EB-2 and EB-3 Visa Lawyer for PERM Green Cards

EB-2 and EB-3 are the employer-sponsored green cards for professionals, skilled workers, and other workers. Three steps: a PERM labor certification from the Department of Labor, a Form I-140 petition to USCIS, and the green card by adjustment of status or at a consulate. Francis Law Center represents sponsoring employers and sponsored workers nationwide from Chicago, Schaumburg, and Madison.

Key Takeaways

• Three steps: PERM labor certification (no government fee; employer pays all PERM costs), Form I-140 ($715 plus a $600 Asylum Program Fee for most employers), then Form I-485 ($1,440) or an immigrant visa abroad.
• Timeline: as of DOL’s August 31, 2026 update, PERM decisions averaged 336 days (FLAG processing times); a case with a current priority date runs roughly two to two and a half years.
• EB-2 or EB-3 is decided by the job’s minimum requirements, not the worker’s résumé (8 CFR 204.5); India- and China-born workers wait years for a visa number (Visa Bulletin).
• An approved I-140 keeps your priority date and unlocks H-1B extensions beyond six years (8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)) and an H-4 work permit.
• Since August 5, 2026, USCIS may deny an incomplete I-140 or I-485 without a request for evidence (USCIS alert).

Which Green Card Fits the Job: EB-2 or EB-3?

The job’s minimum requirements decide (8 CFR 204.5(k)–(l)).

EB-2 covers jobs that require an advanced degree or exceptional ability. An advanced degree – U.S. or foreign equivalent – means a master’s or higher, or a single bachelor’s followed by five years of progressive experience earned after it; lesser credentials cannot be combined, which is why many three-year bachelor’s holders end up in EB-3. Exceptional ability requires three of six criteria. Workers whose work serves the national interest may self-petition for an EB-2 National Interest Waiver without a PERM.

EB-3 covers professionals (jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree), skilled workers (at least two years of training or experience), and other workers (less than two years). Other workers face a 10,000-visa annual cap, so their wait usually runs about two years behind skilled workers. A nurse with a master’s degree is usually an EB-3 case, because a registered nurse job normally does not require an advanced degree (Policy Manual Vol. 6, Part F, Ch. 5).

When EB-3 dates run ahead of EB-2 for the worker’s country, the employer may file a second I-140 in EB-3 on the same PERM; the worker keeps the priority date and the EB-2 approval (8 CFR 204.5(e)).

How Does the PERM Labor Certification Process Work?

PERM is the Department of Labor’s labor-market test: the employer proves it recruited at the prevailing wage and found no able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. worker (20 CFR 656.17).

• Prevailing wage determination. File Form ETA-9141 in DOL’s FLAG system; the offered wage must be at least 100 percent of the determination, valid 90 days to a year. As of August 31, 2026, requests received in May 2026 were being decided – about four months.
• Recruitment. For professional jobs: a 30-day State Workforce Agency job order, two Sunday newspaper ads, and three of ten additional steps; for other jobs, the job order and two ads. All within 180 days before filing, the mandatory steps at least 30 days before, plus a 10-business-day notice to employees (20 CFR 656.10). An employer with layoffs in the same or related occupation within six months must notify and consider those workers.
• Form ETA-9089. Filed in FLAG with no government fee. The employer pays every PERM cost, including its attorney fees, and may not recover them through wages or repayment agreements (20 CFR 656.12). Nothing can be changed after filing; an error means refiling with a new date.
• DOL review. As of August 31, 2026, analysts were deciding applications filed in November 2025, and August decisions averaged 336 days (current times). An audit gives the employer 30 days to produce its recruitment file; a missed deadline is a denial with no appeal.
• Certification. The signed FLAG Final Determination must reach USCIS with the I-140 within 180 days or it expires. The PERM filing date becomes the priority date.

Registered nurses and physical therapists skip DOL recruitment as Schedule A occupations but still need the wage determination, the notice, and a health-care worker certificate (8 CFR 212.15).

What Does Form I-140 Require?

The I-140 proves two things: the worker met every PERM requirement before starting the job, shown with letters from prior employers describing the duties (8 CFR 204.5(g)), and the employer can pay the offered wage from the priority date until the green card, shown with federal tax returns, annual reports, or audited financial statements – or a financial officer’s statement for companies with 100 or more employees; net income, net current assets, or wages already paid all count (Policy Manual Vol. 6, Part E, Ch. 4). Since August 5, 2026, a petition missing any of this can be denied without a request for evidence.

Fees per the September 9, 2026 fee schedule: $715 on paper or $665 online, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $600 ($300 for employers with 25 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees, $0 for nonprofits). Premium processing costs $2,965 and requires USCIS action within 15 business days; regular times vary – check the USCIS tool. An approved I-140 is valid indefinitely, keeps the priority date for any later EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition unless obtained by fraud or material error, and 180 days after approval survives the employer’s withdrawal or closure (8 CFR 205.1).

How Long Does an EB-2 or EB-3 Green Card Take?

About two to two and a half years when a visa number is available, as of September 2026: roughly four months for the wage determination, two to three months of recruitment, ten to eleven months of DOL review, and nine to ten months for the I-485, which can be filed with the I-140 when the priority date is current. An audit adds months.

Workers born in India or China add the wait for a visa number, because no country may receive more than seven percent of the year’s preference visas. The monthly Visa Bulletin has two charts – Final Action Dates, when a green card can be approved, and Dates for Filing, when USCIS sometimes allows earlier filing – and USCIS announces which chart applies each month. As of the September 2026 bulletin, EB-2 was current for most countries but unavailable for India until fiscal-year 2027 numbers reset on October 1; EB-3 for most countries sat about two years back, and India’s EB-3 date was in 2014.

What Happens at the Green Card Stage?

Inside the United States, the worker files Form I-485 ($1,440) once the priority date is current, with the medical exam, Supplement J if filed after I-140 approval, and optional work permit ($260) and travel document ($630) requests. The applicant must be in lawful status when filing, though INA §245(k) forgives up to 180 days of lapses since the last admission. Work permits on a pending I-485 now run up to 18 months with no automatic extension, so H-1B workers should keep H-1B status rather than depend on the card, and may travel on the H-1B visa without advance parole.

Two 2026 changes matter. USCIS’s May 21, 2026 memo treats adjustment as discretionary, extraordinary relief: an H-1B worker who kept status is well positioned, but status alone is not enough (PM-602-0199). The public charge rule effective September 18, 2026 added household-finance questions to a new I-485 edition (91 FR 45324). A denial can bring a Notice to Appear for anyone not lawfully present (our analysis). Government fees for one worker adjusting status total $3,645 for most employers ($3,345 small, $3,045 nonprofit) before premium processing and attorney fees.

Outside the United States, USCIS sends the approved I-140 to the National Visa Center; the worker pays the $345 immigrant visa fee, files Form DS-260, interviews at the consulate for the country of residence (since November 1, 2025, interviews are scheduled there or in the country of nationality on request), and pays the $235 USCIS immigrant fee before the card issues.

How Does a Pending Green Card Affect H-1B Status and Job Changes?

Start early: an H-1B worker may extend beyond six years in one-year increments once 365 days have passed since the PERM was filed, and in three-year increments with an approved I-140 and no visa number available (8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)); with seven months to PERM filing, a PERM begun in year five may miss the six-year cap. Filing a PERM or I-140 cannot be used to deny an H-1B extension or visa, and an approved I-140 makes the H-4 spouse work-permit eligible.

Changing jobs. A PERM belongs to the employer and the job, so a new employer normally starts a new PERM, but the worker keeps the old priority date if an I-140 was approved. Once an I-485 has been pending 180 days, the worker may move to a same or similar job, or self-employment, by filing Supplement J (8 CFR 245.25). A laid-off worker with an approved I-140 and no current priority date may apply, within the grace period, for a one-year compelling-circumstances work permit. The 60-day grace period after a layoff still exists, though DHS proposed eliminating it on September 11, 2026 (91 FR 57807), a proposal not yet final. An employer with recent layoffs faces two checks: the PERM rule above and, under a September 18, 2026 executive order, scrutiny of past and planned layoffs in every H-1B decision.

How Francis Law Center Handles EB-2 and EB-3 Cases

• Category and timing – EB-2 or EB-3 from the job’s real requirements, the worker’s degree and experience letters, the H-1B six-year clock, the priority date outlook.
• Prevailing wage and recruitment – a wage request that fits the job and a recruitment file built for audit.
• PERM and I-140 – filed complete, with ability-to-pay evidence for every year and premium processing when it unlocks an extension or H-4 work permit.
• Status while waiting – AC21 extensions, H-4 work permits, portability, travel.
• The green card – a concurrent I-485 when a number is available, or consular processing, prepared for discretionary review.

Why Choose Francis Law Center

Dr. Jae Francis represents employers and workers nationwide from offices in Chicago, Schaumburg, and Madison. The firm handles H-1B, E-2, L-1, O-1, TN, PERM, and EB-1 through EB-3 cases in English and Spanish, and says early when a job will not certify (employment-based immigration overview).

Frequently Asked Questions

EB-2 or EB-3: which should we file?

The job’s minimum requirements decide. EB-2 needs an advanced degree (or one bachelor’s plus five years of post-degree experience) or exceptional ability; EB-3 needs a bachelor’s, two years of experience, or less. If EB-3 dates run ahead for the worker’s country, a second I-140 on the same PERM keeps the priority date (8 CFR 204.5).

How much does an EB-3 green card cost an employer?

Every PERM cost – ads, wage request, attorney fees – is the employer’s under 20 CFR 656.12. USCIS fees, which either side may fund by agreement: I-140 $715 plus a $600 Asylum Program Fee ($300 for small employers), optional premium processing $2,965, and I-485 $1,440.

How long does PERM take in 2026?

As of DOL’s August 31, 2026 update, prevailing wage requests took about four months and PERM decisions averaged 336 days; audits add months. Current figures: FLAG.

Can I change jobs after my I-140 is approved?

Yes. You keep the priority date, and the I-140 survives withdrawal 180 days after approval (8 CFR 205.1), but a new employer needs a new PERM unless your I-485 has been pending 180 days, when you may move to a same or similar job with Supplement J.

Do I need a job offer for an EB-2 green card?

Usually. EB-2 and EB-3 require a permanent, full-time job offer and a PERM; the EB-2 National Interest Waiver and EB-1A extraordinary ability allow a self-petition without an employer.

Offices

Chicago: 53 W Jackson Blvd, Suite 725, 60604 · Schaumburg: 1931 N. Meacham Rd, Suite 102, 60173 · Madison: 2810 Crossroads Dr, Ste 3550, 53718.

Disclaimer

This page provides general information about U.S. immigration law and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page or contacting Francis Law Center does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes frequently and outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case. For advice about your situation, speak with a licensed immigration attorney.