Updated November 11, 2026

EB-3 visa priority date: how it is set, how to check the Visa Bulletin and how to retain your date

Your EB-3 visa priority date is your place in the green card queue. It is set on the date the Department of Labor accepts your employer's PERM labor certification for processing or, for Schedule A jobs like registered nurses and physical therapists, the date USCIS accepts Form I-140. Because employment-based preference visas are limited to a minimum of 140,000 per year across categories, USCIS and the Department of State use your priority date, preference category, and country of birth to decide when you can file Form I-485 and get your green card approved.

What is an EB-3 visa priority date and how is it set?

The Immigration and Nationality Act limits employment-based preference immigrant visas to a minimum of 140,000 visas per year, and also caps the percentage of visas allotted to any single country of birth. When demand in a category or country is higher than the yearly supply, a backlog forms. The Department of State uses your priority date to determine your place in that queue.

How your EB-3 priority date is established depends on whether your job requires a permanent labor certification from the Department of Labor (DOL) or qualifies for a Schedule A exemption.

To lock in and use that priority date, you must be fully qualified for the EB-3 classification (meeting all minimum education, training, and experience requirements of the job) on the day the labor certification is filed. Once DOL approves the labor certification, your employer has 180 calendar days to file Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, with USCIS, or the labor certification expires and you lose that filing date. If the 180th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, USCIS accepts the petition if it arrives by the end of the next business day.

How EB-3 priority dates are set by filing path (uscis.gov and dol.gov)

How long it takes to get a PERM priority date vs. where to find it

Many applicants think their priority date is set when their employer starts the green card process. For standard PERM cases, the priority date is not established during the prevailing wage request or the recruitment phase. It is only set at Step 4 of the PERM process, when the employer submits Form ETA-9089 to the Department of Labor.

According to DOL's Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) processing times as of October 31, 2026, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification is processing PERM Prevailing Wage Determinations filed in August 2026 (OEWS) and July 2026 (Non-OEWS). Once the prevailing wage and recruitment steps are finished and the employer files Form ETA-9089, that submission date becomes your priority date, even though DOL's average PERM analyst review takes 300 calendar days (based on determinations over the last 30 days, or 315 to 360 calendar days over the last 90 to 180 days).

By our calculation from flag.dol.gov's processing tables, there are 43,892 pending PERM prevailing wage determination requests across the May through October 2026 receipt months (12 from May, 30 from June, 1,346 from July, 14,925 from August, 14,400 from September, and 13,179 from October). None of those requests have a priority date locked in yet, because the priority date is only established later when the employer finishes recruitment and submits Form ETA-9089 for analyst review.

Once your employer files Form I-140 with USCIS, you can find your priority date printed directly on Form I-797, Notice of Action, for the petition filed on your behalf. During adjustment of status, the USCIS officer verifies this date by reviewing the actual immigrant petition or permanent labor certification application in your file.

How to read the Visa Bulletin for your EB-3 priority date

Each month, the Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin to show immigrant visa availability by preference category and country of chargeability (which is usually your country of birth, not your country of citizenship). The bulletin includes two charts for employment-based immigrants: the Application Final Action Dates chart and the Dates for Filing Applications chart.

Each month, USCIS announces on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page which of the two charts applicants inside the United States may use to file Form I-485. When USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants, it authorizes the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, you must use the Application Final Action Dates chart. For November 2026, USCIS states that all employment-based preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart.

Even when you file Form I-485 using the Dates for Filing chart, USCIS cannot grant final approval of your green card until a visa is available under the Application Final Action Dates chart at the time of final adjudication.

• A specific cut-off date (such as 15DEC07): Visas are available only if your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed for your EB-3 subcategory and country of birth. If your priority date is on or after the cut-off date, your date is not current.
• C (Current): Demand is less than supply in your category and country of birth. Immigrant visa numbers are immediately available to all qualified applicants regardless of priority date.
• U (Unavailable): Immigrant visa numbers are temporarily unavailable to all applicants in that preference category and country of chargeability.

What to do when your EB-3 priority date becomes current

Once your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date in the applicable chart (or the chart shows 'C'), you can take the final step toward permanent residence. Your path depends on whether you are inside the United States or abroad.

• Inside the United States (Adjustment of Status): You file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, with USCIS. If your priority date is already current when your employer files Form I-140 (under the Final Action chart, or under the Dates for Filing chart when permitted by USCIS), you may concurrently file Form I-485 and Form I-140 together in separate document packages. Most employment-based applicants must maintain valid nonimmigrant status up until the date of filing Form I-485, though INA 245(k) provides an exemption for certain status violations.
• Outside the United States (Consular Processing): The Dates for Filing chart indicates when applicants outside the U.S. should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC). Once your priority date is current under the Final Action Dates chart and your case is documentarily complete, the NVC forwards your petition to the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate for an immigrant visa interview.

Priority date retention: keeping an earlier EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 date

If you are the beneficiary of multiple approved employment-based petitions filed under the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd preference categories (EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3), you are entitled to the earliest priority date under 8 CFR 204.5(e). This rule allows you to keep your original place in line if you change employers and a new company files a new PERM and Form I-140 for you, or if your employer files a subsequent petition in a different preference category (such as upgrading from EB-3 to EB-2 or downgrading from EB-2 to EB-3).

To use an earlier priority date when filing Form I-485, you typically alert the USCIS officer by including a copy of the Form I-797 approval notice for the previous petition in your adjustment application packet. Note that while you can port your own priority date across petitions, DOL regulations since July 16, 2007 strictly prohibit employers from substituting one worker for another on a labor certification.

You cannot retain an earlier priority date from a prior EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 petition if any of the following happen:

• USCIS revoked the approval of the earlier petition because of fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact.
• USCIS revoked the earlier petition because it was approved in error.
• DOL revoked the labor certification associated with the earlier petition, or USCIS or the Department of State invalidated the labor certification.
• The Department of State terminated your registration because you failed to timely file for an immigrant visa, automatically revoking the petition.
• You have already used the earlier petition to immigrate to the United States.

What happens during EB-3 visa retrogression?

Sometimes a priority date that is current one month is no longer current the next month, or the cut-off date on the Visa Bulletin moves backward to an earlier date. This is called visa retrogression. It happens when more people apply for visas in a category or country than there are visas available for that month, typically toward the end of the government fiscal year as issuance approaches annual category or per-country limits. When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, a fresh supply of visa numbers becomes available, which usually (though not always) returns cut-off dates to where they were before retrogression.

If your priority date retrogresses after you have already properly filed Form I-485 with USCIS, your application is not denied. Instead, USCIS processes the case up to the point of final approval and holds it in abeyance until a visa number becomes available again under the Application Final Action Dates chart.

Use this checklist to protect your pending case while waiting out EB-3 retrogression:

• Apply for or renew your work and travel permits: Because you properly filed Form I-485 before retrogression, you remain eligible to apply for employment authorization using Form I-765 and advance parole travel permission using Form I-131.
• Know where your file is held: If your Form I-485 does not require an in-person interview, it stays at the USCIS Service Center where you filed. If you have already been interviewed at a field office and all security checks are resolved, USCIS transfers your employment-based retrogressed file to the National Benefits Center (NBC) until your priority date is current again.
• Check your job portability options: If your Form I-485 has been pending for 180 days or more, you may be eligible for adjustment portability under INA 204(j), which lets you accept a job offer with the same or a different employer in the same or a similar occupational classification.
• Keep your address updated: USCIS may send a Request for Evidence (RFE) or interview notice once your date becomes current, especially if security checks expire during a long wait. Update your address with USCIS immediately using Form AR-11 (and with the NVC if processing abroad).
• Follow up when your date becomes current: If you do not hear from USCIS within 30 days of your priority date becoming current again on the Final Action chart, contact the USCIS Contact Center.

Family members, CSPA and cross-chargeability

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can apply with you (accompany, within six months of your green card approval or visa issuance) or apply later (follow to join, with no specific time limit) as derivative beneficiaries. They receive the same EB-3 priority date and classification as you, provided the marriage or parent-child relationship existed before you became a lawful permanent resident and you remain in lawful permanent resident status when they adjust. A natural child born after you obtain your green card also gets your priority date if born of a marriage that existed when you adjusted status.

Because long priority date waits can cause children to turn 21 before the green card is approved, USCIS officers review Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age calculations to confirm whether a derivative child still qualifies as under 21.

Married couples born in different countries can also use a rule called cross-chargeability to bypass a country backlog. If your EB-3 category is backlogged for your country of birth but is current for your spouse's country of birth, you can charge your visa to your spouse's country of birth (and vice versa). Derivative children can cross-charge to either parent's country of birth, but parents can never cross-charge to a child's country of birth.

Worked example (written by our team from USCIS Policy Manual rules): Suppose an EB-3 skilled worker was born in a country with an oversubscribed cut-off date, so no visa is available under his own country of birth. His derivative spouse was born in a country where the EB-3 chart shows 'C' (Current). Because they are applying together and both are eligible to adjust status, the principal worker may cross-charge his visa to his spouse's country of birth. USCIS treats both spouses as principal applicants (one for conferring immigrant status and the other for conferring the favorable country of chargeability), keeps their files together in a family pack, and approves both Form I-485 applications at the same time.

What the officer checks at your EB-3 interview

At an EB-3 adjustment of status or consular interview, the officer reviews your file to confirm that your priority date was properly established, that a visa is available, and that you and your employer still meet every requirement of the petition. Be prepared to answer questions on these four areas and have the matching documents ready:

• Qualifications as of the priority date: USCIS policy states that a petition is not approvable if you were not fully qualified by the priority date. Expect questions about where you gained your required degree, training, or two years of experience before the PERM was filed, backed by academic records and experience letters from former employers.
• Continuing job offer and employer viability: The officer verifies that your Form I-140 remains valid, that the full-time permanent job offer still exists (or that you properly ported after 180 days to a same or similar role), and that the employer is an active business with the financial ability to pay the offered wage.
• English proficiency for commercial vehicle operators: Following an April 28, 2025 executive order and updated DOL guidance effective June 15, 2026, petitions for jobs requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle must include evidence of English language proficiency (such as a standardized test result, a signed employer statement, or a qualifying visa issued after June 15, 2026), and consular officers conduct increased vetting to verify English proficiency.
• Admissibility and medical records: The officer checks that you have maintained lawful status (or qualify for an exemption), completes security checks, and reviews a valid Form I-693 medical examination.

Practice example

When did you complete the two years of work experience required for your EB-3 position, and how does that compare to your priority date?

Give the exact start and end dates of your qualifying previous employment, name the former employer and your job title, and state clearly that you completed the full two years of experience before the date your sponsoring employer filed Form ETA-9089 with the Department of Labor. Have your Form I-797 approval notice ready to point to your priority date, along with the experience letters from your former employers and academic records that were submitted with your Form I-140. If you gained experience with the same employer that sponsored your PERM, be ready to explain how the earlier role was distinct from the offered permanent position as shown on your labor certification.

USCIS policy states that an EB-3 petition is not approvable unless the beneficiary met all minimum education, training, and experience requirements on or before the filing date of the labor certification (the priority date). The officer asks this to verify that you did not rely on time worked after the priority date to qualify.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.