EB-3 Visa for Nurses: Schedule A Green Card for Registered Nurses

The EB-3 green card process typically requires an employer to run a full PERM labor certification: a five to six month wait for the prevailing wage determination, followed by regulated newspaper advertising, state workforce agency job postings, a mandatory quiet period, and then a 500+ day wait for DOL review of the ETA-9089. The entire PERM phase can take two or more years before a single USCIS petition is filed.

Registered nurses and physical therapists don't have to go through any of that.

The Department of Labor has designated certain healthcare occupations as "Schedule A" — pre-certified occupations where the DOL has already determined that there are not sufficient U.S. workers available and that hiring foreign nationals won't adversely affect wages or working conditions. For these occupations, the standard PERM recruitment and certification process is bypassed entirely.

What Schedule A Is and Why It Exists

Schedule A (governed by 20 CFR §656.15) is a list of occupations the DOL has pre-certified as experiencing chronic shortages of qualified U.S. workers. By declaring these occupations pre-certified, the DOL eliminates the need for employers to individually prove that no qualified U.S. worker is available — the DOL has already made that determination at the category level.

Group I of Schedule A includes:

• Registered Nurses (RNs)
• Physical Therapists

Group II of Schedule A covers individuals of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts (a separate provision not relevant to healthcare workers).

The significance for nurses is substantial: skipping the PERM phase removes 12 to 18+ months from the standard EB-3 timeline during the DOL processing phase alone, not counting the months of recruitment and prevailing wage determination that precede PERM filing.

Who Qualifies as a Schedule A Nurse

To petition as a Schedule A Registered Nurse, the foreign national must satisfy at least one of the following credential requirements:

Option 1: CGFNS Certificate Hold a full Certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). The CGFNS evaluates foreign nursing credentials, administers a qualifying examination on nursing theory and English proficiency, and issues a certificate to nurses who pass. This certificate is accepted as evidence of meeting U.S. RN competency standards.

Option 2: NCLEX-RN Pass Have passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). This is the same exam U.S.-trained nurses take to become licensed. A foreign nurse who takes and passes the NCLEX-RN satisfies the credential requirement independently of the CGFNS certificate.

Option 3: Full State License Hold a full, unrestricted license to practice as a registered nurse in the state of intended employment in the United States.

For Physical Therapists, the credential requirement is a positive evaluation from the Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT) — an organization that evaluates foreign physical therapy credentials against U.S. standards.

Most international nurses pursuing U.S. employment work toward NCLEX-RN passage as their primary credential path. Passing the NCLEX demonstrates clinical competency recognized by all U.S. state nursing boards and satisfies the Schedule A credential requirement without needing the separate CGFNS process.

How the Schedule A Filing Process Works

Without Schedule A: Employer obtains PWD → runs recruitment → files ETA-9089 → waits 500+ days for DOL certification → files I-140 with USCIS.

With Schedule A: Employer files an uncertified ETA-9089 directly with USCIS alongside the I-140 petition. There is no DOL submission. USCIS adjudicates both the petition and the labor certification elements together.

The ETA-9089 for Schedule A cases is filed in an uncertified state — meaning the DOL has not reviewed it. Instead, the employer includes evidence of Schedule A eligibility (the nurse's credential documentation — CGFNS certificate, NCLEX pass, or state license) within the USCIS I-140 petition package. USCIS evaluates whether the occupation qualifies for Schedule A and whether the nurse holds the required credentials, then adjudicates the I-140.

The employer must also comply with two procedural requirements that substitute for the standard recruitment:

• Notice of Filing: Must be posted at the worksite for 10 consecutive business days, and a copy must be served to the bargaining representative (if the workplace has a union) or posted where employees can readily read it.
• Documentation of Credentials: The nurse's CGFNS certificate, NCLEX results, or state license must be included in the I-140 package.

Critically, the employer does not need to run newspaper advertisements, place SWA job orders, conduct additional professional recruitment steps, or wait for a prevailing wage determination before filing. The recruitment requirement is replaced by the Schedule A pre-certification and the Notice of Filing.

Timeline Comparison: Schedule A vs. Standard PERM

For a nurse processing through a standard (non-Schedule A) EB-3 path — which is sometimes used when the nurse holds an occupation title that doesn't squarely fit the RN Schedule A definition — the timeline might look like:

• PWD wait: 5–6 months
• Recruitment period: 3–4 months
• PERM DOL review: 12–16 months (non-audited)
• I-140: 8 months (standard) or 15 days (premium)
• Total before visa number wait: 28–34 months

For Schedule A:

• No PWD required
• No recruitment period
• No DOL review
• I-140 with Schedule A: 8 months (standard) or 15 days (premium)
• Total before visa number wait: 8 months (or 15 days with premium)

The difference is roughly 20 to 26 months — two full years of processing time — before the visa number availability wait even begins.

Visa Number Availability for Nurses

Schedule A bypasses the PERM process, but it does not bypass the per-country visa cap. Nurses from India and China face the same EB-3 priority date backlogs as other EB-3 applicants once the I-140 is filed. The Schedule A benefit is in the processing phase, not the queue.

For nurses from the Philippines — historically a major source of U.S. healthcare immigration — there is a moderate backlog but it is significantly shorter than India's. For nurses from most other countries (Mexico, Korea, Jamaica, Canada, the UK, Africa), the Rest of World EB-3 date is typically current or close to it, meaning Schedule A nurses from these countries can potentially go from I-140 filing to I-485 approval within 12 to 18 months total.

Maintaining Credentials During the Wait

One practical concern for nurses in the EB-3 pipeline: professional credentials have expiration dates. State nursing licenses must be renewed periodically, and in some states, require documented continuing education. If your state license lapses during the years-long wait, it may affect your Schedule A eligibility and require re-credentialing before your case can proceed.

Maintain your professional licenses continuously throughout the green card process. Track renewal dates for CGFNS certificates (if applicable) and state licenses, and plan renewals well in advance of expiration.

Healthcare Workers Not on Schedule A

Schedule A Group I covers only Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists. Other healthcare occupations — including Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), occupational therapists, medical technicians, physicians, and allied health professionals — do not qualify for Schedule A and must go through the standard PERM process.

Physicians may qualify for separate expedited pathways under the National Interest Waiver (NIW) or, in certain underserved area placements, under Conrad 30 waiver programs, but those are different categories entirely.

For eligible registered nurses and physical therapists, Schedule A is a genuinely significant advantage — cutting years off the pre-I-485 timeline and getting the petition filed faster. If you're a nurse considering U.S. employment-based immigration, understanding this pathway changes the calculus of how and when to pursue it.

Get the complete EB-3 Skilled Worker toolkit, including Schedule A documentation checklists, at /us/eb3-green-card/.