Why Our Corporate Immigration Lawyers Can Help With Immigrant Visas

Filing for immigrant visas for employees is a complex and arduous process. There are 3 main categories of I-140 immigrant visas, EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3. There are also subsets within each of these categories. Depending on which category the employee qualifies for, it can make a huge difference in how quickly they will be eligible to file for a green card or I-485 adjustment of status application. The filing of an I-140 is normally what gives an employee a priority date, except in the case where a PERM labor certification must be filed. In this case, the priority date is the date the PERM is filed with the Department of Labor. This priority date is important because this date, along with the category in which you are applying and your nationality, determines when you can file for the green card.
There are also multiple agencies involved in the immigrant visa process, starting with the U.S. Department of Labor in many cases and then USCIS, or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of DHS. If the employee is abroad, then the U.S. Department of State will also be involved in issuing an immigrant visa abroad.
There is also an annual limit on the number of immigrant visas that can be issued in each employment-based visa category. The Visa Bulletin is used to monitor usage of immigrant visas and is issued by the Department of State each month. The Visa Bulletin lists dates for each employment-based category and country-specific category. These dates are then matched to the applicant’s priority dates to determine when they can file for the adjustment of status or complete their consular processing in order to get a green card.
To determine which employment-based category the case falls under, many factors must be taken into account, including the individual’s degree, work experience, the job offered, etc. Therefore, only an experienced immigration attorney, after evaluating all of the circumstances, can give the best options that are available. An I-140 visa attorney who specializes in employment-based immigration will be needed to prepare and file the I-140 in the vast majority of cases seeking positive results.

What Immigrant Visas and Corporate Immigration Services We Offer

There are many categories within immigrant visas and corporate immigration services that our corporate immigration lawyers offer. While the topic is very complicated and there are several categories, here is a short summary of each of the employment-based categories to see which one an individual may qualify under:

EB-1 Immigrant Visa

EB-1 immigrant visas are the first preference employment category or the highest level employment based visas. This means people in this category are allotted immigrant visas first before everyone else and usually there are sufficient numbers available to be allotted. This category is reserved for Multi-National Executives or Managers, Outstanding Professors or Researchers or People with Extraordinary Ability. The benefit in applying under an EB-1 category is that no matter which country of nationality the individual has, it is very likely that the individual will be eligible to file for a green card together with the I-140 application. There is no labor certification requirement and there is no wait time to file. A good corporate immigration attorney will figure out the best path to minimize risk of getting a petition in this category denied because there is a lot of discretion for the immigration officers under this category.

EB-2 Immigrant Visa

EB-2 immigrant visas are for foreign nationals with advanced degrees or who have exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business. Most of the EB-2 categories require a PERM labor certification prior to filing an I-140 immigrant visa. There is one exception to the labor certification for this category and that is if the foreign national qualifies for a “National Interest Waiver” or NIW. This is a special category that is reserved for people who are doing work that is of national importance to the United States interests and is nation-wide, such as medical research. Our immigrant visa lawyers can evaluate each case to see what the likelihood of success is and we have many successful cases that were approved in the NIW category over the past 20 years.

EB-3 Immigrant Visa

EB-3 immigrant visas are for professional, and skilled and unskilled workers. This category requires that all foreign nationals obtain a PERM labor certification prior to filing an I-140 immigrant visa. This category requires the longest wait for employment visas. This is in addition to the time it takes to obtain the labor certification, which requires the employer to conduct advertising in newspaper and recruit U.S. workers for the position. The U.S. Department of Labor oversees this attestation-based program. The EB-3 immigrant visas can be used in a variety of occupations. Professional workers examples include technology workers, engineers and teachers. Skilled workers are workers that require at least 2 years of experience to qualify for their positions, for example chefs, mechanics, some construction workers, etc. The “other workers” include workers with less amount of skill that is required to enter that position. Employers should always consult with a corporate immigration attorney that is well-versed in immigrant visas before starting a sponsorship for an employee.

Contact Us Today

If you need to file an I-140 immigrant visa application either for yourself or an employee, it is important to consult with an experienced corporate immigration attorney. Call us today at (770) 604-1603 if you have any questions about your eligibility or your employee’s eligibility. Start your immigration case now.

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