EB-3 Priority Date: What It Is, Where to Find It and When It’s Current

Your EB-3 priority date is the date your employer filed your PERM labor certification (Form ETA-9089) with the U.S. Department of Labor. It is your place in line for an EB-3 green card.

You can’t apply for the green card itself until your priority date is “current” in the monthly visa bulletin.

For EB-3 Other Workers, that wait often takes years. How long depends mostly on two things: your priority date and the country where you were born.

This guide explains where to find your date, how to read the visa bulletin, what the November 2026 dates are, and what you can (and can’t) do while you wait.

EB-3 Priority Date at a Glance

Question	Short answer
What is it?	Your place in line for an EB-3 visa
How is it set?	The date the Department of Labor accepts your employer’s PERM filing (Form ETA-9089)
Where do I find it?	On your PERM approval and on your I-140 receipt and approval notices (Form I-797)
What is it compared to?	The EB-3 Other Workers cutoff date for your country of birth in the visa bulletin
Who uses it?	You, plus your spouse and unmarried children under 21
Can it change?	No. You can usually keep it if you change employers after your I-140 is approved
Can I speed it up?	No. Premium processing speeds up the I-140 decision only, not your place in line
Current Other Workers cutoff (most countries)	June 1, 2022 (Final Action Dates) and July 1, 2022 (Dates for Filing), November 2026 bulletin

What Is an EB-3 Priority Date?

Think of a ticket number at a busy service counter. You take a number, and you wait until the counter calls it. Your priority date works the same way. The earlier your date, the closer you are to the front.

There is one difference. The green card “counter” serves many lines at once, and each line moves at its own speed. Your line depends on your green card category (here, EB-3 Other Workers) and your country of birth. Two workers with the same priority date can wait very different amounts of time if they were born in different countries.

How Your Priority Date Is Set

For EB-3 cases that need a PERM labor certification, your priority date is the date the Department of Labor accepted the PERM for processing (8 CFR 204.5(d)). In practice, that is the day your employer, the petitioner, filed Form ETA-9089. Learn more about that form in our ETA-9089 guide.

Your priority date is not:

• The day you got the job offer
• The day the PERM was approved
• The day your I-140 was filed or approved

If a case doesn’t need a PERM, the priority date is the date USCIS receives the I-140. This is rare for EB-3 Other Workers jobs.

Is a Green Card Priority Date the Same as an EB-3 Priority Date?

Yes. “Priority date” means the same thing in every family and employment green card category. What changes is the line you’re in. An EB-3 priority date is compared only to the EB-3 cutoff dates in the visa bulletin, not to EB-2 or family dates.

Which EB-3 Line You’re In

EB-3 has three subgroups: skilled workers, professionals and Other Workers. eb3.work focuses on Other Workers. These are jobs that require less than two years of training or experience, such as food service, cleaning, manufacturing and warehouse roles. You can read more in our unskilled worker guide.

Skilled workers (two or more years of experience) and professionals (a bachelor’s degree) have their own cutoff dates. Their line usually moves faster than Other Workers. If your job is an Other Workers job, use only the Other Workers row in the visa bulletin.

Where to Find Your Priority Date

You’ll find your priority date in two places:

1. The PERM certification. It shows the date the Department of Labor received the filing.
2. Your I-140 notices. The receipt notice and approval notice (Form I-797, Notice of Action) have a “Priority Date” field. Read more about the I-140 petition.

Your employer or its attorney receives these documents. Request a copy of the I-797 for your records. In eb3.work’s program, the attorney represents the employer, so requests for documents go through the employer.

When you have the date, write it down next to your country of birth. Those two details decide when your line moves.

If your employer hasn’t filed the PERM yet, you don’t have a priority date. The PERM stage itself takes time.

How the Visa Bulletin Works

The visa bulletin is published every month by the U.S. Department of State. It lists a cutoff date for each green card category and country. Your case can move forward when your priority date is earlier than the cutoff date listed for your category and country.

Final Action Dates vs. Dates for Filing

Each bulletin has two charts:

• Final Action Dates (Table A). These show when a green card can actually be approved or a visa issued. If your priority date is earlier than this date, a green card number is available for you.
• Dates for Filing (Table B). These are usually later dates. They show when you can start the final step, such as filing paperwork, even though the green card can’t be approved yet.

Which Chart Applies to You This Month

This depends on where you are:

• In the United States (adjustment of status): USCIS decides each month which chart people filing Form I-485 must use. It posts the choice on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin page. For November 2026, USCIS is accepting the Dates for Filing chart for employment-based cases. This has changed several times in 2026, so check every month.
• Outside the United States (consular processing): The Dates for Filing chart tells you when you can start sending documents to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC schedules interviews using the Final Action Dates.

What “C” and “U” Mean

• “C” (Current): Everyone in that category and country can move forward, whatever their priority date.
• “U” (Unavailable): No green cards are available in that category for that country this month, whatever the priority date.

Your Country of Chargeability

Your line is based on your country of chargeability. This is usually your country of birth, not your citizenship. For example, a person born in India who is a citizen of Canada is usually charged to India.

There is one common exception. If your spouse was born in a country with an earlier cutoff date, you may be able to use your spouse’s country instead. This is called cross-chargeability, and it only works if you immigrate together.

Current EB-3 Other Workers Priority Dates (November 2026)

These are the EB-3 Other Workers cutoff dates in the November 2026 visa bulletin:

Country of birth	Final Action Date	Dates for Filing	Change from October (Final Action)
All countries not listed	June 1, 2022	July 1, 2022	Up 5 months (from Jan. 1, 2022)
Mexico	June 1, 2022	July 1, 2022	Up 5 months
Philippines	Jan. 1, 2022	June 1, 2022	No change
India	Jan. 22, 2014	Jan. 15, 2015	Up 21 days
China (mainland born)	Oct. 1, 2019	Oct. 1, 2020	No change

For comparison, EB-3 skilled workers and professionals born in most countries have a Final Action Date of June 15, 2024. That is two years ahead of Other Workers.

These dates change every month, and they can move backward. For the latest dates and full timelines from PERM to green card, see EB-3 visa processing times.

How to Check If Your EB-3 Priority Date Is Current

Follow these steps each month:

1. Find your priority date on your I-140 notice (Form I-797).
2. Confirm your category. For most eb3.work jobs, it’s EB-3 “Other Workers.”
3. Confirm your country of chargeability, usually your country of birth.
4. Open the current visa bulletin on the State Department website.
5. Pick the right chart. In the U.S., use the chart USCIS names for that month. Abroad, use Dates for Filing to start NVC paperwork and Final Action Dates for your interview.
6. Find your row and column. The row is “Other Workers.” The column is your country, or “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed” if your country isn’t named.
7. Compare. If your priority date is earlier than the date shown, or the box says “C,” your date is current.

Worked Examples (November 2026 Bulletin)

Example 1: Born in Mexico, priority date March 10, 2022. The Mexico Final Action Date is June 1, 2022. March 10, 2022 is earlier, so this worker’s date is current. A green card can be approved this month.

Example 2: Born in the Philippines, priority date March 10, 2022. Same date, different country. The Philippines Final Action Date is January 1, 2022, so the date is not current for approval. But the Dates for Filing cutoff is June 1, 2022. If this worker is in the U.S. and eligible to adjust status, they can file the I-485 in November, because USCIS is accepting Dates for Filing this month. The green card can’t be approved until the Final Action Date passes March 10, 2022.

Example 3: Born in India, priority date 2019. The India Final Action Date is January 22, 2014. A 2019 priority date is more than five years behind the cutoff, so it is not current. This worker should expect a long wait.

Same job, three very different results. That’s why your country of birth matters as much as your priority date.

Why EB-3 Other Workers Waits Are So Long

Many workers ask why EB-3 dates move so slowly. The short answer: there are many more applicants than green cards.

• Limited green cards. Each year, about 140,000 employment-based green cards are available. EB-3 gets 28.6% of them (INA 203(b)(3)(A)).
• A smaller limit for Other Workers. Within EB-3, no more than 10,000 green cards a year can go to Other Workers (INA 203(b)(3)(B)).
• Family members count too. Your spouse and children use green cards from the same yearly limit. A worker with a spouse and two children uses four.
• A per-country limit. No single country can get more than about 7% of the total each year (INA 202(a)(2)). That’s why India and China have much earlier cutoff dates than most countries.
• High demand. When more people apply than there are green cards, dates stop moving or even move backward. Moving backward is called retrogression. Learn more in our retrogression guide.
• The fiscal year. The U.S. government’s year starts October 1. Dates sometimes move forward in the fall when new green cards become available, and slow down or retrogress late in the year when they run out.

Congress could change some of this. The Dignity Act (H.R. 4393), a bipartisan bill introduced in the House in July 2025, would stop counting spouses and children against the yearly green card limits and raise the per-country limit from 7% to 15%.

Its stated goal is to clear employment-based green card backlogs by 2035. It is not law yet, and its text could change before any vote. eb3.work supports this bill. You can read what it would mean for EB-3 workers, and how to show your support, on our Dignity Act page.

Be careful with anyone who promises you a date. No one, not an employer, an agency or a lawyer, can guarantee when your priority date will become current. The best anyone can do is estimate based on past movement. For current estimates of the full process, see our EB-3 visa processing times page.

What Happens When Your Priority Date Becomes Current

The next step depends on where you live.

If You’re in the United States

If you are in the U.S. in lawful status and eligible to adjust status, you can file Form I-485 to apply for your green card from inside the country. This is called adjustment of status. See our I-485 guide for details.

Many workers in our program come from H-2B or F-1 status. If that’s you, the same steps apply.

If You’re Outside the United States

Your case goes through consular processing:

1. After the I-140 is approved, USCIS sends the case to the National Visa Center (NVC).
2. When the Dates for Filing chart allows, the NVC invites you to pay fees and submit documents.
3. You complete the online immigrant visa application, the DS-260.
4. When your date is current under the Final Action Dates, the NVC schedules your interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

Get Ready Before Your Date Is Current

Don’t wait for the bulletin to start preparing. Things that often slow people down:

• An expired passport. Keep it valid well beyond your expected interview date.
• Missing civil documents. Birth certificates, marriage certificates and police certificates can take months to get in some countries.
• Old contact details. Make sure your employer and its attorney have your current phone, email and address.

Keeping Your Priority Date

Your priority date is valuable. It can represent years of waiting. Here’s when you keep it and when you might lose it.

If You Change Employers

Once your I-140 is approved, you can usually keep its priority date for a future I-140 filed by a new employer (8 CFR 204.5(e)). You keep it unless USCIS revokes the approval for fraud, willful misrepresentation or a material error, or the PERM is invalidated.

This doesn’t mean you can simply switch jobs. The new employer must still file a new PERM and a new I-140 for you. But when those are approved, your original, earlier priority date carries over.

If Your Employer Withdraws the I-140

If your employer withdraws an approved I-140 180 days or more after approval, the approval generally stays in place and you can keep the priority date. If they withdraw it sooner, the approval is revoked. See our I-140 guide for more.

If the I-140 Is Denied

A denied I-140 gives you no priority date to keep. The employer would need to file again, and the new priority date would depend on the PERM used.

Your Family and Your Priority Date

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can get green cards as your dependents. They don’t need their own priority date. They use yours, and they move forward when you do.

The risk for families with long waits is a child “aging out.” If your child turns 21 before getting a green card, they may lose dependent status. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) can help. It can reduce a child’s age for immigration purposes by the time the I-140 was pending. To keep this protection, the child generally must take steps toward the green card within one year of a visa becoming available.

Use our EB-3 CSPA calculator to check your child’s situation.

Common Priority Date Myths

• “Premium processing will move my date forward.” No. It only makes USCIS decide the I-140 faster. Your place in line stays the same.
• “My USCIS case status shows how close my date is.” No. Case status shows whether a form was received or decided. Only the visa bulletin shows where the line is.
• “My priority date is the day I got the job offer.” No. It’s the day the PERM was filed.
• “Once my I-140 is approved, I’m done waiting.” No. For most Other Workers, the longest wait comes after I-140 approval, while the priority date becomes current.

Frequently Asked Questions

Looking for an EB-3 Sponsor?

You only get a priority date once an employer files a PERM for you. The sooner that happens, the sooner your place in line is set. Browse our EB-3 jobs list to see employers hiring now, or learn how the EB-3 process works from start to finish.

Sources

• U.S. Department of State: The Visa Bulletin (monthly cutoff dates; November 2026 bulletin)
• U.S. Department of State: Employment-Based Immigrant Visas (EB-3 categories, NVC and consular steps)
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: 8 CFR 204.5 (how the priority date is set and when it is kept)
• USCIS: Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin (which chart applies each month)
• USCIS Policy Manual: Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 7, Child Status Protection Act (CSPA age and the one-year rule)