification

Before anything reaches immigration authorities, the employer has to prove to the Department of Labor that no qualified U.S. worker is available for the job. This phase is called PERM, and it is where most cases spend their first stretch of time.

Prevailing Wage Determination

The employer requests a prevailing wage determination from the Department of Labor. This sets the minimum salary for the position based on the job duties, geographic location, and education requirements. The employer cannot offer less than this amount, and it becomes the baseline for the case. The wage request alone can take several months.

Recruitment

Once the wage is set, the employer conducts a real search for qualified U.S. workers. Every case requires a job order with the state workforce agency serving the area of employment for at least 30 consecutive days, two Sunday advertisements in the newspaper of general circulation most appropriate for the area and occupation, and an internal notice posted at the worksite for at least 10 consecutive business days where employees can see it.²³ Jobs that qualify as professional occupations require three additional recruitment steps chosen from a longer list.⁴ All recruitment must happen between 30 and 180 days before the application is filed.

The employer has to interview any qualified U.S. applicants who apply and document lawful, job-related reasons for rejecting them. That recruitment report becomes critical evidence if the case is audited.

Filing ETA Form 9089

After the recruitment window closes and at least 30 days have passed since the state job order ended, the employer files ETA Form 9089 through the Department of Labor’s FLAG system. The application details the job, the worksite, the education requirements, and the recruitment results.⁵

Audit Risk

The Department of Labor randomly selects roughly 30 percent of PERM applications for audit. If a case is flagged, the employer has to produce copies of every advertisement, all applicant resumes, and a signed recruitment report explaining each rejection. An audit typically adds four to five months on top of the standard processing time of around six to seven months.

Step 2: The I-140 Immigrant Petition

With an approved labor certification in hand, the employer files Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, with USCIS. The petition has to demonstrate two things: that the worker’s qualifications match the certified job, and that the employer can pay the offered wage.

Proving Qualifications

The worker’s documentation has to line up with the requirements on the approved labor certification. That usually means official diplomas, academic transcripts, and detailed letters from previous employers on company letterhead specifying dates of employment and duties performed. Mismatches between the labor certification and the worker’s documented background are one of the most common reasons I-140s are denied.

Ability to Pay

The employer has to show it can pay the offered wage from the priority date through the time the worker becomes a permanent resident. Most employers submit federal tax returns, audited financial statements, or annual reports showing sufficient net income or net current assets. Employers with 100 or more workers can instead submit a statement from a financial officer.⁶

Fees and Premium Processing

The base I-140 filing fee is $715 by paper or $665 online, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $600 for most employers or $300 for those with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.⁷ These are the employer’s fees. Many employers also file Form I-907 for premium processing, which guarantees a response within 15 business days.⁸ As of March 1, 2026, the premium processing fee for an I-140 is $2,965.⁹ Without it, adjudication can take several months.

The Priority Date

Once USCIS receives the petition, it issues a receipt notice. The filing date of the underlying PERM labor certification becomes the priority date. That date determines your place in the visa queue and stays with the case throughout.

Step 3: Waiting for a Visa Number

An approved I-140 does not put a green card in reach. Federal law caps EB-3 visas each year, and no single country can receive more than 7 percent of the total. That creates significant backlogs for high-demand countries.

The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin listing cutoff dates for each category and country. You cannot file for the green card itself until your priority date is earlier than the listed cutoff. The June 2026 Visa Bulletin shows how far the wait varies by country of birth:¹⁰

Most countries: June 1, 2024 (about a two-year wait)
China (mainland born): August 1, 2021 (roughly five years)
India: December 15, 2013 (over twelve years)
Philippines: August 1, 2023 (about three years)

The “other workers” subcategory faces even longer waits. Cutoff dates shift monthly and can move backward when demand exceeds available numbers, a phenomenon called retrogression. Applicants have to keep valid immigration status during this waiting period.

Step 4: Filing for the Green Card

Once a visa number is available based on your priority date, you file the application that actually produces a green card. The path splits based on where you are.

Adjustment of Status Inside the U.S.

If you are already in the United States, you file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.¹¹ The filing fee is $1,440 per applicant, including biometrics; online filing, when available, reduces the fee to $1,375. If you are filing the I-485 concurrently with an I-140, you must file by mail.¹² The package includes original birth and marriage certificates, passport photographs, and evidence of your current lawful status. Any non-English document needs a certified translation. USCIS then schedules a biometrics appointment.

Consular Processing Outside the U.S.

If you are abroad, you file the DS-260 Immigrant Visa Electronic Application through the Department of State’s Consular Electronic Application Center.¹³ The National Visa Center coordinates document collection and schedules your interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

The Medical Examination

Both paths require Form I-693, the immigration medical exam.¹⁴ Inside the U.S., only a USCIS-designated civil surgeon can perform it. The doctor reviews your vaccination history, administers any missing required vaccines, runs lab tests, and completes the sealed form. Civil surgeon fees are not covered by USCIS and typically run a few hundred dollars.

Any Form I-693 signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, does not expire.¹⁵ USCIS now requires the I-693 to be submitted with the I-485.¹⁶

The Interview

The final step is usually an in-person interview, held at a USCIS field office for adjustment applicants or a U.S. consulate for consular applicants. The officer confirms the job offer is still valid, reviews the documents, and confirms admissibility. Adjustment applicants then receive a Welcome Notice and the physical Permanent Resident Card in the mail. Consular applicants receive an immigrant visa stamp and get their card after entering the United States.

Working and Traveling While You Wait

The gap between filing an I-485 and getting approved can stretch for months. Two companion forms cover that gap. Form I-765 produces an Employment Authorization Document that lets you work for any employer while the I-485 is pending. Form I-131 grants advance parole, which lets you leave and re-enter the country without abandoning your application. Both can be filed alongside the I-485.

One warning matters more than the rest. If you leave the country while your I-485 is pending without an approved advance parole document, USCIS can treat the application as abandoned. Get the travel document before booking anything.

Changing Employers Along the Way

Because these cases run for years, job changes happen. A rule known as job portability under INA Section 204(j) lets you switch employers without starting over, if two conditions are met: your I-485 has been pending for at least 180 days, and the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the one on the original I-140.¹⁷

To port, you file Form I-485 Supplement J with the new employer’s confirmation of a full-time, permanent job offer. The underlying I-140 has to be approved. “Same or similar” does not mean identical, but the new role has to fall within the same general occupational category. A software engineer moving to a different engineering role at a new company would likely qualify; a software engineer becoming a restaurant manager would not.

Bringing Your Spouse and Children

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can get green cards as derivative beneficiaries on your petition. They do not need separate sponsorship or their own labor certifications. Each family member files a separate I-485 or DS-260 and completes a separate medical exam. If your petition is denied or withdrawn, their eligibility falls with it. Each derivative also has to be independently admissible, so a criminal record or health-related ground of inadmissibility can block a family member even when the primary applicant is approved.

For children approaching 21, the Child Status Protection Act uses a formula to prevent “aging out” during long delays. USCIS calculates the child’s adjusted age by taking their age on the date a visa number becomes available and subtracting the number of days the I-140 was pending before approval.¹⁸ If the result is under 21, the child stays eligible. The child also has to be unmarried and has to seek permanent residence within one year of a visa number becoming available. With Indian EB-3 backlogs running over a decade, this rule is worth understanding early.

What It Costs

Government fees for a single-applicant EB-3 case break down roughly as follows:

I-140 filing fee: $715 paper or $665 online, plus the Asylum Program Fee of $300 or $600 depending on employer size⁷
Premium processing, if used: $2,965⁹
I-485 filing fee: $1,440 per applicant including biometrics, and each derivative family member pays the same
Medical exam: varies by civil surgeon, typically a few hundred dollars per person
Attorney fees: typically a few thousand to several thousand dollars when employers use immigration counsel

The PERM recruitment phase also has employer costs for newspaper ads and other advertising. Fee amounts for the EAD and advance parole forms change periodically, so check the USCIS fee schedule at the time of filing.

How Long It Takes

The fastest possible EB-3 case, for someone born in a country without a backlog, might finish in roughly two to three years: several months for the prevailing wage, several more for recruitment and PERM filing, more months for the I-140, and then the I-485 or consular stage. For applicants born in India, the visa backlog alone adds over a decade on top of processing time. Chinese-born applicants face a five-year backlog. Applicants from most other countries currently face about a two-year visa wait after PERM and I-140 approval.

Planning around the country-specific queue from the beginning is what separates a workable EB-3 timeline from one that produces expensive surprises.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3
2
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.17 – Filing Applications
3
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.10 – General Instructions
4
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 656 – Labor Certification Process for Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Application for Permanent Employment Certification Form ETA-9089 – General Instructions
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ability to Pay
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Increase Premium Processing Fees
10
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2026
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Forms Available to File Online
13
U.S. Department of State. Consular Electronic Application Center
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Announces New Guidance on Form I-693 Validity Period
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Now Requires Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record to Be Submitted with Form I-485 for Certain Applicants
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How USCIS Determines Same or Similar Occupational Classifications for Job Portability Under AC21
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)