One of the most widely used methods to obtain permanent resident status in the United States is through employment. There are five classifications for employment-based immigration.
First Preference EB-1
You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you have an extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a multinational executive or manager. Each occupational category has certain requirements that must be met.
Aliens of Extraordinary Ability
You must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim. Your achievements must be recognized in your field through extensive documentation. No offer of employment is required.
You Must Provide Evidence of a One-Time Achievement (i.e., Pulitzer, Oscar, Olympic Medal), or Meet 3 of the 10 Following Criteria to Prove Extraordinary in Your Field:
- Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence
- Evidence of your membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members
- Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media
- Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel
- Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field
- Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media
- Evidence that your work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases
- Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations
- Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field
- Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts
Outstanding Professors and Researchers
Researchers or professors who are internationally recognized as “outstanding” in a specific academic area.
You must demonstrate international recognition for your outstanding achievements in a particular academic field. You must have at least 3 years’ experience in teaching or research in that academic area. You must be entering the United States in order to pursue tenure or tenure track teaching or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education.
You must include documentation of at least 2 of 6 following criteria and an offer of employment from the prospective U.S. employer:
- Evidence of receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement
- Evidence of membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievement.
- Evidence of published material in professional publications written by others about the alien’s work in the academic field.
- Evidence of participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field.
- Evidence of original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field.
- Evidence of authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field.
Multinational Executives and Managers
Executives or managers, who have been employed abroad by a multinational company, may transfer permanently to assume executive or managerial positions in the U.S. subsidiary, parent, affiliate or branch office.
You must have been employed outside the United States in the 3 years preceding the petition for at least 1 year by a firm or corporation and you must be seeking to enter the United States to continue service to that firm or organization. Your employment must have been outside the United States in a managerial or executive capacity and with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the employer.
Your petitioning employer must be a U.S. employer. Your employer must have been doing business for at least 1 year, as an affiliate, a subsidiary, or as the same corporation or other legal entity that employed you abroad.
Second Preference EB-2
You may be eligible for an employment-based, second preference visa if you are a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or a foreign national who has exceptional ability. Below are the occupational categories and requirements.
Advanced Degree Holders
Foreign national must hold a Master’s degree or its equivalent and have a qualifying job offer from a U.S. employer.
The job you apply for must require an advanced degree and you must possess such a degree or its equivalent (a baccalaureate degree plus 5 years progressive work experience in the field).
Documentation, such as an official academic record showing that you have a U.S. advanced degree or a foreign equivalent degree, or an official academic record showing that you have a U.S. baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree and letters from current or former employers showing that you have at least 5 years of progressive post-baccalaureate work experience in the specialty.
The Petition must generally be accompanied by an approved, individual labor certification from the Department of Labor on Form ETA-9089.
Exceptional Ability
You must be able to show exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Exceptional ability “means a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business.
You Must Meet at Least Three of the Criteria Below:
- Official academic record showing that you have a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning relating to your area of exceptional ability
- Letters documenting at least 10 years of full-time experience in your occupation
- A license to practice your profession or certification for your profession or occupation
- Evidence that you have commanded a salary or other remuneration for services that demonstrates your exceptional ability
- Membership in a professional association(s)
- Recognition for your achievements and significant contributions to your industry or field by your peers, government entities, professional or business organizations
- Other comparable evidence of eligibility is also acceptable
National Interest Waiver
Foreign nationals who have exceptional ability and whose employment in the United States would greatly benefit the country.
Aliens seeking a national interest waiver are requesting that the Labor Certification be waived because it is in the interest of the United States. Though the jobs that qualify for a national interest waiver are not defined by statute, national interest waivers are usually granted to those who have exceptional ability (see above) and whose employment in the United States would greatly benefit the national interest. Those seeking a national interest waiver may self-petition (they do not need an employer to sponsor them) and may file their labor certification directly with USCIS along with their Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.
You must meet at least three of the criteria below and demonstrate that it is in the national interest that you work permanently in the United States:
- Official academic record showing that you have a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning relating to your area of exceptional ability
- Letters documenting at least 10 years of full-time experience in your occupation
- A license to practice your profession or certification for your profession or occupation
- Evidence that you have commanded a salary or other remuneration for services that demonstrates your exceptional ability
- Membership in a professional association(s)
- Recognition for your achievements and significant contributions to your industry or field by your peers, government entities, professional or business organizations
- Other comparable evidence of eligibility is also acceptable
Third Preference EB-3
You may be eligible for this immigrant visa preference category if you are a skilled worker, professional, or other worker.
“Skilled Workers” are persons whose job requires a minimum of 2 years training or work experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature.
“Professionals” are persons whose job requires at least a U.S. baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent and are a member of the professions.
The “Other Workers” subcategory is for persons performing unskilled labor requiring less than 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature.
Skilled Workers
- You must be able to demonstrate at least 2 years of job experience or training
- You must be performing work for which qualified workers are not available in the United States
- Labor certification and a permanent, full-time job offer required
Professionals
- You must be able to demonstrate that you possess a U.S. baccalaureate degree or foreign degree equivalent, and that a baccalaureate degree is the normal requirement for entry into the occupation
- You must be performing work for which qualified workers are not available in the United States
- Education and experience may not be substituted for a baccalaureate degree
- Labor certification and a permanent, full-time job offer required
Unskilled Workers (Other Workers)
- You must be capable, at the time the petition is filed on your behalf, of performing unskilled labor (requiring less than 2 years training or experience), that is not of a temporary or seasonal nature, for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.
- Labor certification and a permanent, full-time job offer required
Fourth Preference EB-4
You may be eligible for an employment-based, fourth preference visa if you are a special immigrant, including religious workers and persons seeking reacquisition of U.S. citizenship and returning residents who have been outside the U.S. for an extended period of time.
The special immigrant religious worker category is one of several employment-based fourth-preference (EB-4) visa classifications.
Non-Minister Religious Worker Cap: There is a statutory numerical limit, (or “cap”) of 5,000 workers who may be issued a special immigrant non-minister religious worker visa during each fiscal year. There is no cap for special immigrant religious workers entering the United States solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister.
Sunset Date for Non-Minister Religious Workers: There is a sunset date for special immigrant non-minister religious workers, i.e. the final date by which special immigrant non-minister religious workers must immigrate or adjust status to permanent resident. On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed Public Law 111-83 extending the non-minister special immigrant religious worker program through September 29, 2012. The extended category covers special immigrant religious workers within a religious vocation or occupation engaged in either a professional or non-professional capacity. The extended date also applies to accompanying spouses and children of these non-minister special immigrant religious workers. Special Immigrants entering the United States solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister, and their accompanying spouses and children are not affected by this sunset date.
To Qualify as a Special Immigrant Religious Worker, the Foreign National Must:
- Seek to enter the United States to work in a full time (average of at least 35 hours per week) compensated (salaried or non-salaried) position for a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States (or a bona fide organization that is affiliated with the religious denomination)
- Solely as a minister of that religious denomination;
- In a religious vocation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity; or
- In a religious occupation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity.
- Have been a member of a religious denomination that has a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States for at least the 2 years immediately preceding the filing of a petition for this status with USCIS; and
- Have been working in one of the positions described above, either abroad or in lawful immigration status in the United States, and after the age of 14 years continuously for at least 2 years immediately preceding the filing of a petition with USCIS.
Fifth Preference EB-5
Foreign Investors who Purchase or Create a new US Enterprise:
- Invest or be actively in the process of investing US$1 million (may be as little as US $500,000 for investment in a targeted employment area)
- Create at least 10 new full-time positions for US citizen or immigrant workers within 2 years