How to Get a Green Card Through Employment in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide
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- September 2, 2026
How to Get a Green Card Through Employment in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide
The employment-based green card is one of the most misunderstood immigration pathways available to foreign nationals. Most people arrive at it with a fixed idea of what it involves, usually built around a single category they have heard of, an employer who has promised sponsorship, or a timeline someone quoted them years ago. The reality is that there are four separate categories, three government agencies involved at different stages, and a queue system that behaves very differently depending on where the applicant was born.
That last point is where most of the confusion begins. The widely reported waiting times of a decade or more apply to applicants born in a small number of high-demand countries. For applicants born in Italy and most of Europe, the picture is substantially different, and the practical limit is processing time rather than the visa queue. This guide walks through the four employment-based categories and who qualifies for each in 2026, the process from start to finish, how priority dates and processing times actually shape the timeline, the mistakes that most often cause delays, and the specific points Italian nationals should be aware of before filing.
The Four Employment-Based Categories, and Who Qualifies in 2026
Congress allocates a minimum of 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas each year, distributed across preference categories. Choosing the correct category is the single most consequential decision in the process, because it determines the evidence standard, whether an employer must sponsor the applicant, and whether the labor certification stage applies at all.
EB-1: Priority Workers
EB-1 is the first preference category and moves fastest, primarily because it skips the labor certification stage entirely. It contains three subcategories.
EB-1A covers individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. It requires evidence of sustained national or international acclaim, satisfied either through a one-time major international award or by meeting at least three of ten regulatory criteria. No employer sponsorship and no job offer are required, which means the applicant controls the filing timeline rather than the employer.
EB-1B covers outstanding professors and researchers with international recognition in a specific academic field, at least three years of experience, and an offer of a tenured, tenure-track, or comparable research position from a U.S. employer.
EB-1C covers multinational managers and executives. The applicant must have been employed abroad for at least one year in the three years preceding the petition, or, if the applicant is already in the United States in nonimmigrant status, in the three years preceding that entry. The foreign employer must be a parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch of the U.S. employer filing the petition. For Italian companies that have established a U.S. entity, this category is frequently the most direct route for the executive running that operation, and it is worth evaluating alongside the corporate structure rather than after it has been set.
EB-2: Advanced Degrees and the National Interest Waiver
EB-2 covers professionals holding an advanced degree, or a bachelor’s degree plus five years of progressive experience in the specialty, as well as individuals with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. In the standard EB-2 route, a U.S. employer sponsors the applicant and must complete PERM labor certification first.
The National Interest Waiver, commonly referred to as EB-2 NIW, is the exception that matters most in practice. It removes both the job offer requirement and the PERM stage where the applicant can satisfy the three-part standard established in Matter of Dhanasar: that the proposed endeavor has substantial merit and national importance, that the applicant is well positioned to advance it, and that on balance it would benefit the United States to waive the job offer and labor certification requirements. Researchers, physicians, engineers, founders, and specialists in fields tied to public health, infrastructure, or economic competitiveness are the most common EB-2 NIW candidates.
EB-3: Skilled Workers and Professionals
EB-3 covers professionals holding a U.S. bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent, skilled workers in positions requiring at least two years of training or experience, and other workers in positions requiring less than two years. All EB-3 filings require an employer sponsor and PERM labor certification.
EB-3 has drawn increased attention in 2026 as employers reassess the cost and availability of temporary work visa routes. For applicants whose credentials do not meet the EB-1 or EB-2 evidence standards, EB-3 remains a well-established path, provided the employer is prepared to commit to the labor certification process and the timeline that comes with it.
EB-5: The Immigrant Investor Category
EB-5 is available to investors who place capital at risk in a U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least ten full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the minimum investment in 2026 is $800,000 for a project in a Targeted Employment Area, meaning a rural area or an area with unemployment at least 150 percent of the national average, and $1,050,000 for projects outside a TEA.
Two dates make 2026 a significant year for anyone considering this route. Petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026 receive statutory grandfathering protection under the 2022 Act. Separately, the investment thresholds are scheduled for their first inflation adjustment on January 1, 2027, which is widely expected to raise both figures. Investors who file before an adjustment date retain the lower threshold applicable to that filing. Anyone weighing this category should be evaluating the timing now rather than in the fourth quarter.
The Process, Step by Step
The sequence varies by category, but a full employer-sponsored case runs through four stages.
Step 1: PERM Labor Certification
PERM is the Department of Labor’s labor market test, filed on Form ETA-9089 through the FLAG system. The employer must establish that no able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. worker applied for the position at the prevailing wage. The employer, not the employee, is the applicant at this stage, and the employer carries the recruitment and legal costs by law.
PERM applies to standard EB-2 and to EB-3. It does not apply to EB-1, EB-2 NIW, or EB-5. A certified PERM is valid for 180 days, and the employer must file the I-140 within that window or the certification lapses and the process restarts from the beginning.
Step 2: Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
The I-140 is filed with USCIS and establishes that the applicant qualifies under the chosen category and, in employer-sponsored cases, that the employer has the ability to pay the offered wage. The filing fee is $715. Premium processing is available through Form I-907, with a fee that increased on March 1, 2026, and it commits USCIS to an initial action within 15 business days for most I-140 categories and 45 business days for EB-1C and EB-2 NIW petitions.
An important protection sits at this stage. Once an I-140 has been approved for 180 days, the priority date generally survives even if the applicant changes employers, which gives applicants meaningful flexibility in the later years of a long process.
Step 3: Visa Number Availability
The priority date is the date the PERM application was accepted by the Department of Labor, or the date USCIS received the petition in categories where PERM does not apply. That date fixes the applicant’s position in the queue. The Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin monthly, setting out which priority dates are eligible to move forward in each category and each country of chargeability.
Step 4: Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing
Applicants already in the United States in valid nonimmigrant status file Form I-485 to adjust status. Applicants outside the country complete consular processing through the National Visa Center, followed by an immigrant visa interview at the appropriate U.S. consular post.
These two routes are not interchangeable, and the choice carries real consequences. Adjustment of status allows the applicant to apply for employment and travel authorization while the case is pending. International travel during that period generally requires an advance parole document, and departing without one can be treated as abandonment of the application. Applicants who continue to hold valid H-1B or L-1 status, and who maintain that status, are an established exception and may travel on their existing visa. Consular processing avoids the advanced parole question entirely but requires the applicant to complete the final stage from abroad. For applicants with continuing family or business commitments in Italy, this choice deserves attention early rather than at the end.
How Processing Times and Priority Dates Shape the 2026 Timeline
It is useful to separate two distinct sources of delay, because they are frequently confused and they call for different responses.
Agency processing time
The first source is how long each agency takes to act. In 2026, the labor certification stage is where most of the delay sits. The prevailing wage determination alone routinely runs several months at the National Prevailing Wage Center, and the full PERM cycle from prevailing wage request to certification commonly extends beyond a year and a half, longer if the case draws an audit. Standard I-140 adjudication typically runs several months, and premium processing can compress that stage substantially.
This is why category selection matters so much to the timeline. An EB-2 NIW or EB-1 filing removes the single longest stage from the process entirely.
Visa queue and country of chargeability
The second source is the queue itself. Each country is limited to seven percent of the annual employment-based allocation. Countries with very high demand exceed that limit, which produces retrogression and waits that in some categories now extend well beyond a decade. During 2026 the Visa Bulletin showed continued retrogression in EB-1 and EB-2 for India, with further movement possible before the end of the fiscal year.
Italy is not subject to that constraint. Italian-born applicants fall within the general allocation, where visa numbers have generally been available in the principal categories. The practical effect is that an Italian applicant’s timeline is governed largely by processing time rather than by the queue. That is a meaningful advantage, and it changes the strategy. When the queue is not the constraint, the quality of the initial filing carries proportionally more weight, because a Request for Evidence or a denial costs time that a queue position would otherwise have absorbed.
What Is Changing in 2026
Three developments are worth tracking for anyone filing this year.
The Department of Homeland Security has signaled its intention to propose updated regulations covering the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories, with the stated aim of codifying standards that currently exist in policy guidance and administrative decisions. No rule has taken effect, and any proposal will go through a public comment period before it becomes final. Applicants who are prepared to file are generally better served by filing under the framework that is in place today.
Vetting has become more thorough across the employment-based system. Background checks and social media review are now routine parts of adjudication. Inconsistencies between a green card filing and earlier nonimmigrant petitions, including job titles, duties, and dates of employment, are considerably more likely to be identified than they were several years ago.
Work authorization continuity has also become a practical concern. Applicants who rely on an employment authorization document while a case is pending should plan renewals well ahead of expiry rather than assuming an extension period will cover the gap.
Common Mistakes That Delay or Derail Applications
Filing in a category that undersells the applicant
A significant number of applicants with strong professional records are sponsored through EB-3 or standard EB-2 when their evidence would support EB-2 NIW or EB-1. The cost is not only time. Employer-sponsored categories tie the applicant to that employer through the early stages of the process, while the self-petitioning categories do not.
Inconsistency with earlier filings
Job titles, duties, salary figures, and employment dates in the green card filing are compared against what was stated in earlier H-1B, L-1, O-1, or E-2 petitions. Discrepancies that seem immaterial to the applicant frequently generate a Request for Evidence.
Documentation that is valid at home but not accepted in the United States
Civil status records, academic transcripts, and police clearances issued abroad must be current, properly legalized, and accompanied by certified translations that meet U.S. requirements. Documents that are entirely valid in their country of issue are regularly returned because the certification or translation does not meet the standard USCIS applies.
Weak credential evaluation
Foreign degrees require a properly prepared equivalency evaluation supported by official transcripts. An informal or summary assessment is one of the more common causes of a Request for Evidence in EB-2 and EB-3 filings.
Traveling at the wrong moment
Departing the United States while an adjustment of status application is pending, without advance parole and without maintaining a status that permits travel, can be treated as abandonment of that application. This is avoidable and it happens more often than it should.
Treating the petition as a form-filling exercise
USCIS officers assess evidence, not effort. A well-organized filing that presents each element clearly and allows an officer to verify it independently is consistently more effective than a large volume of unstructured material.
Specific Considerations for Italian Nationals
Country of chargeability works in your favor
As set out above, Italian-born applicants are not subject to the backlogs that dominate public discussion of the employment-based system. This is frequently overlooked by applicants who read general guidance written for the largest applicant populations and conclude that the process will take a decade. Understanding this early changes the calculation on which category to pursue and how quickly to move.
Italian academic credentials
An Italian master’s level degree is generally treated as equivalent to a U.S. master’s degree for EB-2 purposes, but the equivalency must be established through a credential evaluation supported by official transcripts and certified translations. The evaluation should be prepared with the specific category requirement in mind rather than as a generic assessment.
Italian civil documentation
Birth certificates, marriage records, and criminal record certificates issued by Italian authorities need to be current and properly legalized, with certified English translations. Coordination with Italian authorities and, where relevant, Italian counsel is often the step that determines whether the final stage moves smoothly or stalls. This is where working with an Italian immigration attorney who handles both jurisdictions removes a category of avoidable delay.
Alignment with existing corporate structures
For executives moving through an EB-1C transfer, the immigration filing and the corporate structure have to support each other. The relationship between the Italian entity and the U.S. entity, the executive’s role in each, and the documentation of that relationship all form part of the petition. Where a company is still setting up its U.S. operation, this should be evaluated alongside the international business law and corporate and contract law work rather than after the structure has been fixed.
Where an Immigration Attorney in Los Angeles Adds Value
The employment-based green card is a documentary process before it is anything else. The decision points that matter, category selection, evidence strategy, the sequencing of filings, and the choice between adjustment of status and consular processing, all occur early and are difficult to reverse later. An experienced immigration attorney in Los Angeles who works regularly with foreign professionals and executives brings a view of the whole pipeline rather than the individual form in front of them.
For Italian applicants specifically, there is a further dimension. A substantial part of the evidence in these cases originates in Italy, in Italian, under a different legal system. Academic credentials, civil records, employment history, and corporate documentation all have to be presented in a form that a U.S. adjudicator will accept. Working with counsel who understands both sides of that divide is the reason many Italian nationals and Italian companies seek out an Italian lawyer for US immigration rather than general U.S. counsel.
Di Martino Law Group advises Italian nationals, foreign professionals, and international companies on employment-based immigration in the United States, working in both English and Italian, and coordinating immigration matters with the corporate and real estate work that often sits alongside them.
Getting the Timing Right
The employment-based green card rewards planning more than it rewards speed. The applicants who move through it most smoothly are the ones who selected the right category at the start, assembled evidence that stands on its own, and understood which parts of the timeline they could influence and which they could not.
For applicants born in Italy, the timeline is shorter than the general commentary suggests, and the decisions that matter are largely within their control. The right moment to take advice is before the category is chosen and before the first filing is prepared, rather than after a Request for Evidence has arrived.
To discuss which employment-based category fits your qualifications and your timeline, contact Di Martino Law Group for a consultation.
