Employment-Based Green Cards

EB-1: Green Card through Employment

The EB-1 visa, a first preference employment-based category, is tailored for individuals who have ascended to the pinnacle of their respective professions. It encompasses three distinct classifications delineated below.

EB-1A Extraordinary Ability: Unleashing a demonstration of extraordinary prowess in the realms of sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, you must bask in sustained national or international acclaim. Your field should reverberate with the echoes of your achievements, substantiated by meticulous documentation. Notably, no offer of employment is a prerequisite for this category.

EB-1B Outstanding Professors and Researchers: To secure eligibility, you must illuminate the international stage with recognition for your stellar accomplishments in a specific academic field. Accumulating a minimum of three years of teaching or research experience within that academic domain is essential. Your pilgrimage to the United States should be motivated by the pursuit of tenure or a tenure-track position, whether in teaching or a commensurate research role, at a university or another bastion of higher education.

EB-1C Multinational Manager or Executive: Having plied your professional trade beyond the borders of the United States for at least one of the past three years leading up to the petition, your association must be with a firm or organization. Your envisioned journey to the United States should be characterized by a continuation of service to the same firm or organization. The annals of your employment history abroad should reflect a managerial or executive role, maintained with either the identical employer or its affiliate or subsidiary.

EB-2: Green Card through Employment

The EB-2 visa, a second preference employment-based option, caters to professionals with advanced degrees or their equivalent, as well as foreign nationals boasting exceptional abilities.

National Interest Waiver

For those seeking a national interest waiver, the endeavor involves sidestepping the Labor Certification Process, all in the name of the United States’ interest. The unique aspect here is that individuals aiming for a national interest waiver can initiate the process themselves, negating the need for an employer to sponsor them.

Criteria for Exceptional Ability:

Establishing exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business requires a foreign national to fulfill a minimum of three criteria among the following. First, they must possess an official academic record that manifests a degree, diploma, certificate, or a similar recognition from an educational institution associated with their area of exceptional ability. Second, validation through letters documenting a decade of full-time experience in the respective occupation is essential. Additionally, professional licensing or certification is a crucial criterion to meet. Demonstrating proof of receiving compensation that underscores exceptional ability further solidifies the case. Membership in pertinent professional associations and recognition by peers, government bodies, or professional and business organizations for noteworthy contributions to the industry or field also contribute to establishing exceptional ability. The comprehensive fulfillment of these criteria collectively substantiates the foreign national’s exceptional ability in their chosen field.

Advanced Degree

The EB-2 stands as a green card avenue within the employment-based category, catering to individuals entrenched in professions mandating advanced degrees or those showcasing exceptional ability. Uniquely, this green card is tethered to employer sponsorship, necessitating the employer to champion the beneficiary’s green card pursuit. It’s worth noting that existing employment with the company is not obligatory for eligibility. Furthermore, the beneficiary can find themselves either within the United States or abroad when seeking this green card.

The versatility of the EB-2 category extends to its applicability in both the PERM (Labor Certification) and National Interest Waiver contexts. For the focus of this page, we delve into the EB-2 through the PERM process. The ensuing chart grapples with the pivotal question of whether the applicant meets the criteria for possessing an advanced degree and/or demonstrating exceptional ability.

For individuals without an advanced degree, there remains an avenue for qualification within this category by showcasing “exceptional ability” in the realms of sciences, arts, or business. Exceptional ability is defined as possessing a level of expertise markedly surpassing the norm in the sciences, arts, or business.

 

EB-3: Green Card through Employment

An EB-3 petition, a third preference employment-based option, is designed for a foreign national employee possessing a bachelor’s degree or, in the absence of a degree, a skilled worker with a minimum of two years of pertinent work experience relevant to the offered position.

Furthermore, a sub-category of the EB-3 visa is tailored for unskilled workers necessitating less than two years of experience.

Skilled Workers

An individual must showcase at least two years of job experience or training and must be involved in work for which qualified U.S. workers are not readily available.

Professionals

Evidencing possession of a U.S. baccalaureate degree or its foreign equivalent is mandatory, and the nature of the work should inherently require a baccalaureate degree for entry, with qualified U.S. workers being scarce.

Unskilled Workers

The ability to perform unskilled labor, requiring less than two years of training or experience and not of a temporary or seasonal nature, for which qualified U.S. workers are not available.