How Long Does a Chef's EB-3 Green Card Take? Timeline Math

Restaurant owners who sponsor a chef for a green card usually ask one question: when will the chef actually have it? The honest answer is a range, and this guide shows how to calculate it from the Department of Labor's processing data and the State Department's Visa Bulletin, as published by September 2026. It does not repeat how each EB-3 stage works; that is covered in EB-3 green card: sponsoring a chef.

1. The two clocks in an EB-3 case

An EB-3 case runs on two separate clocks, and most planning mistakes come from adding them together wrongly.

• Clock one is processing. Prevailing wage, recruitment, the PERM labor certification and the I-140 petition. The Department of Labor and USCIS control the pace.
• Clock two is the queue. The chef's place in line is the priority date, which is the date the PERM application is filed. A green card can only be issued when that date is earlier than the cut-off in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

The queue clock starts when PERM is filed, not when it is approved. So the time spent waiting for a PERM decision also counts as time in line. That overlap is the key to the arithmetic below.

2. Clock one: from first filing to priority date

Before a priority date exists, two steps must finish. Figures are from DOL's FLAG processing times page, updated to 31 August 2026:

After filing, the PERM itself is still being processed. DOL's analyst review was working on applications with November 2025 priority dates, and reported an average of 336 calendar days for decisions in August 2026. Audited cases were at December 2025 priority dates. Once certified, you have 180 days to file the I-140, and premium processing ($2,965 since 1 March 2026) gives a decision within 15 business days.

3. Clock two: where the queue stands

Japan does not have its own column in the Visa Bulletin, so Japanese chefs queue under "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed". The September 2026 bulletin:

The final action date is the one that decides when a green card can be issued. The date for filing lets applicants start document collection earlier and, in months when USCIS says so, file for adjustment of status inside the US. Which chart USCIS accepts for adjustment filings is announced each month.

Which line your chef is in depends on the job you certify. A role requiring at least two years of training or experience goes in the skilled worker line; a role requiring less goes in "other workers", which is much slower. The October 2026 bulletin, the first of fiscal year 2027, had not been published when this guide was written.

4. How fast the line has moved

A single bulletin tells you where the cut-off is today. To estimate the wait, look at how far behind the calendar it runs and how fast it has moved. EB-3 final action dates for all chargeability areas:

What this shows:

• Skilled workers: between September 2025 and September 2026 the cut-off moved forward 17 months in 12 calendar months. The gap narrowed from about 29 months to about 24.
• September figures can mislead. The September 2024 bulletin reflected a retrogression, because issuances were approaching the annual limit near the end of the fiscal year. The State Department's September 2026 bulletin again warns that it may need to retrogress EB-3 dates or make the category unavailable before the year ends.
• Other workers: the cut-off moved about 9 months in the year to September 2026 and still sits more than four years behind. At that pace, the wait gets longer each year rather than shorter.

For FY2026 the bulletin gives the worldwide employment-based limit as 186,317 and the per-country limit as 28,862. These totals are reset each fiscal year from 1 October.

5. A worked example starting in October 2026

A restaurant decides in October 2026 to sponsor its head chef under EB-3 skilled workers. Using the published processing figures and assuming no audit:

On these assumptions, the chef would receive a green card roughly two and a half to three years after the restaurant starts. Three variables move that figure:

• The bulletin. If the cut-off keeps advancing faster than the calendar, as it did in the year to September 2026, the wait after the I-140 shrinks and could disappear. If it retrogresses, it grows.
• An audit. Audited PERM cases take longer; DOL was reviewing audits with December 2025 priority dates in August 2026.
• The wage. DOL's proposed rule of 27 March 2026 would raise PERM prevailing wage levels. It was still a proposal in September 2026, but if finalised before your determination is issued, the required wage would rise.

The same case in the other workers line would share the processing timeline but face a cut-off more than four years behind. On September 2026 numbers, that means a priority date of April 2027 would not be expected to become current until the 2030s.

6. Planning around the wait

• Bridge with a temporary status. The chef needs to be in the kitchen during the green card wait. The usual bridges are the E-2 visa for Japanese-owned businesses and the O-1B for chefs with documented distinction. Compare them in US visa options for restaurants.
• Start earlier than feels necessary. Because the queue clock starts at PERM filing, every month you delay the prevailing wage request is a month added at the end.
• Watch the 180-day window. A certified PERM expires if the I-140 is not filed within 180 days. Put the date in the calendar.
• Budget for ability to pay. You must show you can pay the offered wage from the priority date until the green card is issued. In the example above, that is about two years of tax returns or financial statements.
• Check the bulletin monthly. Especially in August and September, and again in October when the new fiscal year's dates appear.

For how the wage figure is set, see US prevailing wage for chefs.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Visa Bulletin dates and processing times change monthly, and the projections here are estimates, not predictions. Use an experienced US immigration attorney for any PERM case.