If you’re interested in coming to the United States to live and work on a permanent basis as a green card holder, an EB visa may be the right option for you.
Approximately 140,000 immigrant visas are available each year for newcomers and their families or immediate relatives who seek to immigrate to the US based on their skills, professional experience and education. If you have the right combination of skills, education, and/or work experience, you may be eligible for one of the five types of employment-based visas, also called EB visas. Below we will explore the main types of EB visas.
Employment First Preference: EB-1 Visa
The EB-1 Visa was designed for those who have an extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a multinational executive or manager.
Extraordinary Ability – you must be able to demonstrate extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim. Achievements must also be recognized in your field through extensive documentation and/or letters of support.
Outstanding Professor or Researcher – You must demonstrate international recognition for your outstanding achievements in a particular academic field, and have at least three years of experience in teaching or researching in that academic area. You must be entering the US to pursue tenure, a tenure track teaching, or comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education. You must also have a job offer from a university, institution of higher learning, or department, division, or institute of a private employer.
Multinational Executive or Manager – You must have worked in a managerial or executive capacity for a firm or corporation outside the US for at least one year during the three years before submitting your petition, and you must seek to enter the United States to continue service for that firm or organization. Your employment must have been with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the employer
Employment Second Preference: EB-2 Visa
The EB-2 Visa was designed for those who hold an advanced degree or exceptional ability. Th e EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) type of visa can be obtained by what is called a self-petition or, in other words, without a sponsor or employer.
Advanced Degree – You must have an advanced degree or equivalent, which is a bachelor’s degree plus five years of progressive work experience in the field
Exceptional Ability – You must be able to show exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, which will greatly benefit the U.S. economy, cultural or educational interests, or welfare in the future. Exceptional ability means, “a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business.”
Employment Third Preference: EB-3 Visa
You may be eligible for an EB-3 visa if you are classified as a skilled worker, professional, or other worker depending upon your education, skills, and work experience.
Skilled Workers – persons whose jobs require a minimum of 2 years of training or work experience that are not temporary or seasonal.
Professionals – members of the professions whose jobs require at least a baccalaureate degree from a U.S. university or college or its foreign equivalent degree.
Unskilled Workers (Other Workers) – persons capable of filling positions that require less than two years of training or experience that are not temporary or seasonal.
Employment Fourth Preference: EB-4 Visa
EB-4 visas apply to special immigrants. The different types of special immigrants include:
Religious workers;
Panama Canal Company Employees, Canal Zone Government Employees, or US Government in the Canal Zone Employees;
Physicians;
G-4 International Organization Employees or Family Members or NATO-6 employees or family members;
Broadcasters;
Afghanistan or Iraq nationals who worked with the US armed forces as a translator
Iraq nationals who worked for or on behalf of the US government in Iraq, or
Afghanistan nationals who worked for or on behalf of the US government or the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan
Employment Fifth Preference: EB-5 Visa
Also known as a type of investor visa, an EB-5 visa applies to a regional center which is an economic unit, public or private, in the US that is involved with promoting economic growth. These regional centers are designated by USCIS for participation in the Immigrant Investor Program.
Need An Immigration Attorney To Help You With Your EB Visa Application?
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