The EB-3 in 2023 is the story of two backlogs closing in at once. First, the pandemic surplus of visa numbers evaporated, so priority dates that had raced ahead now retrogressed. Second, and just as painful, the Department of Labor's PERM and prevailing-wage processing slowed to a crawl, adding many months before a case could even reach the green card stage. For EB-3 applicants, 2023 was a year of waiting on both ends.
Visa supply came back to normal
With consulates operating near full capacity, the family-based spillover that had inflated 2021 and 2022 dried up. The fiscal year 2023 employment-based limit still carried a modest carryover, landing near 197,000, but that was well below the prior year's roughly 281,000, and everyone competing for EB-3 numbers felt the change. The visa bulletin responded:
- EB-3 India retrogressed significantly, pushing final action dates years into the past.
- EB-3 China also saw cutoff dates move backward.
- Rest-of-world EB-3 stayed more favorable but was no longer as loose as during the surplus years.
The PERM and prevailing-wage slowdown
The bigger shock in 2023 came from the front end of the process. The Department of Labor's processing times for prevailing wage determinations and PERM labor certifications climbed sharply. Cases that once cleared in a few months now stretched much longer, and audits added further delay. Because nearly every EB-3 case begins with PERM, these delays pushed back the entire timeline before an I-140 or visa number ever entered the picture.
The result was a frustrating mismatch. Even applicants whose eventual priority date might be reachable found themselves stuck early, waiting on a labor certification rather than a visa number.
Other Workers demand stayed hot
Demand in the Other Workers subgroup remained strong in 2023, driven by persistent labor shortages in service and care sectors. With its small annual cap of about 10,000, that lane stayed heavily oversubscribed, and waits there were among the longest in the category.
What this means for you
In a double-backlog year, planning horizons matter more than ever.
- Start early. With PERM and prevailing-wage delays added to visa backlogs, the total timeline can stretch for years, so beginning sooner protects you.
- Keep filings audit-ready. Clean, well-documented PERM cases move faster and are less likely to draw a delay-inducing audit.
- Track your country's EB-3 date, and compare it with EB-2, since the gap can still create planning options.
- Set realistic expectations for Other Workers roles, where the small cap means the longest waits.
The broader lesson is about capacity, not policy intent. There was nothing wrong with the workers in line in 2023; they were doing everything the law asks, with employer sponsorship and labor-market testing. The bottleneck was administrative. When the agencies that certify and adjudicate these cases fall behind, lawful, merit-based immigration slows to a crawl, and the people who follow the rules pay the price. Fixing that means investing in processing capacity and modernizing the pipeline, not just adjusting the numbers. For applicants, the defense is the same as always: begin early, file clean, and be ready to move when your dates arrive.
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