Employment-Based Green Card Attorney

Foreign nationals can get employment-based immigrant visas if they qualify under one of the five preference categories under the U.S. immigration law:

This is reserved for top performers in their fields. It doesn’t require labor certification. Processing is often faster than other categories, though visa backlogs may apply depending on the country of chargeability.

These are the three types:

• EB-1A (Extraordinary Ability): This is for foreigners who possess extraordinary ability in athletics, business, science, education, and the arts. Applicants must meet three out of 10 USCIS criteria, such as high salary, publications, critical roles, and awards. EB-1A allows self-petition with no employer sponsorship needed.
• EB-1B (Outstanding Professors and Researchers): This is for individuals with at least three years of experience and international recognition as outstanding in their academic field. They must have a job offer for a tenured or comparable research position at a university.
• EB-1C (Multinational Executives and Managers): This is for multinational executives and managers transferring to an American affiliate, parent company, or subsidiary. They must have worked abroad in a managerial or executive capacity for at least a year within the last three years.

This category serves professionals with advanced degrees and people with exceptional ability. It generally requires labor certification unless one qualifies for a National Interest Waiver (NIW).

These are the types of EB-2:

• EB-2 (Advanced Degree or Exceptional Ability): For professionals with an advanced degree - master’s or higher, or a bachelor’s degree and five years of experience - and those who show exceptional ability in business, sciences, and arts.
• EB-2 (National Interest Waiver or NIW): For individuals whose proposed endeavor contains substantial merit and is of national importance. As determined by the standards established in Matter of Dhanasar, the applicants must show they’re well-positioned to advance the said endeavor and that refusing the labor certification requirements and the job offer will greatly benefit the U.S. Qualified applicants, such as physicians, researchers, and entrepreneurs, can self-petition without employer sponsorship.

This is the broadest employment-based category. Labor certification is a must for all three groups of EB-3 applicants:

• Skilled Workers: Foreign nationals performing jobs that require at least two years of training or work experience.
• Professionals: They hold a bachelor’s or a baccalaureate degree for a role that requires the same level of education.
• Other Workers: Unskilled workers performing jobs that need less than two years of training. This subcategory may face longer waiting times due to high demand and limited visa availability.

Applicants must provide proof of qualifications if they’re a skilled worker or their degree if they’re a professional.

This category is for special immigrants who don’t fit the standard employment-based structure. They typically include:​

• Religious Workers: These include members of a religious denomination that perform both ministerial and non-ministerial religious vocations.
• Special Immigrant Juveniles: These are minors in the U.S. who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected and have been placed under juvenile court jurisdiction.
• Broadcasters, certain physicians, Panama Canal employees, and other classifications under immigration law.

If you’re applying for an EB-4 visa, you need to show your proof of organization affiliation, religious worker documentation, and sponsoring entity documents.

This is for investors who generate jobs in the U.S. through a commercial enterprise investment. It has two paths:

• Standard EB-5: This requires a minimum investment of $1,050,000 in a new commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
• Targeted Employment Area EB-5: This needs a reduced investment of $800,000 in a rural or high-unemployment area. It’s a popular path for investors seeking to become permanent residents through a reduced investment threshold.

Show proof of job creation and investment, a business plan, and your source of funds when applying for this visa.

Here’s what you need to show, whether you’re applying for an EB-1 or an EB-5 visa:

• Valid passport
• Government-issued IDs
• Birth certificate (with certified translation if it’s not in English)

File these with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS):

• Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker)
• Form I-485 (Adjustment of Status) or DS-260 (Consular Processing)

• Passport-style photos as specified by the USCIS.

Bring these if applicable:

• Marriage certificate
• Divorce or annulment records

If you’re applying through consular processing, secure police clearance certificates.

• Form I-693 (Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record)

• The file should have your detailed professional history.
• Include projects, achievements, and publications if you’re applying for EB-1 and EB-2.

• Transcripts
• Credential evaluations for foreign degrees
• Diplomas and degrees

• Employment verification letters
• Employment contracts
• Tax records

Contact our lawyers at Hacking Immigration Law, LLC, when you need help with what documents suit your employment-based visa application.

Many employment-based cases don’t move smoothly through the application process. You need specialized legal services from an employment-based immigration attorney for the following situations:

This waiver lets certain professionals with an advanced degree or extraordinary ability to self-petition. It bypasses the labor certification requirement altogether.

To qualify for NIW, you must show that your work is of national importance, has sustained national benefit, and has substantial intrinsic merit.

Multinational manager or executive candidates must show that they’ll serve in an executive or managerial capacity. This role meets strict legal definitions.

Portability rules allow some foreign nationals to change jobs after 180 days without restarting, but with one condition. The new job has to be in the same or a similar specialty occupation.

Visa denials and RFEs are often due to insufficient evidence of your extraordinary ability, labor certification gaps, or failure to meet the eligibility criteria.