Beneficiary

In plain terms: the beneficiary is the foreign worker your company is sponsoring. They’re called the beneficiary because they benefit from the petition the employer files.

The beneficiary’s name, date of birth, country of birth and work history appear on the PERM application and the I-140 petition. The beneficiary doesn’t file the employer’s petitions, but they complete their own green card application at the end of the process.

What it means for you: each worker you sponsor is a separate beneficiary with their own case. An employer that sponsors ten workers has ten beneficiaries, and the government looks at its ability to pay all of them.

Derivative beneficiaries

In plain terms: derivative beneficiaries are the sponsored worker’s spouse and unmarried children under 21, who can get green cards through the same EB-3 case.

They don’t need their own job offer, PERM application or I-140 petition. They apply for their green cards alongside the worker at the end of the process, either in the U.S. (adjustment of status) or at a U.S. consulate abroad (consular processing). A child who turns 21 during the process can still qualify under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) if their age, reduced by the time the I-140 petition was pending with USCIS, is under 21 when a green card becomes available, and the child applies within one year of that date.

What it means for you: a worker can usually bring their immediate family. The wage and ability-to-pay requirements apply only to the sponsored worker, not to family members.