EB-3: skilled workers and professionals through PERM

Eligibility requirements

• Skilled worker: the position requires at least two years of training or experience, is permanent and full-time rather than temporary or seasonal, and qualified US workers are not available. Relevant post-secondary education may count as training.
• Professional: the position requires at least a US bachelor's degree or a foreign equivalent as the normal minimum for entry into the occupation, and the person holds that degree. Experience cannot substitute for the degree in this subcategory.
• Other worker: the position requires less than two years of training or experience. This subcategory is limited to 10,000 visas a year worldwide and carries the longest waits.
• The employer must hold a labour certification granted under 20 CFR Part 656 for the specific job, worker and area of intended employment, and must file the I-140 within 180 days of the certification date.
• The job requirements stated on the ETA-9089 determine the subcategory and the person must have met them before the PERM was filed; experience gained with the petitioning employer in the same position generally cannot be counted.
• The employer must show the ability to pay the offered wage from the priority date until permanent residence, by annual reports, federal tax returns or audited financial statements.

Legal framework

Build the evidence

Prepare records that substantiate the relevant criteria. The final checklist depends on the applicant, route and filing authority.

• The original certified ETA-9089 signed by the employer, the worker and the preparer, filed within 180 days of certification.
• Degree certificates and transcripts, or employer letters confirming the training or experience the job requires, matching the requirements stated on the ETA-9089 exactly.
• Evidence of the employer's ability to pay the offered wage from the priority date onwards: annual report, federal tax return or audited financial statements for each relevant year, and payroll records if the person is already employed.
• Evidence that a bachelor's degree is the normal minimum for the occupation where the professional subcategory is claimed.
• The prevailing wage determination, the recruitment report and the audit file retained from the PERM stage, available for five years in case of audit or request.
• For the adjustment or consular stage: Form I-485 or the DS-260 package, medical examination, civil documents, and evidence of maintained status where adjustment is sought.

How to apply

1. 01

   Define the job and obtain the prevailing wage

   The employer sets the actual minimum requirements for the permanent position and requests a prevailing wage determination on Form ETA-9141 from the National Prevailing Wage Center. Requirements above the norm for the occupation must be justified by business necessity.

2. 02

   Recruit and test the labour market

   Conduct the mandatory recruitment (a 30-day job order and two Sunday advertisements) and, for professional positions, three additional steps, within the 30-to-180-day window before filing. Post the notice of filing. Review every applicant against the stated requirements and prepare the recruitment report.

3. 03

   File the PERM application

   File ETA-9089 through the FLAG system. The filing date becomes the priority date. The application is certified, denied or selected for audit; audits require the recruitment and wage documentation to be produced.

4. 04

   File Form I-140 with USCIS

   Within 180 days of certification the employer files the I-140 with the signed certification, the qualification evidence and the ability-to-pay financials. Premium processing is generally available for EB-3; check USCIS for the current position.

5. 05

   Monitor the Visa Bulletin and file for permanent residence

   When the priority date is current under the chart USCIS designates, file Form I-485 (if in the United States in a qualifying status) or complete consular processing. Applicants may file I-485 under the dates-for-filing chart when USCIS permits, obtaining interim work and travel documents while waiting.

6. 06

   Maintain the job offer, or port after 180 days

   The employer's offer must remain genuine until the green card is granted. After the I-485 has been pending 180 days, a move to a same-or-similar job under INA 204(j) is possible using Supplement J.

After approval & family planning

• A spouse and unmarried children under 21 are derivative beneficiaries and receive permanent residence with the principal. During a pending I-485 they may obtain employment authorisation and advance parole documents.
• Where the person is in H-1B status, the PERM filing date and the I-140 approval support AC21 extensions beyond six years, in one-year or three-year increments respectively, while the priority date is not current.
• The person must take up the certified job on becoming a permanent resident unless a valid port has occurred. Permanent residence is unconditional; naturalisation may be considered after the statutory residence period.

What this route builds, and what it opens

WG assesses every route on three returns: the knowledge it adds, the cognitive capability that sustained work abroad develops, and the institutional opportunity it opens or closes. Real work is the mechanism in each case.

Programme context. Where a participant's intended US role is a permanent, full-time professional or skilled position that a qualifying employer is prepared to certify, EB-3 may be assessed as the permanent-residence stage, with the PERM timetable and the country-of-birth queue mapped against the participant's other options. Read the framework ↗

Frequently asked questions

Points to consider

• The employer owns the PERM process and must pay its costs; the worker may not reimburse the employer for the labour certification. Build the compliance file as though an audit will come.
• Country of birth, not nationality, fixes the queue. A person born in mainland China or India faces a substantially longer EB-3 wait than a colleague with identical qualifications born elsewhere, and route choice should reflect that from the start.