Immigrant Visas

Employment based Immigrants Visas

A total of 140,000 immigrant visas yearly are available for this category which is divided into five preference groups: (Percent of yearly limit in parentheses)

1. First Preference (E1):

Priority Workers receive 28.6 percent of the yearly worldwide limit. All Priority Workers must be the beneficiaries of an approved Form I- 140 , Immigrant Petition for Foreign Worker, filed with INS. Within this preference there are three sub-groups:

Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Applicants in this category must have extensive documentation showing sustained national or international acclaim and recognition in the field of expertise. Such applicants do not have to have a specific job offer so long as they are entering the U.S. to continue work in the field in which they have extraordinary ability. Such applicants can file their own petition with the INS, rather than through an employer;

Outstanding professors and researchers with at least three years experience in teaching or research, who are recognized internationally. No labor certification is required for this classification, but the prospective employer must provide a job offer and file a petition with the INS; and

Certain executives and managers who have been employed at least one of the three preceding years by the overseas affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or branch of the U.S. employer. The applicant must be coming to work in a managerial or executive capacity. No labor certification is required for this classification, but the prospective employer must provide a job offer and file a petition with the INS.

2. Second Preference (E2):

Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees, or Persons of Exceptional Ability in the Arts, Sciences, or Business receive 28.6 percent of the yearly worldwide limit, plus any unused Employment First Preference visas. All Second Preference applicants must have a labor certification approved by the DOL, or Schedule A designation, or establish that they qualify for one of the shortage occupations in the Labor Market Information Pilot Program (later). A job offer is required and the U.S. employer must file a petition on behalf of the applicant. Aliens may apply for exemption from the job offer and labor certification if the exemption would be in the national interest, in which case the alien may file the petition, Form I-140 , along with evidence of the national interest. There are two subgroups within this category:

Professionals holding an advanced degree (beyond a baccalaureate degree), or a baccalaureate degree and at least five years progressive experience in the profession; and

Persons with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business. Exceptional ability means having a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered within the field.

3. Third Preference (E3):

Skilled Workers, Professionals Holding Baccalaureate Degrees and Other Workers receive 28.6 percent of the yearly worldwide limit, plus any unused Employment First and Second Preference visas. All Third Preference applicants require an approved I-140 petition filed by the prospective employer. All such workers require a labor certification, or Schedule A designation, or evidence that they qualify for one of the shortage occupations in the Labor Market Information Pilot Program. There are three subgroups within this category:

Skilled workers are persons capable of performing a job requiring at least two years' training or experience;

Professionals with a baccalaureate degree are members of a profession with at least a university bachelor's degree; and

Other workers are those persons capable of filling positions requiring less than two years' training or experience.

4. Fourth Preference (E4):

Special Immigrants receive 7.1 percent of the yearly worldwide limit. All such applicants must be the beneficiary of an approved I-360, Petition for Special Immigrant, except overseas employees of the U.S. Government who must use Form DS-1884. There are six subgroups:

Religious workers coming to carry on the vocation of a minister of religion, or to work in a professional capacity in a religious vocation, or to work for a tax-exempt organization affiliated with a religious denomination;

Certain overseas employees of the U.S. Government;

Former employees of the Panama Canal Company;

Retired employees of international organizations:

Certain dependents of international organization employees;

Certain members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

5. Fifth Preference (E5):

Persons who create employment for at least ten unrelated persons by investing capital in a new commercial enterprise in the United States. The minimum amount of capital required is between $500,000 and $1,000,000, depending on the employment rate in the geographic area. Employment Creation Investors receive 7.1 percent of the yearly worldwide limit. All applicants must file a Form I-526 , Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, with the INS. To qualify, an alien must invest between U.S. $500,000 and $1,000,000, depending on the employment rate in the geographical area, in a commercial enterprise in the United States which creates at least 10 new full-time jobs for U.S. citizens, permanent resident aliens, or other lawful immigrants, not including the investor and his or her family.

Labor Certification

A person whose occupation requires a labor certification must have prearranged employment in the United States.

Individual Labor Certification

The applicant must complete DOL Form ETA-750B, Statement of Qualifications of Alien, and send this completed form to the prospective employer who completes Form ETA-750A, Application for Alien Employment Certification, Offer of Employment. The prospective employer submits both forms to the local office of the State Employment Service in the area in the United States where the work will be performed. The employer will then be notified by the appropriate regional office of the DOL of its approval or disapproval.

Schedule A Designation

The Department of Labor has made a schedule of occupations for which it delegates authority to the INS to approve labor certifications. Schedule A, Group I, includes physical therapists and nurses. Schedule A, Group II includes aliens of exceptional ability in the sciences and arts (except performing arts). To apply for Schedule A designation, the employer must submit a completed, uncertified Form ETA-750 in duplicate to the INS along with the I-140petition.

Labor Market Information Pilot Program

The Immigration Act of 1990 provides for the DOL to establish a Labor Market Information Pilot Program which will define up to ten occupational classifications in which there are labor shortages. For aliens within a listed shortage occupation, a labor certification will be deemed to have been issued for purposes of an employment-based immigrant petition. The INS can provide further information.

Steps to be taken in applying for immigrant visa.

Applicants for employment-based immigrant visas, who believe they are entitled to immigrant status based on proposed employment in the United States, require an approved petition(Form I - 140)from the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the United States. Persons described above as Priority Workers may petition on their own behalf with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, while others must have their prospective employers file the petitions. Prior to filing a petition with the Immigration Service, applicants classified as members of the professions, professionals, skilled and unskilled workers, must obtain certifications from the Department of Labor that there are no qualified workers available for the proposed employment in the United States.  An investor described above must file a Form I - 526 petition with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.