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What is EB-3 Visa?
The EB-3 is a permanent resident visa/green card. The process takes a little longer than the temporary non-immigrant visas like the H-2B visa but the EB-3:
Has a higher chance of approval
It is permanent
No cost to the employer
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It involves the following steps:
Prevailing Wave Request
This step involves obtaining a determination from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), regarding the minimum wage that must be offered to a foreigner worker for a specific job in a particular geographic area.
The ETA 9141 prevailing wage request form contains the position details (job title, duties, requirements, work location) and requests the minimum required wage from the Department of Labor (DOL).
Advertising
Employers must conduct recruitment to test the U.S. labor market. This includes advertising the job in local newspapers, industry publications and online platforms. U.S. Department of Labor requirements specify these ad steps, ensuring U.S. workers have an opportunity to apply before the employer sponsors a foreign worker.
The Employer offers the position to the foreign national, contingent on there being no qualified U.S. worker who will apply for the position in the subsequent recruitment.
Once the recruitment period has ended, and there are no qualified U.S. workers who applied for the advertised position, the ETA 9089 PERM Labor Certification can be filed. It is an online, attestation-based filing.
PERM Application
A permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States.
The DOL must certify to the USCIS that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
I-140 USCIS Filing
Once the labor certification is approved the employer demonstrates its ability to pay the applicant and the applicant provides proof that he or she meets the minimum requirements for employment. The form I-140 establishes the foreign worker’s eligibility for an immigrant visa.
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Once the ETA 9089 is certified the I-140 petition for Immigrant Worker may be filed with USCIS.
I-485 Consular or AOS Application
As soon as the I-140 petition is approved by USCIS the foreign national will receive an email from the National Visa Center with instructions on what documentation to bring to the interview at the U.S. Embassy*. Once the foreign national receives the permanent residence visa they will be able to travel to the U.S. to start their permanent employment with the sponsoring organization.
If the applicant lives in The United States, a change of status is made within the country, and if the applicant lives abroad, he or she will attend an interview at their consulate.
Important: I-485 application is subject to availability of a visa shown in the visa bulleting at the time.
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