 Employment
Based Green Cards
An application for an employment based Green Card is made to Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS,
formerly the INS) on a Form I-140. There are three main categories
of employment based Green Cards, summarized below. Most employment
based applications require labor certification. These cases will go
much faster due to the new PERM
regulation.
- The EB-1 category applies to three types of workers: (1)
people of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts,
education, business or athletics; (2) outstanding professors or
researchers; and (3) multinational executives and managers
(similar to the L-1A intra-company transferee). None of these
sub-categories require labor certification. The first
sub-category does not require a job offer; the person can
petition for himself.
- The EB-2 category consists of two groups: (1) people of
exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business; and (2)
members of the professions holding advanced degrees. Generally,
EB-2 cases need both labor certification and a job offer.
However, labor certification and a job offer may be waived if
the employment is in the national interest according to certain
strict standards developed by the former INS and the Administrative Appeals Office.
- The EB-3 category consists of three groups: (1) professionals,
holding a bachelor's degree or higher; (2) skilled workers,
capable of performing work requiring at least two years of
educational, experience or training; and (3) unskilled workers.
All EB-3 cases, other than Schedule A cases (see below), need labor certification and a job
offer.
"Labor certification" means a determination that there are
no U.S. citizens or permanent residents available to do the job offered. If labor certification is required, an application must be made to the Department of Labor and approved before the I-140 can be filed with
the CIS. The new PERM regulation, which
became effective March 28, 2005, revolutionized labor certification. After that date all labor certifications
must be filed
directly with the Department of Labor on a new online form.
All recruitment must be completed before the application is filed.
Recruitment must include two newspaper ads published on a Sunday,
and three additional forms of recruitment for professional
occupations. Processing of PERM applications is now taking about 60
days in most cases. The state offices provide prevailing
wages, but are not otherwise involved in labor certification.
All existing labor certifications continue to be processed as before
by national backlog reduction centers.
Many highly qualified individuals try to skip the labor certification stage by applying in the EB-1 and
National Interest Waiver categories. For more information, see our page on complex business visas.
Also, registered nurses and physical therapists are
pre-certified - they don't need an individual labor
certification. These are known as "Schedule A"
occupations. Aliens of exceptional ability in the
sciences, arts, and performing arts are also included on
Schedule A.
There are limited numbers of visas in each of these categories. In addition, no country can contribute more than 7% of the total world-wide immigration to the United States. As a result of this quota system, people with approved I-140s are often not allowed to immigrate to the United States or
adjust status until their "priority date" becomes current.
Your priority date is the date you began the Green Card process,
either by filing a labor certification or an I-140, if no labor
certification is needed. Every month the State Department issues a
visa
bulletin. This visa bulletin announces what priority dates are
current. For more on visa retrogression,
click here.
Once you have an approved I-140 and your priority date is current, you can proceed to adjust status, if you are currently in the United States, or you can go to a U.S. consulate abroad in your home country and obtain an immigrant visa.
Click here for more on these options.
Your entire future depends on the lawyer you choose for your Green Card application. Our firm has the expertise needed to help you get your Green Card in today's difficult times.
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