What an EB-3 actually costs, and who the law says pays it

EB3 VISA COST - EB3 ভিসা খরচ ও অন্যান্য প্রশ্নThe video is older than this article, which was researched separately, so the two may not cover exactly the same ground.

Ask what an EB-3 costs in Bangladesh and you get a single number. 18 lakh. 22 lakh.

A single number tells you nothing. To understand it you have to break it apart: which part is a government fee, which part the law puts on the employer, and which part is simply going into somebody's pocket.

So let's do that, line by line, against the published fee schedules.

The cost splits three ways

EB-3 runs in three stages, and each one carries a different liability.

PERM labor certification, filed by the employer with the Department of Labor.
The I-140 petition, also filed by the employer, with USCIS.
The visa or change of status, filed by you.

The law treats the three differently, so take them in order.

Stage one: PERM, entirely the employer's bill

Here the rule is unambiguous. 20 CFR 656.12(b) bars an employer from seeking or receiving payment of any kind for any activity related to obtaining the labor certification, the employer's own attorney's fees included.

But the paragraph before it, 656.12(a), goes further:

Applications for permanent labor certification and approved labor certifications are not articles of commerce. They shall not be offered for sale, barter or purchase by individuals or entities.

And it says what follows if evidence of a sale turns up: investigation, denial under § 656.24, revocation under § 656.32, debarment under § 656.31(f), or any combination of those.

Note who that binds. Not only the employer. "Individuals or entities" covers everyone in the chain.

Which puts all of this on the employer:

Newspaper advertising, two Sunday editions
The State Workforce Agency job order
The notice posted inside the workplace
Three additional recruitment steps for professional positions
The DOL filing itself
The employer's own attorney

An exception, with a condition inside it 656.12(b) does let the worker pay for their own attorney. But the same sentence adds that where the same attorney represents both the worker and the employer, those costs fall on the employer.

Worth checking. If the attorney your agent supplies also acts for the employer, that fee cannot be charged to you.

And the form asks whether the employer took money

This part is neat. The PERM form asks the employer directly whether they received payment in connection with the application. The column is EMP_RECEIVED_PAYMENT.

The FY2024 file holds 1,612 Bangladeshi cases. I counted.

All 1,612 answer "N". Every single employer attested that they received no payment from anyone.

Now hold that against what people in Bangladesh pay for these same cases: 15 to 25 lakh taka. In the government record, that money does not exist.

So it is not reaching the employer, at least not on paper. It is stopping somewhere in between.

Stage two: the I-140, where there are real numbers

USCIS publishes its fees in Form G-1055.

Item	Fee
I-140, paper	$715
I-140, online	$665
Asylum Program Fee, regular employer	$600
Asylum Program Fee, small employer	$300
Asylum Program Fee, nonprofit	$0

So for an ordinary company the I-140 comes to $715 + $600 = $1,315.

If they want it fast, premium processing on Form I-907 costs a further $2,965 for EB-3.

This one is normally the employer's, though the law is less categorical here than it is on PERM, which is why it gets negotiated.

Stage three: your part

Two routes, depending on where you are.

Consular processing, from Bangladesh

Item	Fee
DS-260, employment-based immigrant visa application	$345
Medical examination	Panel physician, priced separately
Police clearance, document translation	Yours
Travel to Dhaka, accommodation	Yours

Adjustment of status, from inside the US

Item	Fee
I-485, paper, applicant over 14	$1,440
I-485, online	$1,390
I-765 work permit	$520, or $260 with an I-485 pending

Adding it up

Assume you are in Bangladesh, and assume the worst case: the employer pays nothing and every cost lands on you.

$1,315 for the I-140, $345 for the DS-260, call it $400 for the medical and documents, $200 for travel. About $2,260, roughly three and a half lakh taka.

Retain your own US immigration attorney on top and add $2,000 to $5,000. Even then the total lands somewhere around seven to ten lakh, and that is generous throughout.

So what is the rest of the 20 lakh? A placement fee for finding the sponsor. Brokerage. Not automatically illegal, but not a government fee either, and not something that buys you a visa. It buys an introduction and a filing.

The question to ask before paying

Ask for the figure broken down in writing. Line by line.

Then check whether any line is PERM advertising, the DOL filing, or the employer's attorney. If one is, that is a direct breach of 20 CFR 656.12(b), and that single line tells you most of what you need to know about the rest.

What will always be there is one large number with no explanation beside it. That is the actual fee. Everything else is arrangement.