EB-3 Visa for Truck Drivers: PERM, I-140, and Green Card Steps

A truck driver can get a U.S. green card through the EB-3 visa for truck drivers, an employment-based category that requires a sponsoring employer to prove no qualified American worker is available, file an immigrant petition, and then wait for a visa number to open. The employer runs and pays for most of the process. The driver’s job is to qualify, stay put, and wait. Depending on where the driver was born, that wait can be anywhere from a couple of years to well over a decade.

Skilled Worker or Other Worker: Why the Job Description Matters

EB-3 covers three groups under federal law: skilled workers, professionals with bachelor’s degrees, and “other workers” doing unskilled labor.¹ Where a truck driver falls depends on how the employer writes the position.

If the job requires at least two years of training or work experience, the driver counts as a skilled worker. Many trucking employers structure the role this way, requiring a CDL plus two or more years of over-the-road experience.² If it requires less, the driver is classed as an “other worker.”

The distinction shapes the entire wait. Other worker visas are capped at 10,000 per fiscal year, and NACARA has historically reduced that pool further.¹ Skilled workers share a much larger pool. If the job can honestly be written to require two years, the skilled worker path opens up many more visa numbers each year.

What the Driver Needs

You need a valid commercial driver’s license and a Medical Examiner’s Certificate from a DOT physical.³ The certificate confirms you’re physically fit to operate a commercial vehicle safely over long periods.⁴

Federal safety rules also require commercial drivers to read and speak English well enough to understand road signs, respond to officials, and complete records.⁵ As of mid-2025, a violation can trigger an immediate out-of-service order, pulling the driver off the road on the spot. For foreign-born drivers still building fluency, that’s a real barrier to address before entering the EB-3 pipeline.

For the skilled worker route, you also need documentation of at least two years of relevant experience. Employment verification letters from prior employers, describing duties, dates, and safety record, are the standard proof.

CDLs are issued by each state, not the federal government, so specific documents, fees, and residency proof vary.⁶ CDL training tuition runs roughly $2,000 to $8,000; state application and testing fees run around $25 to $100. Some sponsoring companies cover training, which is worth negotiating up front.

What the Sponsoring Employer Must Show

The employer starts and funds most of this process. Three things need to be true before anything gets filed:

A permanent, full-time job offer, not seasonal or temporary work.²
A commitment to pay at least the prevailing wage for commercial drivers in the geographic area where the driver will work, calculated by the Department of Labor from Bureau of Labor Statistics data.⁷
Financial ability to pay that wage, shown through tax returns or audited financial statements. Adjudicators look at net income, net current assets, or proof the company is already paying the driver the offered wage.

Before filing the labor certification, the employer submits Form ETA-9141 to the National Prevailing Wage Center for a formal wage determination. As of early 2026, that step alone takes about six months.⁷ The overall timeline starts much earlier than most applicants realize.

The PERM Labor Certification

PERM is how the government verifies that no qualified, willing American worker is available for the job. The employer must run a genuine recruitment effort first.

Truck driving is typically classified as nonprofessional, so at least three recruitment steps are required. A 30-day job order goes to the State Workforce Agency in the area where the driver will work. The employer also runs newspaper ads on two different Sundays in a paper of general circulation in that area.⁸ All recruitment must finish at least 30 days before filing and no more than 180 days before.

The employer keeps detailed records of every applicant: resumes, interview notes, and job-related reasons any U.S. candidate was rejected. If a single qualified and available American worker applies, the employer cannot file PERM. Records must be retained for five years, because the Department of Labor audits a significant share of PERM cases and incomplete documentation means denial.

With recruitment done and no qualified domestic worker found, the employer files PERM through the FLAG system.⁹ As of February 2026, the average processing time in analyst review was 503 calendar days, roughly a year and a half.¹⁰ Audited cases take longer.

The I-140 Immigrant Petition

After PERM is approved, the employer has 180 days to file Form I-140 with USCIS. Labor certifications expire at 180 days, and missing that deadline means restarting PERM.¹¹

The I-140 documents the driver’s qualifications and the employer’s ability to pay. The filing fee is $715 by mail or $665 online. Regular-sized employers add a $600 Asylum Program Fee, bringing the total to $1,315 or $1,265. Small employers pay a reduced Asylum Program Fee of $300.¹²

Without premium processing, EB-3 petitions typically take 8 to 14 months. For $2,965 more, the employer can request premium processing, which guarantees USCIS acts within 15 business days.¹³ “Action” can be approval, denial, or a request for more evidence, so it speeds the response but doesn’t guarantee approval. An approved I-140 locks in the driver’s priority date, which fixes their place in line for a visa number.

The Visa Bulletin Wait

This is where most EB-3 truck driver cases stall. Even with an approved I-140, the driver cannot apply for the green card until a visa number becomes available. The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin showing which priority dates are being processed, and backlogs are severe.

As of the June 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-3 skilled worker final action dates stand roughly as follows by country of birth:¹⁴

Most countries: June 2024 priority dates are current, roughly a two-year wait after PERM filing.
China (mainland-born): August 2021, about a five-year backlog.
India: December 2013, a backlog of over twelve years.
Philippines: August 2023, about a three-year wait.

The other worker subcategory runs even longer. The March 2026 Visa Bulletin showed other worker dates at November 2021 for most countries and November 2013 for India-born applicants.¹⁵ The 10,000-visa annual cap compounds the problem.

Country of birth, not citizenship, determines the line you stand in. There is no way to speed up the visa bulletin. For a driver born in India, total elapsed time from prevailing wage request to green card can approach 15 years.

Final Step: Consular Processing or Adjustment of Status

Once your priority date is current, the last step splits based on where you are.

Consular Processing

Drivers abroad work with the National Visa Center, which collects civil documents like birth certificates, police clearances, and passport copies. The NVC then schedules an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate, where a consular officer reviews the medical exam, employment offer, and background before issuing or denying the immigrant visa.

Adjustment of Status

Drivers already in the U.S. on a valid nonimmigrant visa file Form I-485. The filing fee for adults is $1,440, covering the application and biometric services.¹² A biometrics appointment for fingerprinting and photographs comes first, then an interview at a local USCIS office.¹⁶

Both paths require a medical exam. For adjustment applicants, a civil surgeon completes Form I-693. Any I-693 signed on or after November 1, 2023, remains valid only as long as the I-485 it was filed with is pending. If that I-485 is withdrawn or denied, the medical exam expires and must be redone for any future filing.¹⁷ Given the long EB-3 timelines, get the timing right or you’ll pay for the exam twice.

After a successful interview, the green card is mailed to the driver. Permanent resident status lets you live and work anywhere in the country without employer-specific restrictions.

Bringing Family

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can receive derivative green cards through your EB-3 petition without separate employer sponsorship.¹⁸ They count against the same category’s annual limits and share your priority date. While the green card application is pending, a spouse in the U.S. can apply for an Employment Authorization Document to work independently.

A child approaching age 21 can “age out” during a long backlog. The Child Status Protection Act offers partial relief by letting you subtract the time the I-140 was pending from the child’s biological age when a visa becomes available. For families facing the India or China backlog, that calculation can decide whether a child keeps eligibility.

Changing Employers During the Wait

Years-long waits create a practical problem: what if you need to leave your sponsoring employer? Federal law provides a safety valve called job portability under INA Section 204(j).¹⁹ Four conditions must be met:

Your I-140 has been approved.
Your I-485 has been pending for at least 180 days.
The new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification. For truck drivers, that generally means staying in commercial driving.
You file Supplement J to Form I-485 confirming the new job offer.

If the original employer withdraws the I-140 before the I-485 has been pending 180 days, portability is lost and the green card fails. Past that mark, with the I-140 approved, your priority date is protected even if the employer revokes the petition.

Portability only applies at the I-485 stage. If you’re still waiting for a visa number and haven’t yet filed the I-485, you cannot port. If the sponsoring company shuts down or terminates you during the visa bulletin wait, the approved I-140 still preserves your priority date for use with a future employer, but PERM starts over.

Total Time and Cost

Adding it up: about six months for the prevailing wage determination, 30 to 180 days for recruitment, over 500 calendar days on average for PERM,¹⁰ 8 to 14 months for the I-140 without premium processing, and then the visa bulletin wait — two years for most countries, more than a decade for India-born applicants.

On cost, government filing fees include the prevailing wage request, the I-140 ($1,265 to $1,315, plus $2,965 if the employer opts for premium processing), and the I-485 or consular processing ($1,440 for adjustment).¹² Attorney fees for PERM recruitment, drafting, and representation through I-485 add several thousand more. CDL training, if not covered by the employer, is $2,000 to $8,000. Federal law bars the employer from passing certain costs (PERM filing and recruitment) to the driver, but the I-485 fee and some attorney costs may fall on you depending on the arrangement.

None of this is fast or cheap. For drivers from countries without extreme backlogs, though, EB-3 remains one of the few realistic paths to permanent residency for a skilled trade without a four-year degree.

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
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Medical
4
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Driver Physical Qualification
5
eCFR. 49 CFR 391.11 – General Qualifications of Drivers
6
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How Do I Get a Commercial Driver’s License?
7
Foreign Labor Application Gateway. Prevailing Wages
8
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.17 – Filing Applications
9
Foreign Labor Application Gateway. Foreign Labor Application Gateway
10
Foreign Labor Application Gateway. Processing Times
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing?
14
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2026
15
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for March 2026
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Changes Validity Period for Any Form I-693 Signed on or After Nov. 1, 2023
18
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 502.1 IV Classifications Overview
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 5 – Job Portability After Adjustment Filing