You may be qualified for this immigrant visa choice category if you are a proficient employee, expert, or other worker.

- Skilled employees are individuals who are capable of performing skilled labor and whose task requires a minimum of 2 years training or job experience, not of a short-term or seasonal nature. Skilled workers should also meet any academic, training, or experience requirements of the task chance. Relevant post-secondary education might be considered as training.

- Professionals are individuals who hold a minimum of a U.S. bachelor's or foreign equivalent degree and belong to the occupations. Their tasks need a minimum of a bachelor's degree. Professionals should also satisfy any instructional, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity.

- Other workers (also called unskilled employees) are individuals efficient in performing inexperienced labor whose task needs less than 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature. Other workers must also satisfy any educational, job training, or job experience requirements of the job chance.


Labor Certification

Third preference petitions are normally accompanied by an a signed Form ETA-9089, Application for Permanent Employment Certification, authorized by DOL, or, for labor certification applications filed on or after June 1, 2023, utilizing DOL's Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system, an approved and signed Form ETA-9089, Final Determination - Permanent Employment Certification Approval (Final Certification). For more details, see the Department of Labor's Foreign Labor Certification web page.

Petitions for Schedule An occupations are not required to have a DOL-approved labor certification. This is because DOL has actually already identified there are not adequate U.S. workers for those professions. Currently, DOL has designated 2 groups of occupations under Schedule A. Group I consists of professional nurses and physical therapists. Group II consists of recipients with extraordinary ability in the sciences or arts (consisting of college and university teachers) and immigrants of extraordinary ability in the performing arts. A petition for Schedule A classification should be accompanied by a completed, uncertified Form ETA-9089, consisting of all suitable appendices, a signed Final Determination, and a legitimate prevailing wage determination tracking number in Section E, Item 1 of the uncertified Form ETA-9089. For more details on Schedule A requirements, see Volume 6, Part E, Chapter 7, of the USCIS Policy Manual.

- The labor accreditation (or application for job Schedule A classification) should require a minimum of 2 years of experience or training.

- You should demonstrate that you have actually satisfied any job requirements defined on the labor accreditation (or application for Schedule A classification). This proof may consist of main academic records and letters from present or previous companies.

- Relevant post-secondary education may be thought about as training.


- The labor certification (or application for Schedule A classification) should require at least a U.S. bachelor's or foreign comparable degree, and a bachelor's degree is the typical requirement for entry into the occupation.

- You need to demonstrate that you have actually fulfilled any task requirements defined on the labor job certification (or application for Schedule A designation). This proof might consist of official academic records and letters from present or previous employers.

- Education and experience might not be alternatived to a bachelor's degree.


- The labor certification must require less than 2 years training or experience.

- You should demonstrate that you have actually satisfied any requirements defined on the labor certification.


Immigrant Petition Process

Third choice petitions are submitted using Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers. For info on required supporting paperwork and filing costs, see the Form I-140 website (that includes the Form I-140 directions and details about filing costs) and the Petition Filing and Processing Procedures for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers web page.