How to Hire a Caregiver from the Philippines to the USA

Hiring a caregiver from the Philippines to the USA is a multi-year, multi-agency undertaking: you sponsor the worker for a green card through the EB-3 “Other Workers” category, which routes through the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the U.S. Embassy in Manila, with additional clearances required by the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers. Expect five to seven years from start to arrival, and several thousand dollars in government fees alone.

Which Visa Category Fits

Two federal programs cover most caregiver hires, and only one is realistic for an ongoing household position.

The EB-3 “Other Workers” immigrant visa is the standard path. It covers permanent, full-time positions that require less than two years of training or experience and are not seasonal, which describes most household caregiving jobs.¹ The caregiver receives a green card and can live and work in the United States permanently.

The H-2B temporary worker visa is not a workaround. It requires the employer to prove a one-time, seasonal, peak-load, or intermittent need,² which a household needing ongoing care cannot show. H-2B also has an annual cap that was reached for both halves of fiscal year 2026.³ For nearly every family, EB-3 is the answer.

Why the Philippines Backlog Shapes Everything

The EB-3 “Other Workers” category is capped at roughly 5,000 visas per year after adjustments required by the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.⁴ Demand far outruns that. The April 2026 Visa Bulletin lists a final action date of November 1, 2021 for EB-3 “Other Workers” from the Philippines, meaning only cases with priority dates on or before that day are being processed for green cards.⁵

A case filed today will likely wait four to five years or more before a visa number becomes available. Your priority date locks in when the Department of Labor accepts your PERM application, so filing early is the single most useful thing you can do. The PERM and I-140 stages continue during the wait; the caregiver simply cannot receive a visa or enter the country until the priority date is current.

Whether You Qualify to Sponsor

Any U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident can sponsor a caregiver, but you have to satisfy USCIS on your financial ability.

Ability to Pay the Prevailing Wage

You must show ongoing ability to pay the offered wage from the priority date through green card issuance. USCIS accepts federal tax returns, bank account records, and audited financial statements as evidence.⁶ For a household sponsor, that generally means personal tax returns and bank statements demonstrating income or assets sufficient to pay the prevailing wage on top of your normal expenses. Profit-and-loss statements and credit lines can supplement.

h3>Affidavit of Support

Some employment-based cases require Form I-864, a legally binding contract to maintain the immigrant at 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for your household size.⁷ For 2026, that floor is $27,050 for a household of two in the 48 contiguous states, with $7,100 added for each additional person.⁸ Assets can make up an income shortfall. The obligation runs until the immigrant naturalizes, earns 40 qualifying quarters of Social Security work credit, permanently leaves the country, or dies.

Employer Identification Number

You need an EIN from the IRS to file household employment taxes and to complete the I-140 petition. Apply online at no cost.

Step 1: PERM Labor Certification

Before USCIS considers your petition, the Department of Labor must certify that no qualified U.S. worker is available and that hiring a foreign worker won’t undercut American wages or conditions. This is usually the longest single stage.

Prevailing Wage Determination

Start with a request to the DOL’s National Prevailing Wage Center for the official wage floor for the job title and location. As of early 2026, the NPWC is working through requests filed roughly three months earlier.⁹

Recruitment

Once you have the prevailing wage, you have to genuinely test the U.S. labor market. For a nonprofessional occupation like caregiving, the minimum recruitment steps are:

A 30-day job order with the State Workforce Agency serving the area of the job.
Two Sunday newspaper ads in the paper of general circulation most likely to reach qualified workers (or the widest-circulation edition if there is no Sunday paper).
A notice of the PERM filing posted at the worksite for at least 10 consecutive business days where workers can see it.

Recruitment must finish at least 30 days, but no more than 180 days, before you file the PERM application.¹⁰ Every U.S. applicant who responds must be evaluated, and any rejection has to be documented and grounded in the job requirements you listed. You cannot shape the requirements around the caregiver you already have in mind.

Filing Form ETA-9089

After the waiting period, you file Form ETA-9089 electronically with the DOL. Keep all recruitment records, resumes, and rejection letters for at least five years in case of audit. Average processing time in early 2026 runs approximately 503 calendar days for analyst review.⁹ Audited cases take longer.

Step 2: The I-140 Immigrant Petition

When the DOL certifies PERM, you file Form I-140 with USCIS to confirm the offer is genuine, you can pay the wage, and the caregiver meets the position’s qualifications.¹¹

Fees:

Base filing fee: $715.
Asylum Program Fee: $600 for most employers, reduced for small employers with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, and waived for qualifying nonprofits.¹²
Premium processing (optional): $2,965 as of March 1, 2026, which guarantees USCIS action within 15 business days.¹³¹⁴

Without premium processing, expect many months. USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence. Approval of the I-140 does not by itself make a visa available; your priority date, set when DOL accepted the PERM, still has to become current.

Step 3: Consular Processing in Manila

When the I-140 is approved and the priority date is current, the case moves to the National Visa Center and then to the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

The caregiver completes Form DS-260 online. The NVC charges a $345 immigrant visa processing fee for employment-based applicants, plus a $120 Affidavit of Support review fee when applicable.¹⁵

Before the interview, the caregiver takes a medical exam at an authorized clinic. St. Luke’s Medical Center Extension Clinic, the designated facility for U.S. immigrant visa applicants, charges approximately ₱28,650 (about $500) for adults, including tuberculosis screening by IGRA blood test and any additional tests required by the CDC.¹⁶

At the interview, the consular officer reviews the DS-260 confirmation, approved I-140, National Bureau of Investigation clearance, civil documents, and medical results. If the visa is issued, the caregiver pays a $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee online before traveling; it covers green card production.¹⁷

Philippine Government Clearances

The Philippine Department of Migrant Workers regulates overseas employment of Filipino citizens, and the caregiver must clear several requirements before leaving.

Every departing worker needs an Overseas Employment Certificate. The OEC certifies that recruitment and paperwork are in order and exempts the holder from travel tax and airport terminal fees.¹⁸ It is one-time-use and valid for 60 days, so it has to be timed against travel. The DMW must verify the employment contract for pay, hours, and conditions before releasing it.

OWWA membership is also required, providing insurance, repatriation assistance, and welfare programs for Filipino workers abroad. The caregiver will also need a valid Philippine passport, NBI clearance, and civil documents such as a birth certificate.

Philippine law generally requires overseas workers to be placed through licensed recruitment agencies. A U.S. household hiring directly falls under the DMW’s direct hire process, which carries extra scrutiny and documentation. The contract must be verified before the OEC issues. An immigration attorney familiar with both U.S. and Philippine rules is worth the money at this stage.

Your Obligations Once the Caregiver Arrives

The day work starts, you become a household employer with all that entails.

Form I-9

Complete Form I-9 within three business days of the first day of work. Physically examine the caregiver’s original identity and work authorization documents, and keep the form for one year after employment ends or three years after the hire date, whichever is later.¹⁹

Payroll Taxes

Household employers owe Social Security and Medicare tax once cash wages reach $3,000 in the calendar year. Social Security is 6.2% each for employer and employee on wages up to $184,500 in 2026; Medicare is 1.45% each with no cap; an additional 0.9% Medicare tax applies to employee wages above $200,000. Federal unemployment (FUTA) applies once household wages hit $1,000 in any calendar quarter, at an effective 0.6% on the first $7,000 per employee, paid entirely by you.²⁰ Many states add their own unemployment and disability taxes.

Wages and Hours

You must pay at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked. A live-in caregiver is exempt from federal overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, though minimum wage still applies to every hour worked.²¹ You and the caregiver may agree to exclude sleeping time, meal periods, and blocks of free time from paid hours, but any interruption by a call to duty must be paid. A caregiver who lives elsewhere is entitled to overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 per week. Many states set higher minimum wages and some do not recognize the live-in overtime exemption, so check your state’s rules.

Workers’ compensation rules for domestic employees vary widely by state, from full exemption to mandatory coverage above a threshold. Check your state’s workers’ compensation board.

Timeline and Total Cost

From filing to arrival, a Filipino caregiver on EB-3 realistically takes five to seven years or more. The stages roughly break down as:

Prevailing wage determination: 3 to 6 months.
Recruitment and PERM: 2 to 3 months of recruitment, then approximately 16+ months of DOL processing.⁹
I-140 petition: several months, or about 15 business days with premium processing.
Visa backlog: currently 4 to 5+ years for Filipino “Other Workers.”⁵
Consular processing: several months after the priority date is current.

Government filing fees run roughly $2,000 to $3,000 total: the PERM filing, the I-140 ($715 base plus $600 asylum fee), consular processing ($345 plus $120 for I-864 review), and the $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee. Premium processing adds $2,965. Attorney fees, which most households will need, typically run several thousand dollars more. The caregiver’s Manila medical exam is about ₱28,650. None of that includes the prevailing wage you will pay once the caregiver starts, or the ongoing payroll taxes.

1
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2
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3
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8
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17
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19
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20
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21
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