Overview: Schedule A is a Department of Labor list of occupations DOL has already decided are short of U.S. workers. For employers hiring foreign nurses and physical therapists, that means no Labor certification (PERM)The Department of Labor process in which an employer shows that no qualified U.S. worker is available for a position, required for most EB-2 and EB-3 petitions.See it in the glossary recruitment and no labor certification review by DOL. Instead, the employer files the labor certification application directly with USCIS alongside Form I-140Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, filed by an employer (or in some categories the worker) to classify a person under an employment-based category.See it in the glossary, as the USCIS Policy Manual explains. Schedule A skips the labor certification step. It does not skip the visa queue.
What Schedule A covers
The list has two groups. Group I is physical therapists and professional nurses. Group II is people of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts, including college and university teachers, and in the performing arts. DOL’s Group II standard is widespread acclaim and international recognition, which is different from the EB-2 exceptional ability standard. Group II also cannot be self-petitioned, because it requires an employer’s job offer.
Only professional nurses qualify, not every nursing job. USCIS compares the position’s duties with the regulatory definition of a professional nurse. DOL asked the public for input on adding occupations in a December 2023 request for information. The Policy Manual still lists the same two groups.
The steps for an employer
- A job offer. Full-time, permanent employment from a U.S. employer, and it must be a bona fide position.
- A prevailing wage determination. The employer requests one from DOL’s National Prevailing Wage Center on Form ETA-9141. The wage offered must be at least 100 percent of the prevailing wage. The determination’s validity period runs 90 days to one year, and the petition must be filed within it.
- A notice of filing. The employer posts notice of the job for at least 10 consecutive business days at the worksite, or notifies the bargaining representative if there is one. The notice must include the job description and pay and tell people they may send evidence to a DOL Certifying Officer. The posting has to fall between 30 and 180 days before filing, and each job classification needs its own notice.
- The filing. Form I-140 goes to USCIS with an uncertified ETA Form 9089 carrying original signatures, plus the prevailing wage determination, notice evidence, copies of in-house media, proof of the employer’s ability to pay, and evidence the worker meets the Schedule A requirements.
- Adjudication. USCIS reviews the labor certification and the petition together. A Schedule A denial cannot go to DOL’s appeals board. It goes to USCIS’s Administrative Appeals Office (AAO)The USCIS office that reviews appeals of certain USCIS denials and revocations, filed on Form I-290B, generally within 30 days of the decision. The USCIS office that issued the decision reviews the appeal first and may grant it. If it does not, it forwards the case to the AAO. Not every USCIS decision can be appealed to the AAO.See it in the glossary. If Group II fails, the employer can try regular PERM. For Group I, DOL does not accept regular PERM applications.
Proving a nurse or physical therapist qualifies
For nurses, the employer must show one of the following, held at the time of filing: a full, unrestricted permanent license in the state of employment, a certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, or a passing NCLEX-RN result.
For physical therapists, the evidence is a permanent license in the state of employment, or a letter from a state licensing official saying the person is qualified to take the licensing exam.
Which preference category applies
Schedule A is the labor certification route, not a visa category. Most registered nurse positions are classified EB-3, because the minimum requirement is usually below a bachelor’s degree. Physical therapist positions can qualify as EB-2 advanced degree professionals when the position requires a graduate degree. That is common, because many states now require one for licensure. A therapist with only a bachelor’s degree needs five years of progressive experience to reach that level, and an employer cannot set requirements below the state’s licensing minimum.
What still takes time
The prevailing wage determination is handled by DOL, and processing times change, so check DOL’s current figures. After approval, the worker still waits for a Priority dateThe date a petition was filed, or a labor certification was submitted, used to determine an applicant's place in line for a visa category with limited annual numbers.See it in the glossary to become current. Our explainer on reading the Visa Bulletin covers how that works.