The EB-3 Visa Process for Nurses: A Facility Guide (2024)

International nurses bring a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to the way your facility delivers care. They help diversify your nursing workforce and connect with patients of multicultural backgrounds in an invaluable way.

Sponsoring a foreign-based nurse through an EB-3 visa can be a strategic investment in nurse retention, as it grants nurses permanent residence in the U.S. In this guide, we share how facilities can support foreign-trained nurses seeking employment visas.

What Is an EB-3 Visa for Nurses?

Employment-based immigration: third preference, or EB-3, is an immigration visa that allows nurses to be employed in the U.S. as permanent residents while working toward their citizenship. Under this process, healthcare employers sponsor nurses to obtain visas and become “green card” holders.

Each year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issues around 40,000 of these visas — and three-quarters of those are reserved for skilled and professional workers. To be eligible for this type of immigrant visa, a worker must be categorized as one of the following:

To sponsor an immigrant worker in any of the above categories, an employer must be able to prove there aren’t enough qualified workers in the U.S. available. The demand for nurses is a high priority due to consistent nursing shortages and high turnover rates, and the Department of Labor recognizes this. It classifies nursing as a Schedule A occupation, meaning there are not enough qualified workers in the U.S. able, willing, and available to meet the demand.

What’s the Hiring Process for Foreign Nurses?

Hiring foreign nurses can be an effective way to address nursing shortages in your facility. Because these nurses are seeking permanent residence, they’re more likely than temporary workers to offer longevity within your organization. International nurses may also require less on-the-job training than others (such as recent nursing school graduates) — but getting them into facilities requires overcoming some legal red tape. The good news is that as a healthcare employer, there are ways that you can facilitate the employment visa process.

Before we dig into visa requirements and the application process, it’s important to distinguish an EB-3 visa for caregivers from employment visas for temporary and permanent workers. If your facility is looking to hire contract or temporary nurses, then you may need to utilize the H-1B program, which grants visas for nonimmigrant aliens in specialty occupations for up to three years and, in some cases, up to a maximum of six years.

If you’re looking for longer-term support for your facility, then here’s an overview of the employment based visa application process covering the requirements for both employers and nurse professionals.

Labor Certification Process

The Department of Labor issues a permanent labor certification, also called a PERM, which allows employers to hire foreign workers for permanent work. To obtain a labor certification, employers must submit a Form ETA-9089. Filing this form is the employer’s responsibility, not the nurse’s. This step must be done before submitting an immigration petition to the USCIS. Labor certifications expire after 180 days from the date of certification.

EB-3 Application Process for Nurses

To begin the visa application, nurses must have a full-time offer and proof of labor certification. They must also be able to prove they qualify as a skilled or professional worker according to USCIS.

Every nurse must have a valid nursing license to practice in the U.S. Foreign nurses can get pre-screened through the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). The organization is approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to validate credentials for LPNs/LVNs, RNs, and other healthcare professionals. The screening process involves:

• Verifying nursing education and credentials from a nurse’s country of origin
• Taking a predictor exam that evaluates the likelihood of passing the NCLEX
• Evaluating English language proficiency

After getting screened, a nurse gets licensed in the U.S. by passing the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) in their state of practice. Individuals are responsible for contacting the State Board of Nursing to find out the requirements for internationally educated nurses.

EB-3 Application Process for Employers

Employers must file Form I-140, Immigration Petition for Alien Workers to ask USCIS to allow a noncitizen to gain citizenship based on employment. The form includes personal information about the immigrant worker including names of family members, Social Security numbers (if applicable), and addresses, so all of this information will be required from any foreign nurses applying to your organization.

You may want to advise employees to have an interpreter or immigration attorney present when completing an I-140, as USCIS rejects forms for many reasons like missing signatures or submitting outdated or expired forms. The EB-3 visa costs $700, and the I-140 form can be filed at any time. During the application process, employers must be able to demonstrate the ability to pay the prevailing wage. You can do this by presenting financial statements, annual reports, or federal tax income returns.

EB-3 Processing

After receiving a petition, USCIS begins processing the application. This begins with checking the application for completeness and collecting the fee. USCIS may request more information from the applicant at any time. They may also request to do an in-person interview or obtain biometrics for additional security or background checks.

EB-3 visa processing times vary based on individual situations. Once USCIS makes a decision about an applicant’s eligibility on form I-140, they submit their decision in writing.

Understanding Processing Times

To check the visa status of nurses waiting to file for employment-based preference, visit the State Department’s latest Visa Bulletin. This is where the Department provides updates on processing times for various immigration visas and specifically lists updates related to:

• Final action dates. When a Form I-140 is submitted, a “priority date” is issued which reflects when an individual has declared their intent to apply for residency — essentially marking their place in line. If a “priority date” comes before a published “Final Action Date” in a Visa Bulletin, then an individual’s visa is “current” and available. It’s possible for a Final Action Date to “retrogress” from one month to the next, meaning that it moves backward in time. This can sometimes cause individuals who are current one month to not be current in a subsequent month.

• Dates for filing. Individuals with current priority dates can move forward with the visa application process, but there is a cutoff. The monthly Visa Bulletins provide updated “Dates for Filing” which set deadlines to complete the application process.

The Visa Bulletins provide helpful timeframes for both foreign nurses and the facilities planning on hiring them. Get more tips on how to read a Visa Bulletin in this resource guide.

Latest From the State Department

Here are the latest updates on EB-3 visas from the State Department’s December 2024 Visa Bulletin:

Ethical Considerations

Healthcare employers who hire foreign nurses for EB-3 visa sponsorship jobs have an ethical responsibility to help immigrants gain legal employment in the U.S. The Alliance for Ethical International Recruitment Practices (also called “the Alliance”) created 10 guiding principles for hiring foreign-educated health professionals (FEHPs).

Recruiters and employers can choose to get certified to demonstrate a commitment to ethical hiring practices in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Alliance. The principles state that FEHPs have the same rights to ethical and professional treatment from recruiters and employers. As a healthcare employer, it’s important to protect the rights of any immigrant employees you hire. You can help protect their rights by:

• Ensuring a work environment that is free of any discrimination, retaliation, and abuse
• Providing transparency about the recruitment process.
• Having a clear understanding of the components of an employment contract and access to a lawyer for review.
• Communicating details about the location, shifts, and pay prior to the employment start date.
• Offering additional assistance during clinical orientation for linguistic and cultural training.
• Informing them that an employer may not use immigration status against them, such as for punitive reasons or threats.

Facilities sponsoring foreign nurses should also be considerate of nursing shortages in their countries of origin. If a nurse is leaving an area with critical needs, the receiving healthcare organization should consider a partnership called “twinning,” which allows American hospitals to donate resources and allow nurses to return to their country of origin periodically to work.

Build a Diverse Nursing Team With a Trusted Partner

Healthcare employers can facilitate nurses’ journeys from EB-3 visa to green card status by actively participating in the application process. To get more qualified and diversified nurses into your facility, consider a partnership with IntelyCare today.

Legal Disclaimer: This article contains general legal information, but it is not intended to constitute professional legal advice for any particular situation and should not be relied on as professional legal advice. Any references to the law may not be current as laws regularly change through updates in legislation, regulation, and case law at the federal and state level. Nothing in this article should be interpreted as creating an attorney-client relationship. If you have legal questions, you should seek the advice of an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.