Green Card Process
●OFLC data through Mar 30, 2026Employer requests a wage determination from DOL to establish the minimum salary that must be offered.
- Filed with the DOL National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) via FLAG system.
- Sets the minimum wage the employer must offer for the PERM position.
- Current NPWC processing: ~3–4 months as of March 2026 (down from ~6 months in mid-2025). No premium/expedited option available.
- The offered wage in the job ad and PERM application must meet or exceed the PWD.
- PWD is valid for 2 years — recruitment can begin while PWD is pending.
Employer conducts mandatory recruitment to demonstrate no qualified U.S. workers are available.
- 30-day SWA (State Workforce Agency) job order — must run for a full month.
- Two Sunday newspaper ads in the area of intended employment.
- Three additional recruitment steps chosen from a DOL-approved list (e.g. job fairs, employer website, LinkedIn, campus recruiting).
- 10 consecutive business-day internal job posting.
- After the last recruitment step, a mandatory 30-day "quiet period" must pass before filing.
- All applicants must be evaluated and rejections documented with lawful job-related reasons.
ETA-9089 application filed with DOL. Processing time varies — current averages are pulled from our dataset.
- Filed electronically through the FLAG system. No filing fee.
- DOL may approve, deny, or audit the application.
- Audits request documentation of the entire recruitment process and can add 6–18 months.
- If denied, employer can request BALCA (Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals) review.
- PERM approval establishes the Priority Date (the date DOL received the application).
- Current processing times from our dataset are shown in the estimate above.
Employer files I-140 with USCIS. Premium Processing reduces wait to ~15 business days (EB-2/EB-3) or ~45 business days (EB-1).
- Filed by the employer (petitioner) with USCIS. Filing fee: $715 (plus $600 asylum program fee).
- Premium Processing (~$2,805) available — reduces to ~15 business days for EB-2/EB-3, ~45 for EB-1.
- The Priority Date from PERM approval is locked in at this stage.
- I-140 can be filed concurrently with I-485 if the priority date is already current.
- Even if the employer withdraws sponsorship later, an approved I-140 held for 180+ days retains the priority date (AC21 portability).
- For EB-1: no PERM required — the I-140 itself must demonstrate extraordinary ability or outstanding research.
Your priority date must reach the "Dates for Filing" cutoff before you can submit Form I-485.
- DOS publishes two cutoff charts monthly: "Dates for Filing" and "Final Action Dates" (FAD).
- Once your priority date is before the Dates for Filing cutoff, you can submit I-485 with USCIS.
- Filing early locks in your EAD (work permit) and Advance Parole (travel authorization) — typically approved in 3–5 months.
- USCIS announces each month whether the Dates for Filing chart is accepted for new filings.
- During the wait you can remain on H-1B — extendable in 3-year increments once I-140 is approved for 365+ days.
Your I-485 cannot be approved until your priority date is before the Final Action Date (FAD). This is the last gate before getting the green card.
- The FAD is always equal to or earlier (more conservative) than the Dates for Filing cutoff.
- If you already filed I-485, your case is queued and actively adjudicated — but approval waits for the FAD.
- Retrogression is possible — the FAD can move backward, temporarily pausing approvals.
- Check the Visa Bulletin monthly at travel.state.gov.
- Once the FAD advances past your priority date, USCIS can schedule your interview and issue the green card.
Filed once the priority date is current. Includes biometrics, medical exam, and possibly an interview.
- Filing fee: $1,440 per adult (includes biometrics). Children and seniors have different fees.
- File I-131 (travel document / Advance Parole) and I-765 (EAD work permit) concurrently — typically approved in 3–5 months.
- Biometrics appointment at a local USCIS Application Support Center.
- Medical exam (Form I-693) by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon.
- Interview may be scheduled at a local USCIS field office — increasingly waived for employment-based cases.
- Alternative: Consular Processing (DS-260) if you are outside the U.S. — similar timeline via U.S. embassy.
- EB-1 cases tend to process faster than EB-3 due to lower overall volume.
Understanding the Employment-Based Green Card Process
The U.S. employment-based green card process consists of three to five sequential stages, each administered by a different government agency. For most EB-2 and EB-3 applicants, the journey begins with PERM labor certification — a DOL process that verifies no qualified U.S. workers are available for the position. PERM processing in 2026 averages 14–18 months.
EB-2 vs. EB-3: Which Category Is Faster?
For most countries, EB-2 (advanced degree professionals) and EB-3 (skilled workers) move at similar speeds — both are typically current or near-current for Rest of World applicants. For India and China, EB-2 and EB-3 are retrogressed by a decade or more due to per-country annual limits. Some India-born applicants strategically port to EB-3 to exploit a historically faster Final Action Date movement. Use the category selector above to compare current Visa Bulletin cutoffs side by side.
What Is the Visa Bulletin Priority Date?
The Visa Bulletin, published monthly by the U.S. Department of State, controls when an applicant can file I-485 (adjustment of status) or proceed to consular processing. Your priority date is the date your PERM application was filed with DOL. When the Visa Bulletin's cutoff date advances past your priority date, a visa number becomes available and you can complete the final step. For oversubscribed countries like India, the wait between I-140 approval and an available visa number is the dominant driver of total green card timelines.
How Long Does the Full Green Card Process Take?
For Rest of World EB-2 and EB-3 applicants with no backlog, the end-to-end timeline is typically 2–4 years — dominated by PERM and I-140 processing. For India EB-2, the current wait for a visa number alone is estimated at 10+ years. For China EB-2, expect 5–8 years. These estimates assume no audits, requests for evidence (RFEs), or Visa Bulletin retrogression. Use the timeline above to generate an estimate tailored to your specific category and country of birth.