Every Term,
In Plain Language

Becoming a permanent resident without leaving the United States.

If you are already lawfully in the US when a visa number becomes available, you may be able to change to permanent resident status from inside the country rather than attending an interview at a consulate abroad. Most EB-3 unskilled applicants are outside the US and go through consular processing instead.

See also: Consular processing, Priority date

The person a petition is filed for — you.

In an employer-sponsored case the employer is the petitioner and you are the beneficiary. Your spouse and children are derivative beneficiaries: they qualify through you rather than on their own.

See also: Derivative, Petitioner

Which country queue you are counted against.

Usually your country of birth, not your nationality or where you live now. It matters because each country has a limit on how many visas it may take in a year, so applicants born in high-demand countries wait longer. In limited circumstances a spouse's country of birth can be used instead — worth asking about if the two differ.

Read moreSee also: Visa Bulletin, Per-country limit

Completing the case at a US embassy or consulate abroad.

The route most EB-3 unskilled applicants take: once a visa number is available you attend an interview at a US post in your country, and travel with an immigrant visa that becomes permanent residence on entry.

See also: Adjustment of status, Panel physician

Your turn has arrived.

Your priority date is current when it is earlier than the cut-off date printed in the monthly Visa Bulletin for your category and country. A “C” in the bulletin means there is no backlog at all that month. Being current is what allows the final stage to move.

Read moreSee also: Priority date, Retrogression

The date the queue has reached this month.

Published monthly for each category and country. If your priority date falls before it, you are current. Cut-off dates move forward as visas are issued and can move backwards when demand exceeds supply.

See also: Current, Retrogression

A family member who qualifies through you.

A spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included on the same case. They do not need their own job offer or petition. A child who turns 21 during the wait can lose derivative status, which is why ages matter from the very beginning.

See also: Beneficiary

The online application completed before a consular interview.

Filed with the Department of State once a visa number is approaching. It asks for your full history — addresses, work, family, travel — and it must be consistent with everything already filed. Inconsistencies are a common cause of delay.

See also: Consular processing

The immigrant category this whole site is about.

It has three subgroups: skilled workers, professionals, and “other workers”. The other workers subgroup — commonly called unskilled — is for permanent, full-time roles requiring less than two years of training or experience, and has its own, longer queue.

Read moreSee also: Other workers

Lawful permanent residence in the United States.

The end point of an EB-3 case. It allows you to live and work anywhere in the US, sponsor certain relatives, and eventually apply for citizenship if you meet the requirements. It is not a temporary work permit and it does not tie you to one employer forever — though leaving very soon after arriving can raise questions about whether the job offer was genuine.

Read more

The petition your employer files with USCIS.

Filed after the labour certification is approved. It asks USCIS to confirm the job qualifies and that the employer can pay the offered wage. Its approval notice is where you will find your priority date.

Read moreSee also: PERM, Priority date

Proof that no qualified US worker is available for the job.

Obtained by the employer from the Department of Labor through the PERM process, before anything is filed with USCIS. It is the first real stage of an EB-3 case and one of the longest.

See also: PERM

The EB-3 subgroup for roles needing under two years of training.

The formal name for what is usually called the unskilled category. It has its own annual allocation — roughly 10,000 visas worldwide — which is why its queue is longer than the rest of EB-3. When you read the Visa Bulletin, this is the row that applies to you.

See also: EB-3, Visa Bulletin

A doctor authorised to perform your immigration medical.

Only a physician on the list published by the US embassy handling your case may perform it. A medical from any other doctor, however qualified, will not be accepted. The examination has a validity period, so doing it too early can mean doing it twice.

See also: Consular processing

A cap on how many visas one country may take in a year.

No single country of chargeability may take more than a set share of the annual total. It is why applicants born in high-demand countries wait considerably longer than the worldwide figure suggests.

See also: Chargeability

The labour certification process the employer must complete.

The employer advertises the role under prescribed rules, considers any US applicants, and files the result with the Department of Labor. US regulations require the employer to pay the recruitment costs and the attorney fees connected with this stage — not you.

Read moreSee also: Labour certification, I-140

The employer who files the case for you.

An EB-3 unskilled case cannot be self-petitioned. A specific US employer with a specific permanent vacancy must file it, which is why finding genuine sponsorship is the real starting point.

See also: Beneficiary, Sponsorship

Your place in the queue.

The date the employer's PERM application was filed. Everyone with an earlier priority date in your category and country is ahead of you. It appears on the I-140 approval notice and it is the single most important date in your case — keep it somewhere you will not lose it.

Read moreSee also: Current, Cut-off date, Visa Bulletin

When the cut-off date moves backwards.

It happens when demand for a category turns out to exceed the visas available, so the queue is pulled back. A priority date that was current can stop being current. This is normal rather than an error, and it is why nobody can honestly promise you a date.

See also: Cut-off date, Current

An employer committing to hire and petition for you.

Not a favour granted on paper. It commits an employer to a real vacancy, a wage they must be able to pay, and a legal process that costs them money and takes months. An offer that appears without an employer who genuinely needs someone is the most common shape of fraud in this category.

Read moreSee also: Petitioner, PERM

The agency that decides the immigrant petition.

Handles the I-140 and, for those adjusting status inside the US, the final application. The Department of Labor handles labour certification and the Department of State handles consular interviews and the Visa Bulletin — three different bodies, which is part of why the process has so many stages.

See also: I-140

The monthly publication that says whose turn it is.

Published by the Department of State. It prints cut-off dates by category and country, and it is the only authoritative statement of where the queue has reached. It is free to read, and worth checking yourself each month rather than relying on anyone's summary.

Read moreSee also: Cut-off date, Priority date