EB-3 is a visa preference category for
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
employment-based
permanent residency
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...
. It is intended for "skilled workers", "professionals", and "other workers".
Those are prospective immigrants who don't qualify for the
EB-1 or
EB-2 preferences. The EB-3 requirements are less stringent, but the backlog may be longer. Unlike persons with extraordinary abilities in the
EB-1 category, EB-3 applicants require a sponsoring employer. There is no "self-petition" category.
Eligibility criteria
The EB-3 category has three subcategories: EB-3A, Professionals; EB-3B, Skilled Workers; and EB-3C, Other Workers. For each, eligibility requirements include:
* a
labor certification Labor certification (not to be confused with the Labor Condition Application, LCA) is an immigration process step in the United States of America. Its stated goal is to " protect U.S. workers and the U.S. labor market by ensuring that foreign worke ...
* a permanent, full-time job offer
* ability to demonstrate that the applicant will be performing work for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.
Separate requirements for each category are:
* Skilled workers - must be able to demonstrate at least 2 years of job experience or training
* Professionals - must possess a U.S.
baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to:
* ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification
* Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree
* English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...
degree or foreign degree equivalent, and must demonstrate that a baccalaureate degree is the normal requirement for entry into the occupation. Education and experience may not be substituted for a baccalaureate degree.
* Other workers - must be capable, at the time the petition is filed by the sponsoring employer, of performing unskilled labor (requiring less than 2 years training or experience), that is not of a temporary or seasonal nature, for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.
Quotas
As of September 2012, the
Department of State determined that the
FY-2012 numerical limit for the worldwide employment-based preference must be 144,951, and the
per-country limit must be 7% of the worldwide cap, regardless of the population of the country (this explains the enormous backlog for India and China). Out of this, the EB-3 category is limited to 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not used by
EB-1 and
EB-2 ("spillover"), and with not more than 10,000 for "other workers".
Application
The application process begins with obtaining a
labor certification Labor certification (not to be confused with the Labor Condition Application, LCA) is an immigration process step in the United States of America. Its stated goal is to " protect U.S. workers and the U.S. labor market by ensuring that foreign worke ...
, by submitting
ETA Form 9089. The applicant does not need to be employed when the labor certification is filed; a future job offer is sufficient. The labor certification will accompany the actual application, the ''Petition for Alien Worker'' (
Form I-140
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker is a form submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) by a prospective employer to petition an alien to work in the US on a permanent basis. This is done in the case wh ...
), which will confirm the applicant's [States under E34, E35, EW4 or EW5 visas.
During the lengthy application process, many persons in the EB-3 category acquire additional experience or education, and are eligible apply for an "upgrade" to
EB-2.
February 2016, the
Department of State application processing fee for employment-based immigrant visas is .
The fee for the
USCIS ''Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker'' (form United States Permanent Resident Card#Application process for employment-based visa, I-140) is .
Other costs include medical examination and, if applicable, required vaccinations; translations; fees for obtaining supporting documents such as passport, police certificates, birth certificates, etc.
See also
*
Permanent residence (United States)
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
(the "green card")
External links
Employment-Based Immigrant Visas-
Bureau of Consular Affairs
The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is a bureau of the United States Department of State reporting to the under secretary of state for management. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies re ...
Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3-
USCIS
References
{{United States visas
United States visas by type