A Nurse's Green Card Is a Queue the NCLEX Lets You Join. In October 2026 It Moved Back, to 15 May 2024

Published 18 October 2026 · Luke, co-founder of NCLEX BANK · 12 min read

A US green card for a nurse works differently from almost any other job. Nurses are already on a federal list of jobs with too few American workers, so the employer can skip the job-advert test. One of the conditions for using that list is passing the NCLEX-RN. After that, it is a queue, and the queue is set each month by the State Department's Visa Bulletin. This article checks all three against the federal rules, USCIS and the State Department, and lines up how long the wait is using only published figures. The October 2026 bulletin is the first of the new fiscal year, and for most countries the nurses' line moved backward.

1. Nurses are on Schedule A: no job-advert test

An employment-based green card normally starts with the employer proving to the Department of Labor that no American applied for the job. The employer advertises, screens the applicants and has the result certified (the process usually called PERM). That step alone can take a long time.

Nurses skip it. The Labor Department's rule at 20 CFR 656.5 keeps a list, Schedule A, of jobs it has already decided are short of US workers. Group I has two entries: physical therapists and professional nurses.

For a Schedule A job the employer does not apply to the Department of Labor at all. It attaches the labor certification form (ETA-9089), uncertified, to the immigrant petition (Form I-140) and files both directly with USCIS. Before that, the employer has two main jobs:

• get the prevailing wage for the area from the Department of Labor (Form ETA-9141), and offer at least 100% of it
• post a notice of the job at the workplace for 10 consecutive business days, between 30 and 180 days before the I-140 is filed

The reverse also holds: an employer cannot put a nurse through the ordinary labor certification. The rule says a labor certification for a professional nurse can only be filed under Schedule A.

2. The NCLEX is one of the conditions, and it decides when you join the queue

To be filed for as a Schedule A nurse, you must meet one of three conditions (20 CFR 656.5(a)(2)):

1. a full and unrestricted nursing licence in the state where you will work
2. a certificate from TruMerit (formerly CGFNS)
3. a pass on the NCLEX-RN

The USCIS Policy Manual says you must meet it on the day the I-140 is filed. A state licence needs an NCLEX pass first, so two of the three routes run through the NCLEX. The third, the TruMerit Certification Program ($495), is described by TruMerit itself as a route for nurses who cannot sit the NCLEX at an international test centre, and it has its own exam. The NCLEX has international test centres in, among other places, the Philippines, India and Jordan.

This is where the priority date, your place in the queue, matters. For Schedule A, the priority date is the day USCIS accepts the I-140 (8 CFR 204.5(d)). If your petition rests on your NCLEX pass, every month the pass is delayed is a month later in the queue. The green card wait is not time added after the NCLEX. If the NCLEX is your condition, it is time that cannot start until you pass.

3. Most nurses file as EB-3, and why not H-1B

Employment-based green cards are split into preference categories. The USCIS Policy Manual says this about nurses:

• most nursing jobs require less than a bachelor's degree, so they are classed as skilled workers (third preference, EB-3)
• a nursing job that requires a bachelor's degree can be classed as a professional (also EB-3)
• occasionally a job that needs an advanced degree is filed in the second preference (EB-2)

Skilled workers and professionals share the same "3rd" row of the Visa Bulletin. The employer picks the category from the job and its requirements.

4. Reading the Visa Bulletin: October 2026

Green cards are capped each year, and no single country can take more than 7% of them. Where demand is higher than the cap, visas go out in priority-date order. Each month the State Department publishes how far it has got: the Visa Bulletin.

Rows are categories (1st, 2nd, 3rd…) and columns are countries. Only four have a column of their own, because their demand has hit the cap: China (mainland-born), India, Mexico and the Philippines. Everyone else, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Nepal, Pakistan, Jamaica and the UK, reads the column called "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed". The column follows your country of birth, not your passport.

There are two charts:

• Final Action Dates: if your priority date is earlier than this date, a visa can be issued. Interview appointments follow this chart
• Dates for Filing: if your priority date is earlier than this date, you can start sending documents to the National Visa Center (NVC) once it contacts you

A date in the box means people who joined the queue before that date are being served. "C" (current) means no wait.

The EB-3 (3rd) row in the October 2026 bulletin:

• All other countries: Final Action 15 May 2024 (September: 1 September 2024) · Dates for Filing 1 August 2024 (September: C)
• Philippines: Final Action 15 August 2023 (September: 1 August 2023) · Dates for Filing 1 January 2024
• Mexico: the same as all other countries, 15 May 2024 and 1 August 2024
• India: Final Action 1 January 2014 (unchanged) · Dates for Filing 15 January 2015
• China (mainland-born): Final Action 8 January 2022 · Dates for Filing 1 April 2024

So a nurse born in Nigeria or Kenya is waiting for petitions filed about two years and five months before the bulletin month. Born in the Philippines, about three years and two months. Born in India, more than twelve years: an Indian-born nurse whose I-140 is filed today joins the back of a line that is still serving petitions from 2013. That is not a reason to stop, but it is the number to plan around.

For scale, the State Department's annual report for fiscal year 2024 counts 38,566 green cards in the EB-3 skilled-worker and professional categories, issued abroad or adjusted inside the US. 9,111 went to people from the Philippines. These figures cover every occupation, not only nurses.

5. The queue also moves backward

Bulletin dates do not only move forward. Here is the EB-3 Final Action date for "all other countries" since 2020:

• October 2020 to April 2023: C, thirty-one months with no wait
• May 2023: 1 June 2022, the first date
• August 2023: 1 May 2020, three years and three months behind the bulletin month
• October 2023: 1 December 2021, back up with the new fiscal year
• September 2024: 1 December 2020, down again at year end
• October 2024: 15 November 2022
• September 2025: 1 April 2023
• April 2026: 1 June 2024, eight months forward in one bulletin
• September 2026: 1 September 2024
• October 2026: 15 May 2024, three and a half months back

In 2023 and 2024 the date fell late in the fiscal year and recovered in October, when the new year's numbers arrived. October 2026 did the opposite. The State Department's note in the bulletin says that, with the new fiscal year's numbers, dates advanced in many categories, but some employment-based categories for "Rest of World" countries had to retrogress to keep issuance within the fiscal year's quarterly and annual limits, and that it is watching the situation. Dates for Filing went from C to 1 August 2024 at the same time.

The September 2026 bulletin had already explained that the summer's advances came about because administration measures, among them a pause on immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries, had cut issuance to some nationalities, and warned that retrogression might be needed if demand reappeared or the measures changed. The pause stopped applying on 21 August 2026 under a court order (more in section 7). A date that was once C fell more than three years behind in 2023. A bulletin date is not a promise.

6. How long it takes: three clocks, no total

No government body publishes a total for "how long a nurse's green card takes". It publishes three clocks that run separately:

• The I-140: USCIS's processing-times page has its own line for "Schedule A Nurses". In October 2026, 80% of cases were completed within 25.5 months (USCIS Service Center Operations). USCIS says it prioritises petitions whose priority date is current in the bulletin. With premium processing ($2,965, paid by the employer), USCIS acts within 15 business days
• The bulletin queue: in October 2026, about two years and five months for most countries, three years and two months for the Philippines, more than twelve years for India
• The NVC: on 13 October 2026 it was creating cases received from USCIS on 25 September (about two and a half weeks) and reviewing documents submitted on 4 August (about ten weeks)

The clocks do not add up. Your priority date is fixed the day the I-140 is filed, so the queue keeps moving while USCIS reviews it. The one firm rule is this: no interview is scheduled until the Final Action date passes your priority date.

7. The interview: where, and what you bring

Once the I-140 is approved, the case moves to the NVC and the steps are yours. Since 1 November 2025, the NVC books immigrant visa interviews in the consular district where you live, or in your country of nationality if you ask. A nurse born in Kenya and working in Saudi Arabia, for example, interviews where they live unless they request Kenya. People living in a country with no routine visa operations go to a designated post.

What a nurse needs at the interview, from the State Department's immigrant visa pages:

• The immigrant visa application (DS-260) and its $345 fee
• Civil documents such as your birth certificate, and police certificates. What counts, and how to get it, is listed country by country in the State Department's reciprocity schedule. Some countries' certificates come sealed and must stay sealed
• A medical exam with a panel physician named by the embassy. No other doctor's exam is accepted
• A VisaScreen certificate ($740): nurses must present a health care worker certificate (8 CFR 212.15). It includes an English score unless you were educated in one of six exempt countries; studying in English in the Philippines, India or Nigeria is not an exemption. The scores are in our article on nurses' English test scores
• Your employer's job letter, on letterhead and signed, recent enough for the embassy's rules
• A passport valid for at least six months beyond your planned entry

After the visa is issued you pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee ($235). USCIS asks you to pay it before you travel; you can pay after arrival, but the green card is not sent until you do. You must enter the US before the visa expires, which is normally six months from the medical exam. The card is mailed to your US address after you arrive.

8. Who pays what

The government fees are split between the employer and you:

• Employer: I-140 filing fee $715 ($665 online) plus the Asylum Program Fee $600 ($300 for employers with 25 or fewer full-time staff, $0 for non-profits). Premium processing adds $2,965
• You: immigrant visa fee $345 + USCIS Immigrant Fee $235 + VisaScreen $740 = $1,320, plus the medical exam (paid to the clinic) and the cost of your documents

9. When your turn comes, keep moving

After the long wait, there are deadlines on your side:

• The one-year rule: if you do not apply within one year of the NVC's notice that a visa is available, the petition is terminated and you lose your priority date (Immigration and Nationality Act section 203(g)). It can be reinstated if, within two years, you show the delay was beyond your control
• Postponing the interview: if the bulletin moves back, there may be no visa at the later date. Read the bulletin before you ask for a new date
• Do not resign until the visa is in your hand: the State Department advises immigrant visa applicants not to sell property, quit jobs or buy non-refundable tickets until the visa is issued

And after you arrive: a green card holder who stays outside the US for more than a year can lose permanent resident status. If you plan long visits home, check the rules before you go.

Summary

1. Nurses are on Schedule A, so the employer files with USCIS without the job-advert test
2. One condition is a state licence, a TruMerit certificate or an NCLEX pass, met on the day the I-140 is filed
3. Priority date = the day the I-140 is filed. If the NCLEX is your condition, a later pass means a later place in the queue
4. Most nurses are EB-3: the "3rd" row, in the column for your country of birth
5. October 2026 Final Action: 15 May 2024 for most countries and Mexico, 15 August 2023 for the Philippines, 1 January 2014 for India
6. The queue moves backward: it fell to 1 May 2020 in 2023, and three and a half months in October 2026
7. No official total time. I-140: 80% within 25.5 months (15 business days with premium processing). NVC: about two and a half weeks to create a case and ten weeks to review documents
8. You pay $1,320 in government fees plus the medical; your employer cannot charge you for the labor certification

Frequently asked questions

How can a foreign-educated nurse get a US green card?

A US employer has to file an immigrant petition (Form I-140) for you; nurses cannot petition for themselves. Because nurses are on the Department of Labor's Schedule A list of shortage jobs, the employer can skip the job-advert test (PERM) and file directly with USCIS. On your side, you need a full state nursing licence, a TruMerit (formerly CGFNS) certificate or an NCLEX-RN pass on the day the I-140 is filed. After approval, you send documents to the National Visa Center and interview at the US embassy or consulate where you live once the Visa Bulletin reaches your priority date.

How long does a nurse's green card take?

There is no official total. Three figures are published. The I-140: 80% of USCIS's "Schedule A Nurses" petitions were completed within 25.5 months (15 business days with premium processing, which costs the employer $2,965). In the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the EB-3 Final Action date is 15 May 2024 for most countries and Mexico, 15 August 2023 for the Philippines and 1 January 2014 for India. The National Visa Center was taking about two and a half weeks to create a case and about ten weeks to review documents in mid-October 2026. These run in parallel, so they do not add up, and bulletin dates can move backward, as they did in October 2026.

What is the EB-3 visa bulletin date for nurses in October 2026?

In the October 2026 Visa Bulletin, the EB-3 (3rd) Final Action date is 15 May 2024 for "All Chargeability Areas" and for Mexico, 15 August 2023 for the Philippines, 1 January 2014 for India and 8 January 2022 for mainland China. The Dates for Filing chart is 1 August 2024 for most countries and Mexico, 1 January 2024 for the Philippines and 15 January 2015 for India. The "all other countries" date moved back from 1 September 2024 in September; the State Department said the retrogression was needed to stay within the fiscal year's limits.