Immigration Lawyer of San Diego
Every fiscal year, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services makes a limited number immigrant visas available for individuals who wish to move to the United States for full-time employment. Given the limited number of these visas available at any given time, it is extremely important to ensure your application is as airtight as possible if you want to maximize your chances of receiving one.
When it comes to effectively pursuing non-temporary employment visas in San Diego, there is no substitute for the help of an experienced immigration attorney. Once retained, your legal representative could explain the sponsorship requirements and preference tiers for permanent employment visas and help you through the entire application process.
Basic Requirements for Labor Certification
To move to the U.S. through a non-temporary employment-based visa, a prospective worker must have an employer already lined up and willing to sponsor them as a non-U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Sponsorship serves as an affirmation to USCIS that the worker in question will fill the specific position they were hired for and will be compensated at the same rate that a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident would for the same role.
In certain situations, an employer must also receive labor certification from the Department of Labor confirming that there are not enough qualified and willing U.S. workers to fill the position in question, and that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the working conditions or earning potential of other U.S. workers. In addition to helping workers seek permanent employment visas, skilled immigration attorneys could also assist companies seeking to employ foreign workers with obtaining their labor certification and understanding their sponsorship obligations.
The Preference Tiers for Worker Visas
There are five different types permanent employment visas for individuals seeking to immigrate to San Diego or another part of the country. These are numbered from one to five in order of priority. The higher priority a visa category is, the more likely it is for an applicant to be approved and receive one of the limited numbers of visas available each year.
EB-1 visas are only available to individuals with “extraordinary ability” in a specialized area of science, art, education, business, or athletics, while EB-2 visas are meant for individuals with advanced degrees or “exceptional ability” in similar areas. Most skilled workers, unskilled workers, and professionals seeking a permanent employment visa apply for an EB-3 visa, and certain “special immigrants” may apply for an EB-4 visa.
EB-5 visas are somewhat unique, as they are meant not for foreign workers, but rather for foreign investors who intend to invest a significant amount of capital into a U.S.-based commercial enterprise and create a significant number of new jobs in doing so. Guidance from a skilled attorney can be immensely helpful to anyone unsure of which category they might fit into and how that might impact their chances of successfully applying for a visa.
Seek Help from a San Diego Attorney When Applying for a Permanent Employment Visa
Because of how few employment-based visa are made available each year in the first place, a single mistake on your application or failure to provide key information could spell disaster for your employment plans. If you want to give yourself the best possible chances of getting a non-temporary employment visa in San Diego, working with legal counsel may be in your best interests.
A conversation with an immigration attorney could give you answers to all your questions and a clear sense of how best to go about pursuing the visa you need. Call today to learn more or to schedule a private consultation.
