Employment Based Immigration

You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you are an alien of extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a certain multinational executive or manager. Each occupational category has certain requirements that must be met.

The EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) is a green card pathway that allows certain professionals to apply without being sponsored by a U.S. employer. Instead of relying on a specific job offer, the applicant must show that their future work in the United States serves the national interest.

In practice, NIW shifts the focus away from who hires you and toward what you plan to do and why it matters to the country as a whole. This makes NIW particularly suitable for researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and professionals whose work is not confined to a single employer or role.

You may be eligible for an employment-based, second-preference visa if you are a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or a person who has exceptional ability.

You may be eligible for this immigrant visa preference category if you are a skilled worker, professional, or other worker.

Skilled workers are persons who are capable of performing skilled labor and whose job requires at least 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature. Skilled workers must also meet any educational, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity. Relevant post-secondary education may be considered as training.

Professionals are persons who hold at least a U.S. bachelor's or foreign equivalent degree and are a member of the professions. Their jobs require a minimum of a bachelor's degree. Professionals must also meet any educational, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity.

Other workers (also called unskilled workers) are persons capable of performing unskilled labor whose job requires less than 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature. Other workers must also meet any educational, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity.

The H-1B visa is one of the most popular employment-based visas for individuals who wish to obtain a temporary visa to work in the United States. It is a nonimmigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. To qualify, the foreign worker must have a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in a specialized field.

To obtain an H-1B visa, the employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of the foreign worker. The petition must include evidence that the job requires specialized knowledge, as well as proof of the foreign worker's qualifications.

The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.

The O nonimmigrant classifications are commonly referred to as:

• O-1A: Individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics (not including the arts, motion pictures, or television industry)
• O-1B: Individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts, or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry
• O-2: Individuals who will accompany an O-1 artist or athlete to assist in a specific event or performance
• O-3: Individuals who are the spouse or children of O-1 and O-2 visa holders

The L-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa category in the United States designed for intracompany transferees. It allows multinational companies to transfer certain employees from their foreign offices to work in the U.S. temporarily.

The L-1 visa is a popular choice for multinational companies to transfer key personnel to the United States, allowing them to manage operations, oversee projects, and share specialized knowledge while maintaining the company's global presence.

L-1A — Executive/Manager

A foreign national employee who will be transferred to the US in an executive or managerial capacity may obtain an L-1A visa. It is initially issued for a three-year period and may be extended up to a total of seven years. An intracompany manager/executive has greater options for green card processing, as long as they have one year of executive/managerial experience with the company abroad prior to coming to the US. Generally, the L-1A manager will need to manage professional subordinate employees, but "functional manager" cases can also be approved. Time spent out of the US while on an L-1A can be added to the time an L-1A employee can work in the US (referred to as recapture).

L-1B — Specialized Knowledge

A foreign national employee who will be transferred to the United States to fill a role that requires specialized or advanced knowledge — gained outside the US with a related company — may obtain an L-1B visa. Specialized knowledge means special knowledge of the petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets that is distinct or uncommon compared to that generally found in the industry; advanced knowledge means expertise in the organization's specific processes and procedures that are not commonly found in the relevant industry. The L-1B visa may be granted for an initial three-year period and extended up to a total of five years, with time spent outside the US eligible for recapture. L-1B applications have faced extensive additional scrutiny from USCIS in recent years, so approval isn't guaranteed even in cases that clearly fit this test. The green card process for L-1B workers usually requires PERM Labor Certification.

Ministers and non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations may come to the U.S. temporarily to perform religious work. An R-1 nonimmigrant is someone coming to the United States temporarily to work at least part time (an average of at least 20 hours per week) as a minister or in a religious vocation or occupation, employed by a:

• Non-profit religious organization in the United States
• Religious organization that is authorized by a group tax exemption holder to use its group tax exemption
• Non-profit organization which is affiliated with a religious denomination in the United States

To qualify, you must have been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States for at least two years immediately before filing the petition.

U.S. immigration law provides aliens with a variety of ways to become lawful permanent residents (get a Green Card) through employment in the United States. These employment-based (EB) "preference immigrant" categories include:

• First preference (EB-1) – priority workers
  • Aliens with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics
  • Outstanding professors and researchers
  • Certain multinational managers and executives
• Second preference (EB-2) – aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or who have exceptional ability (including requests for national interest waivers)
• Third preference (EB-3) – skilled workers, professionals, or other workers

The E-2 nonimmigrant classification allows a national of a treaty country — a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation, a qualifying international agreement, or which has been deemed a qualifying country by legislation — to be admitted to the United States when investing a substantial amount of capital in a U.S. business. Certain employees of such a person or of a qualifying organization may also be eligible for this classification.