EMPLOYMENT IMMIGRATION
Can I Help My Nanny Get a Green Card?
Families ask us this question more often than you might expect, and it usually comes from a good place. Someone has cared for your children, or your parents, for years. They are part of how your household runs. Their own immigration situation is uncertain, and you want to help them build something permanent. The short answer is yes: a household employer can sponsor a nanny, caregiver, or other domestic worker for a green card. The longer answer is that it is a real employment-based process with real obligations, and going in with clear expectations is what makes it work.
The path: employer sponsorship through EB-3
Sponsoring a household worker for permanent residence runs through the employment-based system, specifically the third preference category, EB-3. Most nannies and caregivers qualify under one of two EB-3 sub-groups: "skilled workers," for positions that require at least two years of training or experience, or "other workers," for positions that require less than two years. Many full-time childcare and eldercare roles fall into the "other worker" group, and that classification matters because it affects how long the wait can be.
You, the family, are the employer and the petitioner. Your employee is the beneficiary. This is not a family-based petition (there is no marriage or blood relationship doing the work here). It is a genuine job offer for a permanent, full-time position, and the government treats it exactly that way.
Step one: PERM labor certification
Almost every EB-3 case begins with PERM labor certification through the Department of Labor. The purpose of PERM is to confirm two things: that you are offering to pay at least the prevailing wage for the job in your area, and that there are no able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. workers for the position. To show the second point, you conduct a recruitment process: advertising the role and reviewing any U.S. applicants under rules the Department of Labor sets.
For a household employer, PERM is the part that surprises people most, because it asks you to genuinely test the labor market for a job you already have someone doing. If qualified U.S. workers apply and meet the stated minimum requirements, that affects the case. The job requirements have to be real and reasonable for the position, not written to exclude everyone but your current employee. This is precisely where careful, honest case-building matters, and where we spend the most time with household-employer clients.
Step two: the I-140 petition
Once the Department of Labor certifies the PERM application, you file Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, with USCIS. This is where you prove two things about the offer itself. First, that the position and its requirements are legitimate. Second, and this catches some households off guard, that you have the ability to pay the offered wage. As the petitioning employer, you must show you can actually pay what you have promised, from the priority date forward. For a family sponsor, that means being ready to document household income or assets in support of the wage.
Step three: the wait, and the priority date
Here is the part we make sure every family understands before they start. Green card numbers are limited and allocated by category and country of birth, and the EB-3 "other worker" line in particular can carry a significant backlog. Your employee's place in that line is set by the "priority date," generally the day your PERM application was filed. From there, the wait depends on the category and the country of chargeability, and it is governed by the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the Department of State.
We are deliberately not putting a number of years on this, because it moves, sometimes a lot, and an out-of-date figure would do you a disservice. What we can tell you honestly is that EB-3 "other worker" cases are usually a multi-year commitment for both the family and the employee, and skilled-worker cases can move differently. At the consultation we look at the current Visa Bulletin, your employee's country of birth, and the likely category, and give you a realistic picture rather than a guess.
Step four: the green card itself
When a visa number becomes available for your employee's priority date, the case reaches its final stage. If your employee is in the United States in a qualifying status, they may be able to file to adjust status with USCIS. If they are abroad, the case goes through consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate. Either way, this is the step that produces the actual green card, and it comes with its own eligibility questions about the employee's immigration history that need to be reviewed early, not at the end.
What this asks of you as the sponsor
Sponsoring a household worker is generous, and it is also a commitment. You are agreeing to offer a permanent, full-time position at the prevailing wage. You are agreeing to run a real recruitment process. You are agreeing to demonstrate the ability to pay. And you are agreeing to a timeline that can stretch across years, during which both you and your employee need a plan for their status in the meantime. Many household cases succeed. They succeed because the family understood the shape of the process before filing the first form, not after.
A word on the employee's current status
One question we always ask first is what immigration status your employee holds today, and how they came to be here. That history shapes everything: whether they can adjust status inside the country or must process abroad, whether there are bars or waivers to plan around, and whether there is a faster or safer path than EB-3 in their particular situation. Please do not start a recruitment process or promise anyone a green card before that review happens. The kindest thing you can do for someone you want to help is to have the facts checked first.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A household can act as an employer and sponsor a nanny, caregiver, or other domestic worker for permanent residence, usually through the EB-3 category. It is a genuine employment-based process that begins with PERM labor certification, followed by an I-140 petition and a final green card step. It is not a family petition, even though the worker feels like family.
PERM is the Department of Labor process that confirms you will pay the prevailing wage and that no able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. worker wants the position. The advertising is how you test the labor market. The job requirements must be real and reasonable for the role. This step is required for almost every EB-3 case and is where careful preparation matters most.
It varies too much to promise a number. The EB-3 "other worker" category in particular can carry a multi-year backlog that depends on your employee's country of birth and the monthly Visa Bulletin. Skilled-worker cases can move differently. At a consultation we review the current Visa Bulletin and give you a realistic timeline for your specific situation.
Yes. As the petitioning employer, you must show the ability to pay the offered prevailing wage from the priority date forward. For a family sponsor, that generally means documenting household income or assets. We help you assemble the right proof so this does not become a stumbling block late in the case.
It depends entirely on their current status and immigration history, which is why we review that first. Their status affects whether they can finish the case inside the country by adjusting status or must process at a consulate abroad, and whether there are bars or waivers to plan around. Do not begin the process before that review.
Sometimes. Depending on the worker's qualifications and history, another category or path may fit better, and occasionally a family relationship changes the picture entirely. There is no single answer that fits every household. That is exactly what a consultation is for: to match the right path to the real facts before you file anything.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
You want to help someone who helped you. Let's do it the right way.
If you are thinking about sponsoring a nanny, caregiver, or household employee for a green card, schedule a consultation with us. We will review your employee's status, map the PERM and EB-3 steps, and give you a realistic timeline and the real cost before you commit to anything.