How to Get a Green Card Through Employment: PERM, I-140, and Costs

To get a green card through employment, a U.S. employer normally sponsors you through three stages: the Department of Labor certifies that no qualified U.S. worker is available for your job, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approves an immigrant petition on your behalf, and you then apply for permanent residency once a visa number is available for your category and country of birth. A few categories let you skip the employer and the labor certification and file for yourself. The full process typically runs two to four years, and much longer for applicants from countries with heavy backlogs, like India and China.

Figure Out Which Category Fits You

Employment-based green cards are divided into five preference categories, EB-1 through EB-5, that share roughly 140,000 immigrant visas each fiscal year.¹ The category you qualify for controls whether you need an employer sponsor, whether you need a labor certification, and how long you’re likely to wait.

EB-1: Priority Workers

EB-1 covers people with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers with at least three years of experience; and multinational executives or managers who worked abroad for the petitioning company (or an affiliate) for at least one of the last three years. Extraordinary-ability applicants (EB-1A) can self-petition — no employer and no labor certification.² The other two EB-1 subcategories need an employer but still skip labor certification.

EB-2: Advanced Degrees and Exceptional Ability

EB-2 is for professionals with an advanced degree (master’s or higher, or a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive experience) and for people with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Normally EB-2 requires both an employer sponsor and a labor certification. The National Interest Waiver (NIW) is the exception: you can self-petition by showing your work has substantial merit and national importance, that you’re well positioned to advance it, and that waiving the usual requirements would benefit the United States.³ USCIS gives extra weight to applicants with advanced STEM degrees working in critical and emerging technologies.

EB-3: Professionals, Skilled Workers, and Other Workers

EB-3 is the broadest: professionals with a bachelor’s degree, skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, and “other workers” filling unskilled positions requiring less than two years of experience. Every EB-3 applicant needs an employer sponsor and a labor certification.¹

EB-4 and EB-5

EB-4 covers a narrow list of special immigrants, including religious workers and certain international-organization employees, and uses Form I-360 rather than the standard petition.² EB-5 is for investors who put capital into a new U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs; the minimum is $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a targeted employment area or infrastructure project.⁴ Neither category requires labor certification, and EB-5 requires no employer.

Stage 1: Labor Certification (PERM)

Most EB-2 and all EB-3 cases start with your employer getting a permanent labor certification — PERM — from the Department of Labor. It confirms that no qualified U.S. workers are available for the job and that hiring you won’t harm wages or conditions for similar U.S. workers.⁵ EB-1 applicants, NIW self-petitioners, and EB-5 investors skip PERM entirely.

Prevailing Wage

The employer first requests a prevailing wage determination from the National Prevailing Wage Center. That sets the minimum salary the employer must offer for your specific job in your specific area, and it has an expiration date — all recruitment and filing must happen within its validity window.⁵

Recruitment

The employer then runs a real recruitment effort: at minimum, a 30-day job order with the State Workforce Agency and advertisements on two different Sundays in a newspaper of general circulation for the area. Professional positions need additional steps, such as job-site postings or job fairs. The employer has to keep every resume received, all ad dates, and a written explanation for why any U.S. applicant wasn’t hired.⁵

Filing and Timing

When recruitment turns up no qualified U.S. workers, the employer files ETA Form 9089 electronically with the Department of Labor. Any mismatch between the listed requirements and your actual qualifications can trigger an audit or denial. As of early 2026, standard PERM analyst review takes roughly 500 or more calendar days, making this the longest single step for most applicants.⁶

Who Pays

Federal regulations bar the employer from passing PERM costs on to you. If one attorney represents both the employer and the worker, the employer must pay all legal costs for the labor certification stage.⁷ You can hire and pay your own separate attorney, but you can’t be asked to reimburse the employer for any part of PERM.

Stage 2: Immigrant Petition (Form I-140)

Once PERM is approved — or right away, in categories that skip it — the employer files Form I-140, the Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, with USCIS.⁸ For EB-1A and NIW cases, you file the I-140 yourself.

The petition has to show two things: that you qualify for the category, and that the employer can pay the offered salary. Employers prove ability to pay with annual reports, federal tax returns, or audited financial statements; companies with 100 or more employees can substitute a statement from a financial officer.⁸ Your qualifications come in through degree copies, official transcripts, and detailed experience letters on company letterhead describing duties, titles, and dates. Everything in the I-140 must line up with what was on the approved PERM.

Standard I-140 processing runs many months. If speed matters, you can pay for premium processing by filing Form I-907, which forces USCIS to take action within 15 business days. As of March 1, 2026, the premium processing fee for Form I-140 is $2,965.⁹ “Action” means approval, denial, or a request for evidence — not a guaranteed yes.

The Wait: Priority Dates and the Visa Bulletin

Your priority date is your place in line. For PERM cases, it’s the date the Department of Labor received your labor certification. For categories that skip PERM, it’s the date USCIS received your I-140.¹⁰

Because federal law caps how many employment-based visas each country can receive per year, applicants from high-demand countries wait a long time. The Department of State publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin with cutoff dates by preference category and country. You can move to the final step only when your priority date is earlier than the cutoff for your category. If the bulletin shows a “C,” visas are available immediately for everyone in that category.¹⁰

The scale is worth seeing. The March 2026 Visa Bulletin shows EB-2 final action dates for India-born applicants reaching only September 2021, and EB-3 dates for India reaching only November 2013 — meaning some applicants are waiting over a decade. Most other countries are current or nearly current for EB-1 and EB-2.¹¹

The bulletin has two charts: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing.” Each month USCIS announces which chart adjustment applicants can use. The “Dates for Filing” chart sometimes lets you file earlier, but your case won’t be finally decided until your priority date reaches the “Final Action Dates” cutoff.¹²

Stage 3: Apply for Permanent Residency

When your priority date is current, you take the last step. Where you are decides how.

Adjustment of Status (You’re in the U.S.)

If you’re already in the U.S. on a valid nonimmigrant status, you file Form I-485 with USCIS.¹³ Your package includes the I-485, the medical exam form (I-693), civil documents like your birth certificate and passport copies, and evidence that an immigrant visa is immediately available. Filing fees vary by age and category, and were significantly restructured recently, so check the current USCIS fee schedule before filing.¹⁴

USCIS then sends a receipt notice, schedules biometrics at a local Application Support Center for fingerprints and a photo, and in some cases schedules an in-person interview to verify your employment and qualifications. Processing runs from several months to over a year.

Consular Processing (You’re Abroad)

If you’re outside the U.S., the case goes to the National Visa Center after your I-140 is approved and your priority date is current. NVC collects documents and fees and schedules an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country. You’ll complete a medical exam with a designated panel physician abroad. If approved, you get an immigrant visa and become a permanent resident when you enter the United States.

The Medical Exam

Every adjustment applicant must complete an immigration medical exam documented on Form I-693, performed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. As of December 2, 2024, you must submit Form I-693 (or a partial version, if applicable) together with your Form I-485, or USCIS may reject the application.¹⁵ The civil surgeon gives you the completed form in a sealed envelope, which you must not open.

The exam includes screening for certain communicable diseases and a vaccination review. Required vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, varicella, and influenza (in season), among others, with the civil surgeon using your age to determine which ones apply.¹⁶ Exam fees typically run $150 to $500, with vaccinations billed separately and potentially adding $100 to $600.

Bringing Your Spouse and Children

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can get green cards as derivative beneficiaries of your petition. They don’t need their own I-140. Each files their own Form I-485, either with yours or while yours is pending, along with proof of the relationship (marriage or birth certificates), and each completes a medical exam and meets the same admissibility standards.¹⁷

Long waits raise the risk of a child aging out at 21. The Child Status Protection Act calculates the child’s age as their biological age on the date a visa becomes available minus the number of days the I-140 was pending. If the result is under 21, the child still qualifies, as long as they stay unmarried and seek permanent residency within one year of a visa becoming available.¹⁸

What You Can Do While You Wait

Work and Travel

When you file the I-485, you can also file Form I-765 for an Employment Authorization Document, which lets you work for any employer while the green card is pending.¹⁹ Form I-131 requests an advance parole document that lets you travel internationally without abandoning your adjustment application. Leaving the U.S. without advance parole while the I-485 is pending is generally treated as abandonment.²⁰

Changing Jobs Under AC21

You aren’t locked into your sponsoring employer forever. The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21) lets you change jobs, or become self-employed, without losing green card eligibility if four conditions are met:

Your I-140 is approved (or pending and ultimately approved).
Your I-485 has been pending at least 180 days.
The new position is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the one on your original petition.
You file Form I-485, Supplement J, to confirm the new job offer.²¹

The new job can be with a different employer, and you keep the priority date from your original petition. Even if your original employer withdraws the I-140 or goes out of business after the 180 days, portability still applies.²¹

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

Costs pile up in stages. USCIS filing fees for the I-140 and I-485 have changed significantly in recent years, so check the current fee schedule before filing.¹⁴ The medical exam runs $150 to $500 for the exam itself, with vaccinations extra. Premium processing on the I-140 is $2,965 if you want it.⁹ Attorney fees for the full process from PERM through adjustment commonly run from $3,000 to $15,000 or more, though the employer must cover all PERM-related legal costs when a shared attorney is used.⁷

On timing, PERM alone takes roughly 500 or more days for standard review as of early 2026, and audits add more.⁶ Standard I-140 adds several more months, or 15 business days with premium processing. The wait for a current priority date ranges from zero, in categories without backlogs, to over a decade for EB-2 and EB-3 applicants born in India. Once you file the I-485, final adjudication typically takes several more months to over a year. Setting aside the visa bulletin wait, the full process commonly runs two to four years.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: First Preference EB-1
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment-Based Immigration: Second Preference EB-2
4
Congress.gov. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
5
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 656 – Labor Certification Process for Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Processing Times
7
eCFR. 20 CFR 656.12 – Improper Commerce and Payment
8
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.5 – Petitions for Employment-Based Immigrants
9
Federal Register. Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates
11
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for March 2026
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
16
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccination – Technical Instructions for Civil Surgeons – Immigrant and Refugee Health
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 7 – Child Status Protection Act
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-765, Instructions for Application for Employment Authorization
20
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While Your Green Card Application Is Pending with USCIS
21
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Job Portability after Adjustment Filing and Other AC21 Provisions