EB-3 visa

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American visa preference category

title: "EB-3 visa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["united-states-visas-by-type"] description: "American visa preference category" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-3_visa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American visa preference category ::

EB-3 is a visa preference category for United States employment-based permanent residency. 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 Permanent Labor Certification
  • 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 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 Permanent Labor Certification, 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), 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.

As of 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 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.

References

References

  1. "The First Steps toward an Immigrant Visa: Labor Certification and Filing a Petition". [[Bureau of Consular Affairs]].
  2. "Employment Based Green Cards". ImmInfo.com.
  3. (13 January 2025). "Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3".
  4. (2012-08-23). "Visa Bulletin For September 2012". [[Bureau of Consular Affairs]].
  5. (2009-02-02). "EB-3 Bachelor's degree, Skilled Workers". US Immigration Lawyer, Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, PC, Rajiv S. Khanna.
  6. "EB-3 vs. EB-5 Visa".
  7. "Fees for Visa Services". [[Bureau of Consular Affairs]].
  8. "Check Filing Fees". [[Department of Homeland Security. USCIS]].

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