EB-3 Visa for Nurses: Schedule A, Process, and Costs

A registered nurse with a permanent job offer from a U.S. employer can pursue a green card through the EB-3 visa for nurses, an employment-based immigrant category that treats professional nursing as a shortage occupation under Schedule A. That designation lets the employer skip the labor market test most sponsors have to run, and the whole process usually takes around 30 months from petition to green card. If you were born in India or mainland China, expect the wait to stretch much longer because of per-country visa limits.

How Nurses Qualify

EB-3 covers skilled workers, professionals, and other workers. Registered nurses land in either the skilled worker or professional bucket depending on education, but the subcategory matters less than the Schedule A classification, which applies to nursing across the board.1eCFR. 20 CFR 656.5 – Schedule A

You need to meet one of three qualifications at the time your employer files:

  • A certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS),
  • A full and unrestricted permanent nursing license in the state where the job is located, or
  • A passing score on the NCLEX-RN exam.2eCFR. 20 CFR 656.15 – Schedule A Applications

One of the three is enough. Many nurses go straight for the NCLEX-RN because passing it also feeds into state licensure, taking care of two requirements with one test.3National Council of State Boards of Nursing. U.S. Nursing Licensure for Internationally Educated Nurses

The VisaScreen Certificate

Federal law blocks any foreign-trained health care worker from entering the country without a VisaScreen certificate, regardless of visa category.4eCFR. 8 CFR 212.15 – Certificates for Foreign Health Care Workers The certificate bundles three verifications: your nursing education matches U.S. standards, your license is valid, and your English is strong enough for safe patient care.

CGFNS International, through its credentialing arm TruMerit, issues the certificate. The application fee is $740.5TruMerit. Fee Schedule and Policies CGFNS accepts several standardized English tests to satisfy the language portion, with minimum scores that vary by profession and test.6CGFNS International. VisaScreen Visa Credentials Assessment Start gathering transcripts, license verifications, and test scores early. Processing can take months, and nothing else in your case moves until VisaScreen is done.

A VisaScreen certificate is valid for five years. You can renew within six months before or after expiration, and renewals normally require updated license validations and fresh English scores. Let it lapse by more than six months and you start over from scratch.7TruMerit. VisaScreen Renewal

Why Schedule A Cuts Out the Longest Step

Most employment-based green card sponsors have to go through PERM labor certification, where the employer recruits domestically and proves no qualified U.S. workers are available. That process alone can eat six months or more before the immigrant petition even gets filed. Schedule A wipes it out. The Department of Labor has already concluded there aren’t enough U.S. nurses to meet demand, so employers go straight to USCIS.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3

The employer still files a labor certification application, but it travels with the immigrant petition to USCIS instead of going through the Department of Labor’s normal review. That application must include a prevailing wage determination and proof that the employer notified its existing workforce of the filing, either through a bargaining representative or by posting a notice at the workplace.2eCFR. 20 CFR 656.15 – Schedule A Applications

What Your Employer Has to Do

The employer drives this case. Before filing, it obtains a prevailing wage determination from the Department of Labor’s National Prevailing Wage Center, which sets the minimum salary tied to the job’s geographic area and duties. The offered wage cannot fall below 100 percent of the prevailing wage.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 7 – Schedule A Designation Petitions

The employer also has to prove it can actually pay that wage, and not only on the day it files. The obligation runs from the priority date all the way through to your permanent residence. Evidence takes different forms depending on the employer’s size, from tax returns and audited financials to SEC filings, with a financial officer’s statement available as a substitute for employers with 100 or more workers.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 4 – Ability to Pay

The job offer itself must be permanent and full-time. Temporary and contract roles don’t work.

Filing the I-140

The employer files Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers) with USCIS, bundled with the Schedule A labor certification and supporting documents. Fees stack up quickly:

Standard I-140 adjudication times without premium processing vary, and USCIS publishes current estimates on its website. The day USCIS receives your properly filed I-140 becomes your priority date, and that date holds your place in line for a green card.

Getting the Green Card After I-140 Approval

What comes next depends on where you are. If you’re already in the United States on a valid status, you may be able to file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) without leaving. When a visa number is immediately available at the time of filing, USCIS lets most employment-based applicants file the I-485 alongside the I-140, which can save months.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Concurrent Filing of Form I-485 If you’re abroad, your case moves to the National Visa Center, and you finish it with the DS-260 online immigrant visa application and an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

You also have to complete an immigration medical exam on Form I-693 with a USCIS-designated civil surgeon (for domestic adjustment) or a panel physician (for consular processing). The exam screens for certain health conditions and confirms required vaccinations recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Vaccination Requirements The cost is typically $200 to $500. As a nurse you likely have most vaccinations documented already, so bring your immunization records to avoid paying for shots you don’t need.

A biometrics appointment follows, where USCIS takes fingerprints and photos for background checks. A consular officer or USCIS adjudicator then interviews you, verifies the job offer, and reviews your documents. Approval leads to either an immigrant visa stamp at the consulate or permanent resident status if you’re adjusting inside the country.

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can apply for green cards along with you based on the same approved I-140.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3 Each family member files a separate I-485 or DS-260, does a separate medical exam, and pays separate fees.

Priority Dates and Country Backlogs

EB-3 is capped by statute at 28.6 percent of the worldwide employment-based visa allocation, and no single country can take more than roughly 7 percent of total employment-based visas in a year.15U.S. Department of State. Annual Limit Reached in the EB-3 and EW Categories When demand outruns supply, priority dates retrogress, and the effect is worst for nurses born in high-demand countries.

The State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin has two charts to watch: “Dates for Filing” tells you when you can submit an I-485 or DS-260, and “Final Action Dates” tells you when a green card can actually be issued. The October 2025 Visa Bulletin, the first of fiscal year 2026, showed these EB-3 Final Action Dates:

An Indian-born nurse with an August 2013 priority date is only now reaching the front of the line, while a Filipino nurse with the same priority date would have gotten a green card years ago. Check the bulletin every month. Dates shift, sometimes jumping forward when unused visas spill over from other categories.

Switching Employers While You Wait

You aren’t stuck with your sponsoring employer for the whole wait. Under the portability provision of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, you can move your pending green card case to a new employer if your I-485 has been pending for at least 180 days, you have an approved or approvable I-140, and the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5 – Job Portability

You file Form I-485 Supplement J to make the switch, and the new employer confirms the job offer with details like title, duties, and SOC code. USCIS then compares the two positions. Moving from one hospital’s med-surg unit to another facility’s ICU generally passes. Moving from bedside nursing to hospital administration probably doesn’t. During long retrogression periods, portability is the mechanism that keeps you from being trapped.

Watch the Contract Before You Sign

Employer-sponsored nurse recruitment usually comes with a written contract carrying a service commitment of two to three years. That part is normal. What is not normal are repayment or “breach fee” clauses that charge $10,000 to $50,000 or more if you leave early. Those clauses exist to keep you in place.

Courts have examined these provisions under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. If a repayment amount is grossly disproportionate to actual recruitment costs, a court may treat it as a penalty rather than legitimate compensation. And an employer that threatens to enforce an unenforceable repayment clause to keep a worker from leaving or complaining about working conditions can face liability under federal anti-trafficking law. Have an immigration attorney read the repayment terms before you sign. The time to catch a predatory clause is before you’re bound by it.

What It All Costs

Costs pile up across agencies and stages. The employer legally bears some of these, but arrangements vary, so know each piece:

  • I-140 filing fee: $715 (employer)
  • Asylum Program Fee: $300 or $600 depending on employer size, $0 for nonprofits (employer)
  • Premium processing, optional: $2,965 as of March 2026 (employer)
  • VisaScreen certificate: $740
  • CGFNS credential evaluation: roughly $485 to $935 depending on service speed
  • NCLEX-RN examination: registration fees vary by state board
  • Immigration medical exam: typically $200 to $500
  • I-485 filing fee: varies; check the USCIS fee schedule
  • State nursing license by endorsement: roughly $150 to $500 depending on the state

USCIS adjusts fees periodically, so verify current amounts on the USCIS fee schedule before filing. Some employers cover VisaScreen and credential evaluation as part of the recruitment package; others push those costs onto the nurse. Get clarity on who pays what before you commit.