Immigration Attorneys / Immigrant Visas –
Employment Based Immigration
Note: EB-2 and EB-3 classifications require:
- Filing of a PERM Labor Certification demonstrating a shortage of U.S. workers
- Once PERM application is approved, filing of I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
- Some applicants may file their Immigrant Visa Petition and Adjustment of Status Application concurrently
- Once you have reached your priority/filing date you may file the Application for Adjustment of Status to Permanent Residence (Green Card) – According to recent USCIS policy, green card applicants are now being interviewed
EB-1
The EB-1 Preference Category consists of:
- Persons of extraordinary ability
- you are allowed to self-petition
- must demonstrate extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim
- must have extensive documentation or highly detailed reference letters
- must be coming to U.S. to continue work in “an extraordinary capacity”
- Outstanding Professors and Researchers
- must be internationally recognized as outstanding in your academic field
- must have three years teaching/researching experience in your field
- must take a tenure or tenure, track position, or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education
- if you are being hired by a private company, the company must employ full-time at least three other persons who engage in research activities and have achieved documented accomplishments
- Executives and Managers of multinational employers
- must have been employed in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one out of the past three years with the company for whom you are working
EB-2
The EB-2 Preference Category consists of:
- Persons of exceptional ability
- must benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural or educational interests, or welfare of the U.S.
- must have a job offer from a U.S. employer to provide services in the arts, sciences, professions, or business.
- most require the approval of a PERM Application
- Persons whose jobs require an advanced university degree or its equivalent
Note: Individuals may self-petition under the EB-2 category for a “National Interest Waiver.” This generally requires:
- you plan on working in the United States in an area of substantial intrinsic merit
- you must show that the proposed impact of your work is national in scope
- you must show waiving the labor certification requirement would benefit the national interests of the United States
EB-3
The EB-3 Preference Category consists of:
- Professionals
- Skilled workers
- Unskilled workers
EB-4
The EB-4 Preference Category consists of:
- Religious workers
- must have been a member of a bona fide non-profit religious denomination for at least two (2) years prior to filing
- must have been continuously working for the past two years in a religious capacity
- must seek to carry out such religious occupation of the employer’s denomination
- Other “special immigrants”
EB-5
The EB-5 Preference Category consists of:
- Investors
- must invest $1 million in a new commercial enterprise and create ten (10) jobs for U.S. workers
- if the enterprise is located in a rural or high-employment area, the amount invested is reduced to $500,000
- subject to a 10,000 visa cap
- must invest $1 million in a new commercial enterprise and create ten (10) jobs for U.S. workers
Family Sponsored
To Qualify for a Family Sponsored Immigration Visa:
- must have a family member who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- U.S. citizens can sponsor spouses, children, adult children, parents, and siblings
- permanent residents may sponsor spouses, children, and unmarried adult sons and daughters
- there is a numerically-limited preference system based for those who are not “immediate relatives”
Political Asylum
To Qualify for Political Asylum:
- you must have a well founded fear of persecution in your home country
- persecution may be based on:
- political opinion
- religion (i.e., Jehovah’s Witness in Russia)
- race
- nationality
- membership in a particular social group – most apply within one (1) year unless you can show changed country conditions or a valid reason for failure to file
- limited to 10,000 Green Cards a year
Diversity Visa Program
To Qualify for an Immigration Visa through the Diversity Visa Program:
- program is a random allocation of 55,000 Green Cards to persons born in designated Countries
- need 12 years of education or;
- 2 years experience as a skilled worker
- Winner’s spouses and children receive Green Cards as well