Understanding EB-3 visa retrogression
Many internationally educated nurses immigrate to the US on an EB-3 employment-based green card. “Retrogression” is the word for the waiting that comes with it — understanding it helps you plan your timeline and manage the anxiety of a process largely outside your control.
The basics
- •Priority date: your place in line — generally the date your petition was filed.
- •The Visa Bulletin: the US Department of State publishes monthly cutoff dates per category and country. When the cutoff passes your priority date, you’re “current” and can move forward.
- •Per-country limits: no single country can take more than a set share of visas each year, so high-demand countries build long backlogs.
- •Retrogression: when demand exceeds supply, a cutoff date can move backward — your wait gets longer, not shorter, for a while.
Retrogression mostly affects applicants from high-demand countries (e.g. the Philippines and India have seen multi-year EB-3 waits). It does not affect your license — you can complete licensure and even work on other statuses while the immigrant visa line moves.
What you can do
- 1. Get licensed first — it’s independent of the visa line and makes you petition-ready.
- 2. Track the monthly Visa Bulletin for your category (EB-3) and country.
- 3. Work with a licensed immigration attorney — retrogression timing strategy is case-specific.
Official sources
Last verified June 2026. Immigration timing changes monthly — verify with the current Visa Bulletin and an attorney.