USA
The price of an EB-2 or EB-3 green card.
An EB-2 or EB-3 green card costs one person about $13,400 to $20,600 in 2026, attorney fees and job ads included.
The first stage is PERM labor certification. In this stage, the Department of Labor checks whether any US worker is available for the job. It costs about $7,000 to $9,500, and a federal rule makes your employer pay it.
The next two stages are the I-140 petition, which your employer files with USCIS, and your green card application. Together they cost about $6,400 to $11,100, and you or your employer can pay them.
EB-2 and EB-3 visa fees at a glance.
The table lists the government fees and the job ads in the order they come due, with who may pay each one. USCIS takes its fees by card or from a US bank account. It no longer accepts checks or money orders for paper filings unless the filer qualifies for an exemption.
| Fee | Amount | Who may pay |
|---|---|---|
| Job ads for PERM | About $2,000 to $4,500 | Your employer only, by law |
| I-140 filing fee | $715 | You or your employer |
| Asylum Program Fee | $600, or $300 for 25 or fewer employees, $0 for nonprofits | You or your employer |
| Premium processing, optional | $2,965 | You or your employer |
| I-485, filed in the US | $1,440, or $950 for a child under 14 | You or your employer |
| Work and travel permits, optional | $260 for work, $630 for travel | You or your employer |
| Consular fees, abroad | $580 per person | You or your employer |
Paper filing fees from the USCIS fee schedule (edition 10/16/26) and the State Department’s schedule, checked October 26, 2026. Filing online costs $50 less for the I-140, the I-485 and the travel permit. The job-ad estimate is an imigOS figure. Confirm the government fees again before you file.
EB-2 and EB-3 cost calculator.
The calculator adds up your own case, stage by stage. Choose where you’ll apply for the green card, set the employer’s size and your family, then add premium processing and any permits.
It prices the legal work at the imigOS flat fee. A licensed immigration attorney on imigOS takes an EB-2 or EB-3 case from PERM to the green card for $9,500 for one person, agreed before you commit. That is $5,000 for PERM, $2,500 for the I-140 and $2,000 for the green card, plus $1,000 for each family member. The I-140 fee includes every reply to a request for evidence, and the pricing page explains how imigOS fees work.
PERM fees: no government filing fee for the labor certification.
The Department of Labor charges nothing to file a PERM. It also charges nothing for the prevailing wage request, the step where it sets the minimum salary for the job. The employer’s PERM costs are the attorney fee and the job ads.
PERM recruitment fees: about $2,000 to $4,500 in job ads.
Before filing the PERM, the employer has to advertise the job and look for US workers. This recruitment includes a job order with the state workforce agency and two Sunday newspaper ads. A professional job, one that usually requires a bachelor’s degree, needs three more steps, such as a job fair or a job search website.
Newspapers and job sites set their own prices, and imigOS estimates the ads at about $2,000 to $4,500.
How much are EB-2 and EB-3 attorney fees?
In practice, attorney fees for an EB-2 or EB-3 case start at about $8,000 for one person and can reach about $15,000. Lawyers usually quote them stage by stage:
- PERM: about $4,500 to $8,000, paid by your employer. The lawyer requests the job’s minimum salary from the Department of Labor, runs the recruitment and files the PERM application. The job ads are a separate cost.
- I-140: about $2,000 to $4,000, paid by you or your employer. The lawyer prepares the petition and the proof that you qualify and that the employer can pay the salary.
- Green card: about $1,500 to $2,500 for you, plus about $1,000 for each family member, paid by you or your employer. The lawyer prepares the green card applications.
An audit of the PERM, or a reply to a USCIS request for more evidence on the I-140, can cost extra, so ask whether a quote covers them.
PERM costs your employer must pay, and the ones you may pay yourself.
Your employer must pay the PERM costs, the attorney fee and the job ads. The Department of Labor made this a legal duty in 2007, as part of a rule against PERM fraud. This applies even when you offer to pay.
The ban covers any payment for PERM, with one exception.
The ruleAn employer must not seek or receive payment of any kind for any activity related to obtaining permanent labor certification, including payment of the employer’s attorneys’ fees…
20 CFR 656.12(b)
The Department of Labor counts every cost of getting the PERM approved: the job ads, the lawyer’s work and anything else spent on preparing or filing it.
Payment doesn’t have to be cash. A lower salary in return for the sponsorship counts, and so do deductions from your pay or benefits. Unpaid extra work, goods or services, and a job-ad bill you settle yourself count too.
You also can’t pay the employer’s lawyer directly or pay the employer back later. A contract that makes you repay PERM costs if you leave early breaks the rule, even if you signed it willingly.
The rule has one exception. A company or person that already does business with the employer, and that benefits from your work in the job, may pay PERM costs. That business relationship has to exist before the PERM starts.
For example, a doctor might split the week between a Veterans Affairs hospital and a university. The hospital files the PERM, and the university pays the hospital its share of the costs. The exception never lets you pay, even through another company.
You can still pay your own costs. For example, you can hire a lawyer of your own to review the PERM, while the employer’s lawyer prepares and files it.
If you and your employer use the same lawyer, the employer pays for all of that lawyer’s PERM work. The employer may also pay for your own lawyer if it wants to.
The PERM form asks the employer whether it received any payment for the application, and a yes needs a written explanation. If a payment is found later, the PERM can be denied or revoked. The employer, its lawyer or its agent can also be barred from the PERM program for up to three years.
The PERM rule covers only the labor certification. No federal rule says who pays the I-140 or the green card fees, so you and the employer can split them however you agree.
I-140 filing fee for EB-2 and EB-3: $715, or $665 online.
Filing the I-140 costs $715 on paper or $665 online. The I-140 is the petition the employer files with USCIS after the PERM is approved. In it, the employer shows that you meet the job’s requirements and that it can pay the salary. This is the first fee in the case that you’re allowed to pay.
Filing online saves $50. But if the employer asks for premium processing at the same time, it has to file the I-140 on paper, and the fee is $715.
The I-140 also carries the Asylum Program Fee, an extra USCIS charge on petitions that employers file. The standard rate is $600. An employer with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees in the US pays $300, and a nonprofit pays nothing. USCIS counts employees across the whole company, including its affiliates and subsidiaries, so a small US office of a larger group pays $600. Filing online does not lower the fee.
Green card fees: $1,440 to adjust status, or $580 at a consulate.
Green card fees depend on where you apply. Inside the US, you file an I-485 to adjust status, which means getting the green card without leaving the country. Abroad, you apply for an immigrant visa at a US consulate.
The I-485 costs $1,440 on paper or $1,390 online for anyone 14 or older. A child under 14 filing with a parent pays $950 on paper or $900 online. The biometrics appointment, where USCIS takes your fingerprints and photo, is included.
The I-485 fee doesn’t include a work permit or a travel permit. Since April 2024, each is a separate, optional application. While the I-485 is pending, a work permit costs $260, and a travel permit costs $630 on paper or $580 online. Each family member who wants one pays for their own.
Every I-485 applicant also needs a medical exam from a civil surgeon, a doctor USCIS has approved for immigration exams. USCIS charges nothing for the exam report, Form I-693, and each civil surgeon sets their own price.
If you apply at a consulate, each person pays the State Department $345 for the immigrant visa. Later, each person also pays USCIS the $235 Immigrant Fee, which pays for making the green card. Abroad, a panel physician, a doctor the State Department approves, does the medical exam.
EB-2 and EB-3 cost for a spouse and children.
If you have a spouse or unmarried children under 21, they can get green cards through your case. They do not need their own PERM or I-140, so those stages cost the same for a family as for one person. Their green card applications are separate, though, so each person pays the green card fees.
For example, a family of four applying inside the US pays $6,585 in government fees:
- $1,315 for the I-140 and its Asylum Program Fee, paid once for the whole family
- $4,320 for three I-485s at the full rate, for you, your spouse and a 16-year-old
- $950 for a nine-year-old’s I-485 at the child rate
Work permits for the two adults would add $520, and travel permits for all four would add $2,520. These are paper fees for a large employer without premium processing, and medical exams and attorney fees come on top.
Second I-140 cost when you move between EB-2 and EB-3.
Switching between EB-2 and EB-3 costs a new I-140 fee and a new Asylum Program Fee. The employer reuses the approved PERM, so there is no new recruitment and no new PERM cost.
Switching helps when the other category has a shorter wait for people born in your country. It is possible only when the job qualifies for both categories. The employer files the second I-140 with a copy of the same PERM, and you keep your original priority date.
If your I-485 is already pending, you don’t file a new one or pay a new I-485 fee. You ask USCIS in writing to move it to the new petition, with a new Form I-485 Supplement J, which confirms the job offer and costs nothing.
Total EB-2 or EB-3 cost: four example cases.
One person’s whole case costs about $13,400 to $20,600, and a family of four filing in the US pays about $21,100 to $23,600 before permits.
| Case | PERM stage | I-140 and green card | Whole case |
|---|---|---|---|
| One person, consulate | $7,000 to $9,500 | $6,395 | $13,395 to $15,895 |
| One person, US filing | $7,000 to $9,500 | $7,255 | $14,255 to $16,755 |
| Same, premium and permits | $7,000 to $9,500 | $11,110 | $18,110 to $20,610 |
| Family of four, US | $7,000 to $9,500 | $14,085 | $21,085 to $23,585 |
The attorney fees are the imigOS fees, and the job ads are the imigOS estimate of $2,000 to $4,500. The filing fees are paper fees for a large employer, and a small employer pays $300 less in Asylum Program Fee. US filing means an I-485, and permits means a work permit and a travel permit. The family is two adults, a 16-year-old and a nine-year-old, before permits.
Common questions
No. The Department of Labor’s rules set no filing fee for the prevailing wage request or the PERM application. The costs of PERM are the employer’s attorney fees and the recruitment ads, and 20 CFR 656.12(b) requires the employer to pay them rather than the worker.
No. An employer may not take payment for its PERM costs from the worker, and an agency that collects them from the worker is collecting for the employer. The rule’s one exception, a business partner that benefits from the worker’s job, never covers the worker. A breach can bring up to three years of debarment.
Yes. An employer can file the I-140 online and pay $50 less than the paper fee. A petition filed together with a premium processing request has to go by mail at the paper fee. The Asylum Program Fee is the same either way, because it has no online discount.
An employer that sponsors an EB-2 or EB-3 worker always pays the PERM stage: a $5,000 legal fee through imigOS and about $2,000 to $4,500 in job ads. Covering the I-140 as well brings the employer’s cost to about $10,800 to $13,300. Green card stage fees come on top if it pays those too.
Consular processing costs $580 per person in government fees. The State Department charges $345 for the immigrant visa application, and USCIS then charges the $235 Immigrant Fee to produce the green card. The panel physician’s medical exam is billed separately. Adjusting status inside the US instead starts at $1,440 for the I-485.
A worker who changes employers before the I-485 has been pending 180 days needs a new PERM and a new I-140 from the new employer. The new employer pays all of the new PERM costs, and the I-140 filing fee and the Asylum Program Fee are charged again.
Sources
- 20 CFR 656.12, Improper commerce and paymentElectronic Code of Federal Regulations
Show all 7 sourcesShow fewer sources
- Labor Certification for the Permanent Employment of Aliens in the United States; Reducing the Incentives and Opportunities for Fraud and Abuse and Enhancing Program Integrity, 72 FR 27904Federal Register · May 17, 2007
- 20 CFR 656.17, Basic labor certification processElectronic Code of Federal Regulations
- G-1055, Fee ScheduleU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · October 16, 2026
- How Do I Request Premium Processing?U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust StatusU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- 22 CFR 22.1, Schedule of feesElectronic Code of Federal Regulations
2–4 years
$12,000–$19,500
Guides