Labor Certification for Employment-Based Green Card Takes at Least 15 Months

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is currently reviewing labor certification applications for employment-based green cards filed before September 2023. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released its latest report on the processing time for permanent labor certification and prevailing wage determination applications.

As of February 1, 2025, the DOL is conducting analyst review of labor certification applications filed in or before September 2023. This means that obtaining labor certification now takes approximately one and a half years.

As of February 1, 2025, the DOL is also issuing prevailing wage determination requests filed in July 2024. Around 6,700 prevailing wage determination applications filed in July 2024 are still pending. The number of prevailing wage determination requests submitted between August and December 2024 has ranged between 12,000 and 13,000 per month, while in January 2025, a total of 15,590 applications were filed.

A significant number of Nepalis apply for employment-based green cards in the U.S. However, the processing time for third-preference (EB-3) employment-based green cards remains lengthy. Moreover, for this month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is not using the filing date from the visa bulletin for employment-based green cards, further increasing the waiting period for those applying within the U.S.

For February, USCIS is using the final action date from the visa bulletin for employment-based green card applications. In contrast, in January, USCIS had allowed applicants to file Form I-485 based on the visa bulletin’s filing date.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has not made any changes to the filing and final action dates for employment-based green cards in the February visa bulletin compared to January. The first-preference (EB-1) category remains current for both filing and immigrant visa issuance.

For February, individuals in the U.S. can file Form I-485 for EB-1 green cards alongside Form I-140, while those outside the U.S. can proceed without waiting, provided visas remain current. However, due to visa backlogs at U.S. embassies, applicants outside the U.S. face long wait times for immigrant visa interviews.

For the second-preference (EB-2) category, the priority date for filing Form I-485 was August 1, 2023, in January, but it has now retrogressed to April 1, 2023, in February. Applicants outside the U.S. with a priority date before April 1, 2023, may now proceed with visa interviews and obtain immigrant visas.

For third-preference (EB-3) applicants, those who filed labor certification before March 1, 2023, were able to submit Form I-485 with Form I-140 in January. However, in February, the filing date has retrogressed to December 1, 2022. Applicants who had labor certification filed and approved before December 1, 2022, can submit their I-485 applications in February. Similarly, those outside the U.S. who meet this cutoff may now proceed with visa interviews.

For unskilled workers under the EB-3 category, those who filed labor certification before December 8, 2020, can file Form I-485 in the U.S. or proceed with visa interviews abroad in February.