EB-3 Immigration for U.S. Employers and Foreign Workers

EB-3 is not a job-matching or sponsorship-for-sale program

Steel & Associates, APLC does not provide jobs, sell employers, sell sponsorship, or place workers. The firm provides legal representation when a legitimate U.S. employer has a real permanent position and the employer and beneficiary are prepared to follow the required process honestly.

Arrangements involving payment for a job, undisclosed recruiters, false duties, fictitious worksites, wage kickbacks, sham supervision, undisclosed family or ownership relationships, or promises that the worker will never perform the offered job can create serious immigration, labor, fraud, tax, and criminal risks.

Three classifications, not one generic EB-3 category

The classification depends on the actual minimum requirements of the offered position and the beneficiary’s qualifications. The employer cannot select a label first and then rewrite the position to fit it.

• Skilled workers: positions requiring at least two years of training or experience, with the beneficiary able to document the required background.
• Professionals: positions requiring at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree or a foreign equivalent degree, with the beneficiary holding the required qualifying degree.
• Other workers: positions requiring less than two years of training or experience and involving permanent, nonseasonal work, subject to the category’s separate visa-availability limitations.

The employer’s role

The employer defines and must support the offered position, duties, minimum requirements, worksite, wage, supervision, business need, recruitment, and intended permanent full-time employment. The employer also provides corporate, financial, operational, payroll, tax, licensing, and other records appropriate to the process.

The employer should understand that the case may continue through several stages and a long timeline. Changes in ownership, legal entity, location, duties, requirements, layoffs, finances, business operations, or the position itself may require new analysis and can affect the process.

The beneficiary’s role

The beneficiary must document the education, training, and experience required by the offered position and disclose the complete immigration, employment, travel, criminal, and admissibility history that may affect the final process.

Experience letters should identify the employer, dates, position, duties, hours, and the person qualified to verify the work. Degree evaluations, transcripts, licenses, training records, tax or payroll records, and other evidence may be needed depending on the category and record.

The position and minimum requirements control the foundation

The employer’s actual minimum requirements must be defined before recruitment and should reflect the real position rather than the beneficiary’s personal resume. Duties, requirements, wage, worksite, occupational classification, and recruitment language must remain consistent.

Requirements that are unusually restrictive, internally inconsistent, unsupported by business need, tailored to one worker, or changed after recruitment can create problems at the labor-certification and immigrant-petition stages.

Labor certification and recruitment

In most EB-3 cases, the employer first obtains a prevailing-wage determination and completes the required recruitment before filing a permanent labor certification application. The process tests the labor market under detailed rules; it is not a general promise that no U.S. worker exists anywhere.

The employer must conduct and document the required recruitment, consider applicants lawfully, preserve the file, and keep the position, requirements, wage, and worksite consistent. Audit, supervised recruitment, layoffs, familial relationships, ownership interests, roving worksites, alternate requirements, and business-necessity issues may require additional analysis.

The immigrant petition

After the required labor certification is approved, the employer generally files Form I-140 in the appropriate EB-3 classification. The filing must connect the certified position and requirements to the beneficiary’s qualifying education, training, and experience and the employer’s ability to pay the offered wage under the applicable rules.

An approved labor certification or immigrant petition does not by itself grant status, work authorization, a visa, admission, or permanent residence.

Priority dates and visa availability

Employment-based immigrant visas are numerically limited. The beneficiary’s priority date, preference category, and country of chargeability generally affect when the final immigrant-visa or adjustment step may proceed. The Department of State Visa Bulletin and USCIS adjustment-filing guidance must be reviewed for the relevant month.

Visa availability can move forward, stop, or retrogress. A predicted timeline is not a guarantee, and a pending labor certification or petition does not reserve immediate visa issuance.

Adjustment of status or immigrant-visa processing

A beneficiary in the United States may be able to apply for adjustment of status when a visa is available and all statutory and procedural requirements are met. A beneficiary abroad generally completes immigrant-visa processing through the Department of State and the proper U.S. consular post.

The final stage includes independent review of identity, civil documents, medical requirements, security screening, admissibility, immigration history, criminal history, prior misrepresentations, public-charge rules where applicable, and continuing eligibility. Petition approval does not guarantee the final decision.

EB-3 matters involving Poland and international beneficiaries

The firm handles appropriate EB-3 matters involving legitimate U.S. employers and qualified beneficiaries in Poland. Poland-focused guidance addresses employer responsibilities, worker documentation, labor certification, immigrant petitions, visa availability, and consular processing without offering employment or paid sponsorship.

Country-specific preparation may include civil records, education and experience evidence, certified translations, foreign-employer verification, police or court records where relevant, and current instructions for the assigned U.S. consular post.

What to prepare for an EB-3 review

The first review should determine whether there is a real employer, real position, real permanent need, lawful wage, defensible minimum requirements, qualified beneficiary, workable timeline, and complete disclosure of facts that could affect recruitment, petitioning, or final processing.

• Employer legal entity, ownership, locations, operations, workforce, and financial records
• Detailed position, duties, worksite, wage, schedule, supervision, and minimum requirements
• Beneficiary education, training, licenses, and experience evidence
• Any relationship among the employer, owners, recruiter, beneficiary, or family members
• Prior recruitment, layoffs, contractors, staffing arrangements, or workforce changes
• Beneficiary immigration, criminal, travel, and employment history
• Expected timeline and whether the beneficiary is inside or outside the United States