How we built the EB-3 Unskilled Sponsor Database
This page explains exactly how the database is constructed, what an entry means, what an entry does not mean, and how a listed employer can request changes or removal.
1. Source data
Every entry traces back to the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) PERM Form ETA-9089 public disclosure files. DOL publishes these files quarterly (January, April, July, October). We ingest the full dataset — approved, denied, withdrawn, and in-process — and store the raw rows for auditability.
2. The EB-3 unskilled classifier
Each PERM filing carries a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, a job title, a worksite, and the employer's stated minimum requirements. Our classifier flags a filing as likely EB-3 Other Workers (unskilled) when both of the following hold:
- The SOC code falls within an allowlist of occupations historically processed under the EB-3 unskilled category — primarily food preparation and serving, building cleaning and maintenance, healthcare support, agricultural labor, and packing / warehousing roles.
- The stated minimum requirements indicate less than two years of experience or training, consistent with DOL's definition of "Other Worker."
Filings that fall outside that intersection are not surfaced on the public pages. The classifier is heuristic, not authoritative — DOL itself assigns the final visa preference category later in the process. We disclose our classifier rules openly so researchers can reproduce the filter.
3. Public-display thresholds
An employer is shown on the public database only after meeting a minimum filing-volume threshold within the rolling lookback window. The threshold is tuned to suppress one-off filings (which are typically not part of a sustained EB-3 hiring program) and is re-evaluated on every quarterly refresh. If an employer's volume drops below threshold during a refresh, they are automatically removed from public view in the next deploy.
4. Refresh cadence
The database is rebuilt on the same quarterly cadence as the DOL release. The classifier re-runs over the entire dataset on each refresh — re-classified filings, newly added filings, and filings that fall out of the lookback window are all reflected. After each refresh we ping IndexNow so search engines can see the updated set quickly.
5. What a listing does and does not mean
A listing means: the employer obtained DOL approval to test the U.S. labor market for one or more roles in the past, those roles classify under EB-3 Other Workers, and the employer's filing volume passed our public-display threshold.
A listing does not mean: that the employer hired any specific worker, that the employer has any current opening, that the employer is sponsoring new EB-3 workers today, or that Immilink represents or is endorsed by the employer.
6. Removal and correction
A listed company may request removal or correction at any time. Each company profile carries a "This is my company — request removal or correction" link that opens a short form requiring identity attestation from a corporate email domain. We provide a first response and act on verified requests within 5 business days. Acted-on requests are reflected on the next deploy and the underlying employer is added to a permanent exclude list so it does not reappear after the next quarterly refresh.
7. Limitations & honest caveats
- The classifier is heuristic. False positives (employers shown that filed only marginally EB-3-like roles) and false negatives (real EB-3 sponsors filtered out) are both possible.
- DOL data lags by one full quarter. Very recent filings will not appear until the following release.
- We do not infer present-tense hiring intent from past filings.