EB-3 agencies: whose name is on the file, and what happened to their cases

EB3 VISA For Bangladeshi - EB3 VISA Visa Agency in BangladeshThe video is older than this article, which was researched separately, so the two may not cover exactly the same ground.

Everyone offers the same advice about EB-3 agencies: find a good one. Nobody says what good means or how you would tell.

Here is a different way at it. The DOL PERM file records the attorney or agent on every case, and it records how the case ended. So you can count whose hands the cases passed through, and how many survived.

First, what the name in the file means

The file records the attorney or agent of record, meaning whoever filed with DOL on the employer's behalf. The agent in Dhaka taking your money does not appear.

It is still worth counting, because Bangladeshi cases run through a small number of hands, and those hands have very different records.

Who filed the Bangladeshi cases in FY2024

Filed by	Cases	Still valid	Denied	Denial rate
No attorney listed	540	195	63	11.7%
American International Immigration Law	463	90	129	27.9%
Ruby Law Group	94	35	1	1.1%
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy	90	9	2	2.2%
American Investor Immigration Law	58	0	34	58.6%
Rodney Bernstein	27	16	1	3.7%
Law Offices of Gary J. Kim	24	0	0	0%
Aum & Lee	19	12	0	0%

Two things stand out.

The concentration. The two names beginning "American" account for 521 cases between them, roughly a third of every Bangladeshi PERM filing that year.

The spread in outcomes. Same country, broadly similar job types. One firm denied at 1.1%, another at 58.6%. More than fifty times the difference.

This is not an accusation I am not saying anyone acted improperly. Case mixes differ, employers differ, there may be other explanations. I am counting what the public file records. You can count it yourself; the file is published.

The employer side is starker

The same file names the employer. Count that and the pattern sharpens.

Employer	Bangladeshi cases	Still valid at the end
GDI Services Inc.	150	0
Controlled Contamination Services	143	47
Labor Guys, LLC	101	16
HES Facilities, LLC	41	0, all 41 denied
Cleanstar National Inc	34	0, all 34 denied
LRC2 Management	35	0, all expired

150 Bangladeshis queued through GDI Services. 140 certifications issued, none used. The other 10 denied. Not one of the 150 advanced.

If each of those 150 paid 20 lakh, that is 30 crore taka.

So how do you choose

I will not recommend an agency and could not responsibly do so. But there are questions you need answered.

1. What is the employer's name

The most important question, and the one most often deflected. "A hotel in Texas" is not an answer.

With a name you can search the DOL file yourself and see how many cases that company has filed and how they ended. That is exactly how the table above was built.

2. Who does the attorney act for

In a PERM case, the employer. That is the structure, not a trick. But it means nobody is watching your side.

20 CFR 656.12(b) permits you to retain your own separate counsel. It costs money, though little against 20 lakh.

3. Is the fee broken down in writing

No line may be PERM advertising, the DOL filing, or the employer's attorney. If one is, the law is being broken.

4. Can the employer prove ability to pay

The single largest cause of I-140 denial. A real sponsor has the tax returns and audited accounts ready.

5. What timeline are they quoting

Under four years is a lie. PERM alone took a median of 392 days for Bangladeshi cases, and the visa queue comes after that.

The point

Legitimate agencies exist. So do good attorneys; the table above shows one running a 1% denial rate.

But the only way to check "good" is names and numbers, not trust and a referral from someone you know. The file is public. Given a name, you can check it yourself.