The U.S. EB-3 is an immigration program meant for unskilled workers that want to be Permanent Residents in the USA. The program has no age, language proof, education, or net worth prerequisites. Also, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 can be included in the EB-3 application and become permanent residents of the USA too.

EB-3 is the best immigration option for unskilled workers that want to live in the USA. Differently from other U.S. visas for workers, like J1, H1B, H2B, the EB-3 grants applicants with Permanent Residents in the USA.
EB-3 is also an employment-based preference green card. This green card is third preference. The EB-3 is for an individual who either has a bachelor’s degree, is a skilled worker with at least two years experience in the relevant field or who is an unskilled worker.

The EB-3 has fewer requirements in comparison to the EB-1 and EB-2. The EB-1 accepts foreign nationals with ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; professors and researchers; or certain multinational managers and executives. While the EB-2 accepts foreign nationals who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or who have an ability (including requests for national interest waivers).

U.S. EB-3 requirements
The EB-3 program has very few requirements. Such as, candidates must have a permanent valid job offer. Also, they must able to perform an unskilled labor (required less than 2 years training or experience). And the job position cannot be temporary or seasonal. Finally, candidates should acquire a Labor Certification from the Department of Labor (Form ETA-9089).

The processing time can vary according to nationality. Overall, you can expect your EB3 processing time to be about a year and a half to two years. Due to the per-country quotas of US government, there are long delays for nationals of China, and India. As such, employers are not willing to take candidates of these nationalities which is an advantage to African applicants.

There are the basic three stages of getting an employment-based green card (EB2 and EB3) in the US:
Stage 1: PERM/Labor Certification Stage
PERM stands for “Program for Electronic Review Management” and is the process where your employer shows proof that you (a foreign worker) are not taking away jobs qualified US workers. This green card step can be done by showing proof, such as a newspaper advertisement, that the employer was unsuccessful in recruiting a qualified U.S. worker for the position.

The employer must also show that they will be paying at least the prevailing wage for the work in the area of intended employment. Meaning,that the immigrant the employer plans to hire is not receiving a smaller wage than what is typical of the job in the area.

Within this stage, there are three steps with varying processing times.

Finalization of Job Description: 1 to 3 months
Prevailing Wage Determination: 3 to 5 months
PERM Labor Certification Approval: 2 to 8 months
Therefore, this entire process can take anywhere from 6 to 16 months in total.

Stage 2: I-140 Immigration Petition
The I-140 Petition serves two purposes,
• Verifies that the job requirements on the PERM application are met by the green card applicant
• Verifies that the employer is able to pay the offered wages to the employee.
It is important to note that filing an I-140 petition requires a $700 filing fee for regular processing or $1,225 for premium processing.

The USCIS processing time for an I-140 petition depends on whether your employer chose regular or premium processing. Regular processing can take 6 to 9 months, whereas premium processing only takes up to 15 days. Fortunately, most employers choose premium processing for this stage.
To know the exact processing time for your I-140 Immigration Petition, you can visit the USCIS Processing Time Homepage.

Stage 3: I-485 Application to Adjust Status
After the PERM/Labor Certification and your I-140 petition have been approved by the USCIS, the last step is completing the actual green card application!
Unfortunately, since there are only a certain number of green cards available per category and per country, this process is often the longest for applicants. There are current applicants who have been waiting for over 10 years for their 1-485 application to be processed by the USCIS.

However, once your I-485 application has been processed and approved, you’re done! You will receive a stamp on your passport and the long-awaited card granting you permanent residence in the United States.

I-140 Processing Time 2018
The I-140 is your immigration petition. With the I-140 the PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) labour certification job requirements and the employer’s ability to pay the offered wage to the employee, is verified.

All EB green cards require a Form I-140. The processing time of this form usually takes around 6 months, but largely depends on the service center. Most service centers will give you an estimate but remember these are just estimates. The USCIS offers a premium processing service for Form I-140 which brings the processing time down to 15 calendar days. Premium processing comes at a fee of $1,225.

For more information you can follow the link below;

https://www.mercan.com/permanent-residency-usa-eb3/