Employment Based EB3 Visa

How the cook of cooks went to the USA on a Employment Based EB3 Visa

Abdul Karim was a cook among cooks, like everyone else in his Bangladeshi family. If this is not a surprising statement, consider that Abdul was only 11 years old when he cooked an entire wedding feast when his father fell unexpectedly ill, not only planning the menu but also supervising a dozen or more cooks and kitchen helpers.

Like most Bangladeshi families, his was large, with more brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, and aunts than you could imagine. Many of them had found things to do within the family business of catering and cuisine, but only a handful of them had proven their worth as chefs.

Needless to say, the family’s work kept Abdul so busy that getting a formal school education was never seen as a need or a priority. By the time he was 21 and of voting age, Abdul’s culinary skills were non-pareil but he had no school education, nor any plans to acquire one.

It was around now that word reached his father, through a friend of a friend, that someone distantly related to the family was planning to open an Indian Mughlai restaurant in Denver and needed a good chef. Would Abdul be interested?

Abdul was. But he was also certain that there would be no place in the United States for someone who hadn’t even passed his school exams. He was just a wedding cook.

The friend of the friend of the friend did some research and presently informed Abdul’s father that there was a visa available for people exactly like Abdul who had a unique skill even if he had no education. It was called the Employment Based EB3 Visa.

The United States releases 140,000 employment-based or EB visas every year around October, of which 28.6% are reserved for the EB2 visa, one of five prioritized EB visas.

The Employment Based EB3 Visa, designed for Third Priority workers, exists because most people would not fit the elevated and demanding requirements of the EB-1 and EB-2 visas such as exceptional ability, global recognition, and advanced education. The Employment Based EB3 Visa, with less exacting requirements, makes room for skilled workers, professionals, and other workers. The Employment Based EB3 Visa also has a long waiting list because of its popularity.

The EB-3 visa category contains three sub-groups:

Skilled workers who have a minimum of 2 years of training or work experience.

Professionals who have a degree or its equivalent that is higher than required for the job.

Unskilled workers who have a minimum of 2 years of training or work experience.

You cannot apply for an EB-3 visa without a prior job offer from a prospective US-based employer, but Abdul already had his job offer. It was not difficult to prove that he had a skill that could not be found in the US. Of course, it took a little while for Abdul to get his EB-3 visa since there’s usually a long wait-list. But now he’s in the United States, dishing out butter chicken and chicken tikka masala to the good people of Denver.

You can get more information on the Employment Based EB3 Visa from the detailed, user-friendly visa guides you get when you buy one of our Visa Plans.

If you have questions or would like clarifications, please send us an email and we’ll do our best to get back to you within 24 hours with an answer.