Form I-140

In plain terms: Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, is the petition the employer files with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) after the PERM is certified, asking USCIS to approve the worker for the EB-3 category.

The PERM shows DOL that U.S. workers weren’t available. The I-140 is the next step: it shows USCIS that the employer can pay the offered wage and that the worker meets the job’s requirements.

What it means for you: the employer provides financial documents, such as federal tax returns, and confirms the job details haven’t changed. Once the I-140 is approved, the worker’s priority date is locked in. If the priority date is already current in the Visa Bulletin, the case moves straight to the green card step; if not, it waits until the date becomes current.

Premium processing

In plain terms: premium processing is an optional USCIS service that guarantees a faster decision on the I-140 petition in exchange for an extra fee.

USCIS commits to acting on the petition within a set number of days, either by deciding it or by issuing a Request for Evidence. Premium processing speeds up only the I-140 decision. It doesn’t shorten the Visa Bulletin wait, so it doesn’t make the green card arrive sooner when the worker’s priority date isn’t current.

Request for Evidence (RFE)

In plain terms: a Request for Evidence is a notice from USCIS asking the employer for more documents before it decides the I-140 petition.

The RFE explains what’s missing or unclear and sets a deadline to respond, and the case pauses until USCIS receives the response. An RFE isn’t a denial, but a missing or weak response can lead to one. An RFE is answered with documents, most often federal tax returns.

Common I-140 RFEs for EB-3 employers:

• Ability to pay: USCIS asks for more proof that the employer can pay the offered wage from the priority date onward, such as more recent tax returns or other financial records.
• Multiple beneficiaries: when the employer has sponsored more than one worker, USCIS may ask it to show it can pay the offered wage to every sponsored worker, not just the one on this petition, from each worker’s priority date.
• List of other I-140s: USCIS may ask for a list of all I-140 petitions the employer filed in the past five years, with details for each worker such as name, receipt number, priority date, offered wage and current status.