History Of The EB-3 Program

The History of the EB-3 Program: Where It Came From and How It Works Today

Most employers who come to LCI asking about EB-3 already know the basics. It is a path to sponsor a foreign worker for a green card. What fewer people know is where the program actually came from and why it is built the way it is today. Understanding that history helps explain some of the quirks employers run into during the process, particularly the waiting periods that catch so many people off guard.

Before EB-3, There Was a Different System

Long before the category was called EB-3, U.S. immigration law already had a framework for admitting workers based on employment need. Earlier preference categories under the Immigration and Nationality Act included a track for professionals, scientists, and artists of exceptional ability, and a separate track for skilled or unskilled workers where a genuine shortage of qualified U.S. workers existed. These earlier categories laid the groundwork for what employment-based immigration eventually became, but the system was reorganized and modernized as pressure grew to better balance family-based and employment-based immigration.

The Immigration Act of 1990 Created the Program We Know Today

The turning point came with the Immigration Act of 1990. This legislation restructured employment-based immigration into the five preference categories still used today: EB-1 for priority workers with extraordinary ability, EB-2 for professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability, EB-3 for skilled workers, professionals, and other workers, EB-4 for special immigrant categories, and EB-5 for immigrant investors.

EB-3 was allocated roughly 28.6 percent of the 140,000 total employment-based visas issued annually, which works out to approximately 40,000 EB-3 visas available each year. That structure has remained largely intact for over three decades. (Congressional Research Service, U.S. Employment-Based Immigration Policy)

The Three Subcategories, From the Start

EB-3 has always been divided into three distinct groups, and understanding which one applies matters for how a case gets built.

Skilled workers are those whose job requires at least two years of training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature. Relevant post-secondary education can sometimes count toward that experience requirement.

Professionals are those whose job requires at least a U.S. bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent, and who hold that degree themselves.

Other workers, sometimes referred to as unskilled workers, are those performing labor that requires less than two years of training or experience. This subcategory has historically carried the longest backlogs of the three, since demand consistently outpaces the limited number of visas set aside for it. (USCIS, Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3)

Why the Per-Country Limit Matters So Much

One of the most consequential design decisions baked into the EB-3 program from 1990 forward is the per-country limit. No single country of origin can receive more than 7 percent of the total employment-based visas issued in a given year. For countries with enormous demand, most notably India and China, this creates backlogs that can stretch on for years, since demand from those countries alone often exceeds what the 7 percent cap allows for annually. (Congressional Research Service, U.S. Employment-Based Immigration Policy)

This per-country cap is the single biggest reason two applicants filing on the exact same day, for the exact same type of role, can end up with dramatically different wait times depending purely on their country of birth.

The Process Has Stayed Consistent for Decades

Since 1990, the basic mechanics of EB-3 sponsorship have remained fairly stable. An employer must first obtain a labor certification through the Department of Labor's PERM process, demonstrating that no qualified U.S. worker is available for the position. Once certified, the employer files Form I-140, the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with USCIS. If approved, the worker's place in line for an actual green card is then governed by their priority date and their country of chargeability, tracked through the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin. (USCIS, Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3)

That structure, PERM certification, then I-140, then a wait governed by priority date, is the same basic sequence LCI guides employers through today.

What This History Means for Employers Today

Knowing where EB-3 came from helps explain why the program works the way it does. It was designed in 1990 as a fixed-percentage allocation within a much larger, capped system, not as an on-demand visa that scales with employer need. That design has held for over three decades, and it means the per-country backlogs employers encounter today are not a new problem or a sign something is broken. They are a structural feature of how the program has worked since its creation.

For employers considering EB-3 sponsorship, this history is a useful reminder that timing matters enormously. A priority date only begins once a petition is actually filed, and given how the per-country limits work, starting that process sooner rather than later can meaningfully affect how long the full journey to a green card takes.

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