Guide · 5 min read
Caregiver jobs in the USA with visa sponsorship: the EB-3 route, who sponsors caregivers, pay and the fees no employer may charge
Written by CareJobs.Now
CareJobs.Now reads every job and the pay it states from the employer's own job board each night, and takes a job down once its employer does.
Caregiver jobs in the USA with visa sponsorship in 2026: how a caregiver or home health aide from another country can work in the US, the EB-3 green card route, which US employers actually sponsor caregivers by the Labor Department's own record, what they pay, why the temporary visas rarely fit, and the fees no employer may charge you.
Many sites promise caregiver jobs in the USA with visa sponsorship. This guide sets out what the US government's own records and rules say, so you can tell a real offer from a costly one. Every figure opens the page it comes from, on CareJobs.Now or at the agency that publishes it.
Contents
- Only an employer can sponsor you
- The route: an EB-3 green card
- Who sponsors caregivers, by the Labor Department's record
- What sponsored caregivers are paid, and the training they need
- Why the temporary visas rarely fit
- Fees: what no employer may charge you
- If you are a nurse
- A checklist
1. Only an employer can sponsor you
You cannot apply for a US work visa on your own as a caregiver: a US employer files for you, for a specific job. No job board, recruiter or website can give you a visa. What you can do is find the employers that have sponsored caregivers before, and apply to them.
2. The route: an EB-3 green card
For caregivers and home health aides, sponsorship is almost always a green card (permanent residence) in the employment-based third preference, EB-3, on a permanent, full-time job offer. The employer first obtains a labor certification (PERM) from the US Department of Labor, then files an immigrant petition (Form I-140) with USCIS. USCIS sorts EB-3 by what the labor certification asks for: "Unskilled Workers (Other Workers)", where "the labor certification must require less than 2 years training or experience", and "Skilled Workers" where it requires at least 2 years ( USCIS: EB-3).
How long it takes depends above all on your country of birth. Each month the US State Department's Visa Bulletin says which filing dates (the day the employer filed the labor certification) can receive a visa that month, by category and country. Check the current bulletin before you rely on any promised start date.
3. Who sponsors caregivers, by the Labor Department's record
The Labor Department publishes every labor certification it certifies. Our caregiver visa sponsorship page lists the employers that filed green card applications for caregivers, how many, the wage each offered and the states the jobs are in, and the home health aide page does the same for home health aides. The employers that filed the most are care companies rather than hospitals. Write to them directly.
What to send them: the job you are applying for, your caregiving experience (with whom, how long, and what care you gave), any training certificates and first aid or CPR cards, your English level, and your country of birth, since it decides how long a visa may take. Keep it short, and ask whether they are filing for caregivers now.
A certified labor certification is not yet a visa: USCIS decides the petition after it, and the visa comes once your filing date is current.
4. What sponsored caregivers are paid
An employer that sponsors a green card offers at least the prevailing wage for the job where it is. The sponsorship pages give the median hourly rate the employers offered on their applications; for comparison, BLS measured a US median of $17.21 an hour for home health and personal care aides in May 2025. Our caregiver pay page shows what open caregiver jobs post by state, and the caregiver job statistics how many pay weekly or offer paid training.
The training a US caregiver needs depends on the job and the state. A home health aide at an agency certified by Medicare must have completed training that, under the federal rule, "must total at least 75 hours" of classroom and supervised practical training, and then receive "at least 12 hours of in-service training during each 12-month period" ( 42 CFR 484.80); many states add their own rules for home care aides. Each caregiver page for a state and home health aide page says what that state requires where we have read its official rules. Many employers train new caregivers themselves; the labor certification states the experience and training the job requires.
5. Why the temporary visas rarely fit
The H-1B is for jobs that need at least a bachelor's degree, so it is almost never used for caregivers. The H-2B is for an employer whose need is temporary (a one-time occurrence, a seasonal, peakload or intermittent need): in USCIS's words, "its need for the prospective worker’s services or labor is temporary, regardless of whether the underlying job can be described as temporary" ( USCIS: H-2B). A caregiver job is usually permanent and year-round, which is why the employers that sponsor caregivers file green cards.
6. Fees: what no employer may charge you
The employer pays for the labor certification. Federal rules say: "An employer must not seek or receive payment of any kind for any activity related to obtaining permanent labor certification", and payment includes deductions from your wages, kickbacks and free labor ( 20 CFR 656.12). Anyone who asks you to pay for a job offer or a "visa slot" is a warning sign ( FTC: job scams).
7. If you are a nurse
Registered nurses have a faster route: they are on the Labor Department's Schedule A, so the employer files the green card with USCIS without a PERM labor certification, and nurses also pass the NCLEX-RN and hold a US state license. Our nursing jobs in the USA for international nurses page has the rules and how nurses from each country pass the NCLEX.
8. A checklist
- Look up who has sponsored caregivers: caregivers and home health aides.
- Write to those employers directly, with your experience and any training certificates.
- Expect an EB-3 green card on a permanent, full-time job, not a temporary visa.
- Check the State Department's Visa Bulletin for your country of birth before you plan a date.
- Never pay anyone for a job offer or a labor certification.