U.S. Employment Based Immigrant Visas
My employer would like to file an immigrant petition on my behalf.
Employment based immigration to the United States is subject to an annual
limitation of available visas. A total minimum of 140,000 immigrant visas yearly
are available for this category which is divided into five preference groups (percent
of yearly limit in brackets):
- Priority Workers: Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts,
education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and certain
multinational executives and managers (28.6%).
- Members of the Professions:
Professionals holding advanced degrees, and persons of exceptional ability in the
sciences, arts, and business (28.6%).
- Professionals, Skilled and Unskilled
Workers: Professionals holding baccalaureate degrees, skilled workers with at
least two years experience, and other workers whose skills are in short supply in
the United States (28.6%).
- Special Immigrants: Certain religious workers,
ministers of religion, certain international organization employees and their immediate
family members, and qualified, recommended current and former U.S. Government employees.
(7.1%).
- Investors: Persons who create employment for at least ten unrelated
persons by investing capital in a new commercial enterprise in the United States.
The minimum capital required is between $500,000 and $1,000,000, depending on the
employment rate in the geographic area (7.1%).
Applying for the Visas:
Certain applicants such as priority workers, investors, certain special
immigrants, and diversity immigrants can petition on their own behalf. All others,
generally, must have an agent or potential employer petition for them.
Prior to filing a petition with the INS, the potential employer for
members of the profession, 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 U.S.
Numerical Limitations
Whenever there are more qualified applicants for a category than there
are available numbers, the category will be considered oversubscribed, and immigrant
visas will be issued in the chronological order in which the petitions were filed
until the numerical limit for the category is reached. The filing date of a petition
becomes the priority date. Immigrant visas cannot be issued until an applicant's
priority date is reached. In certain oversubscribed categories, there may be a waiting
period of several years before a priority date is reached.
Rosenblatt Associates can help a U.S. employer and prospective
employee determine whether the employment-based visa petition should be one for
an immigrant, a nonimmigrant or both. We can also prepare all paperwork for filing
with the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service,
and the U.S. State Department.
Additionally, an individual who believes he or she may be a candidate
for independent immigration to the United States under either the priority worker,
investor, or special immigrant category, may wish to
contact Rosenblatt Associates for help in determining what the chances
are of having an independent immigrant petition granted. We can also prepare all
paperwork for filing with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the
U.S. State Department
Free Personalized United States Immigration Assessment
