EB-3 Green Card for a Chef: Stages, Cost and What You Sign Up For

EB-3 is the usual green card route for a chef: no fame and no Japanese ownership required, but a slow, paper-heavy process with strict recruitment rules. The four stages are prevailing wage, recruitment, PERM labor certification, then the I-140 and the wait for a current priority date. Filing fees alone run about $1,315 to $4,280; advertising, counsel and translation add more and must be quoted. On September 2026 numbers, plan for three years or more from starting the prevailing wage request to the chef holding a green card.

1. Why EB-3, and which line: skilled worker or other worker

EB-2 and EB-1 generally need an advanced degree or extraordinary ability, which few chefs can document, leaving EB-3 as the working route for most kitchen hires. Two EB-3 subcategories matter here, and the job description you write decides which one your chef lands in:

2. The four stages at a glance

3. Stage 1: prevailing wage determination

You ask the Department of Labor what the minimum wage is for the job in the area of intended employment, from wage survey data (or a collective bargaining agreement if one covers the job), then offer at least that. As of 31 August 2026, DOL's FLAG page showed the center working on PERM prevailing wage requests received in May 2026: plan for three to four months. Which SOC code and wage level your chef's job is assigned, and how job requirements move that level, is the subject of US prevailing wage for chefs; do not skip that step, since it decides the number this whole case is built on.

A proposed DOL rule from 27 March 2026 would raise the four PERM wage levels; it remained a proposal as of September 2026. If it is finalized before your determination issues, the required wage would rise. It does not affect H-2B.

4. Stage 2: recruitment

This is where restaurants make avoidable mistakes. The recruitment rules in 20 CFR 656.17 depend on whether the job is "professional" (normally requiring a bachelor's degree) or not; most chef roles are nonprofessional, meaning a shorter mandatory list.

Mandatory steps for a nonprofessional role

1. A job order with the State Workforce Agency serving the area, open for 30 days.
2. Two newspaper advertisements on two different Sundays in the newspaper of general circulation most appropriate to the job and the likely applicants.
3. A notice of filing posted at the workplace for at least 10 consecutive business days, in a conspicuous place employees pass (or sent to the union if one represents the occupation).

The job order and ads must run at least 30 days, and no more than 180 days, before filing; the 30-day gap gives US applicants time to respond, so you cannot recruit and file in the same week. Every applicant must be considered in good faith; if a US worker meeting the stated minimum requirements applies, the job cannot be certified. Keep a clean record of who applied, how you contacted them and why anyone was rejected — DOL can audit, and a sloppy file is the most common reason good cases fail. Requirements such as specific technique experience can be legitimate for a Japanese chef role if they reflect what the job actually needs; a foreign language requirement must be justified by business necessity.

5. Stage 3: PERM filing and the I-140

Once recruitment is complete, you file the labor certification (ETA-9089). The filing date becomes the chef's priority date, their place in the green card queue. Processing is the slowest stage you control least: DOL's FLAG page, as of 22 September 2026, reported analyst review working on applications with a December 2025 priority date, averaging 336 calendar days in August 2026. Audited cases take longer. An approved labor certification is valid for 180 days; file the I-140 within that window or start over.

• I-140 filing fee: $715, plus the Asylum Program Fee of $600 ($300 for employers with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees; none for nonprofits).
• Premium processing: $2,965 since 1 March 2026, a 15 business day decision for EB-3.
• Ability to pay: you must show you can pay the offered wage from the priority date until the green card issues, using annual reports, federal tax returns or audited financial statements. A restaurant showing a loss needs to think about this before starting, not after.

6. Stage 4: waiting for a current priority date

Green cards in each category are capped, so applicants queue by priority date against the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin cut-offs. Japan has no separate column, so Japanese chefs queue under "all chargeability areas." The September 2026 bulletin (the most recent published) puts the final action date at 1 September 2024 for skilled workers and 1 April 2022 for other workers (section 1 table). When the date is current, a chef in Japan goes through consular processing (the National Visa Center, then an interview at the US Embassy or Consulate); a chef already in the US in valid status may instead apply to adjust status with USCIS. How fast the cut-off has moved, and a worked calendar from a given start date, are on the green card timeline for chefs; do not build your own projection from a single month's bulletin, since a single snapshot does not show the trend.

7. All-in employer cost

Filing fees are the smallest, most certain part of an EB-3 case. The larger, unpublished costs are advertising, counsel and translation, and they recur if PERM has to be refiled.

None of this includes the chef's salary itself, which must be at least the prevailing wage; see US prevailing wage for chefs for the figure and the cost of sponsoring a chef from abroad for a total that includes salary and on-costs across US routes.

8. The retention question

A green card is not tied to the sponsoring employer once issued: the chef is free to leave for any job, anywhere, the day it arrives. Plan around two points. Portability comes earlier than the card: once an I-485 adjustment application has been pending 180 days, the chef can generally move to a same or similar job with a new employer without restarting the case (INA 204(j)), so your leverage narrows well before approval. You cannot condition sponsorship on repayment or a fixed stay; the regulations bar shifting PERM costs to the worker. What works instead: a written employment agreement on pay, role and review dates regardless of immigration status, treating the sponsorship itself as the retention tool. See retaining Japanese chefs.

9. What the employer is signing up for

• Paying at least the prevailing wage once the chef becomes a permanent resident in the job.
• Showing ability to pay from the priority date onward.
• Running a genuine recruitment and keeping records for possible audit.
• A real, full-time, permanent job. EB-3 is not available for seasonal or temporary work.
• Costs that cannot be passed to the worker, including attorney and recruitment fees.
• A multi-year commitment with no guarantee the chef stays once the card is issued.

For the full comparison of US routes, including how to bridge the wait, see US visa options for restaurants.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. PERM is technical and audit-prone; use an experienced US immigration attorney.