EMPLOYMENT BASED IMMIGRATION
Permanent Residency Through U.S. Employment
E ach fiscal year, 140,000 foreign nationals get an opportunity to obtain U.S. permanent residency through employment.
In order to qualify for an employment-based green card, a foreign national must have relevant educational and professional background and secure a full time job offer from a U.S. employer who will be willing to sponsor an immigrant visa petition for the candidate.
In majority of cases, this is a complex process that includes dealing with labor certification application and approval, posting job listings and advertising the vacancy in local media outlets, interviewing other potential candidates for the position and providing evidence that U.S. workers are not qualified enough to meet the position requirements.
Employment-based green cards can be broken down into five preference categories:
- Employment first preference (EB-1) – priority workers;
- Employment second preference (EB-2) – workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability;
- Employment third preference (EB-3) – professionals, skilled workers, or unskilled workers;
- Employment fourth preference (EB-4) – religious workers and various miscellaneous categories of workers/special immigrants;
- Employment fifth preference (EB-5) – foreign investors willing to invest funds in a U.S. business or regional center in a rural or economically depressed area.