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Visa Information

Who is Eligible for Lawful Permanent Residence?

Below is provided a description of the various avenues an individual may qualify for permanent residence. Please read this carefully. If you have any questions or would like us to provide you with a free evaluation of your chances of victory, please call us at our toll free number of 1-866-716-4854.

In order to receive your free evaluation of an application for a self sponsored National Interest or Extraordinary Ability petition, please email Adam Green the following items:

  1. Updated Curriculum Vitae or resume. Please include your home, work and cell numbers so that we may contact you. The CV should also include any U.S. government funded projects on which you are working and the grant numbers, if applicable. In particular, the extraordinary ability and national interest applications are more favorably viewed if you are working on government funded projects. Make sure you include all of your publications. If you have been asked to serve as a publications reviewer, or as a judge of the work of others, please include that as well.

  2. One to two page description of what it is you do and why it is important to the U.S. taxpayer.

  3. The names of at least five individuals who might be willing to write letters of recommendation on your behalf. Please also include where they work. Normally, immigration frowns upon more than two of the letter writers having the same employer as you do. The more potential letter writers that you can provide the better. Please indicate if there is anything special about any of these people that we should know. For example, is one of your potential letter writers a member of the National Academy of Sciences, or some other renowned organization? Or, is a potential letter writer the editor, or a member of the Board of Editors, of an important international journal?

Employment Based Immigrants:
A Summary

  1. Priority Workers - No labor certification required for the three groups of priority workers. (At least 40,000 visas annually).
    1. Extraordinary Ability in the Arts, Science, Education, Business, or Athletics
      Requires (i) sustained national or international acclaim, (ii) achievements recognized through extensive documentation, (iii) intent to work in that area of ability. In effect, reserved for the finest in any given field. (click here for detailed eligibility criteria).
    2. Outstanding Professors and Researchers
      Requires (i) international recognition as outstanding in a specific field, (ii) at least 3 years experience in teaching or research in that field, and (iii) offer of a tenured or tenure track teaching position, or permanent research position. (click here for detailed eligibility criteria).
    3. Multinational Executives and Managers
      Requires employment with employer for at least one year in the three years preceding application, and intent to continue to work for the same employer, subsidiary, or affiliate.

  2. Professionals Possessing An Advanced Degree (or equivalent) And Individuals Of Exceptional Ability In The Sciences, Arts, or Business. This category includes the National Interest Waiver.
    (At least 40,000 visas annually)

    3. A labor certification is required for persons in this category unless they can establish that a waiver of this requirement would be in the National Interest. A labor certification is a determination by the U.S. Department of Labor that no U.S. worker could be found to perform the job. A labor certification is only granted when the U.S. employer has established through a recruitment process that it was unable to find a U.S. worker ready, willing, able and minimally qualified to fill the position.

    What is PERM?

    PERM is the Department of Labor's computerized system for processing labor certification applications. To apply for a labor certification under PERM, the U.S. employer must first perform an extensive recruitment procedure to determine if there are U.S. workers available for the position in question. If the recruitment reveals that there are no U.S. workers ready, able, and qualified to fill the position, the employer completes an extensive questionnaire and series of attestations, which is then submitted electronically to the Department of Labor. Documentation in support of the application is retained by the employer and only submitted to the Department of Labor in case of an audit. Once submitted to the Department of Labor, the application is either approved or in some cases, subject to audit or investigation.

    PERM does not change the underlying principles of the labor certification process, namely that the employer must demonstrate a genuine lack of qualified U.S. workers. The advantage of PERM lies in the promise of much speedier adjudication, as the Department of Labor has promised to process applications within months and even weeks, rather than two or three years as had been its practice. (Please note that different rules apply to college and university teachers.)

    Advanced Degree: An advanced degree professional possesses a minimum of a Master's degree, OR a Bachelor's degree plus five years progressive experience in the discipline.

    Exceptional Ability: An individual of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business must also substantially benefit the national economic, cultural, educational, or welfare interests of the U.S. For these individuals, the requirement of a job offer and labor certification from an employer may be waived if it is determined to be in the National Interest.

    National Interest

    The requirement of a labor certification can be waived if it is in the National Interest. To qualify for the National Interest Waiver, the applicant must demonstrate (1) that he or she is working in a field of substantial national importance, (2) the promised benefits of his or her work are national in scope and (3) the applicant, by virtue of his or her personal accomplishments in the field can better serve the National Interest than a U.S. worker with the same qualifications.

    It is irrelevant that there are no U.S. workers to perform the job, or that the applicant possesses unique or hard to find skills. Rather, the applicant must demonstrate he/she will serve the National Interest to a substantially greater degree than a U.S. worker with similar qualifications. The strongest applications will include letters of support from U.S. government agencies, or other authoritative sources. These letters of support must establish that the applicant has a degree of influence, or history of valuable contribution to the field as a whole.

    (The applicant must demonstrate a past history of achievement with some degree of influence on his or her field as a whole. For example, did the applicant develop an electronic component needed to develop an artificial vision system? Has the applicant's work influenced the work of others? Have others relied on his name or her findings? Are the research achievements usually significant?)

  3. Professionals Possessing A Bachelors Degree, Skilled Workers, and Other Workers: (at least 40,000 with a cap of 5,000 visas for "unskilled workers")

    4. A labor certification is required for all three groups within this category. "Skilled Worker" jobs require at least two years of training or experience to perform. "Other Workers" perform jobs that require less than two years experience or training.

  4. Special Immigrants (10,000 visas annually)
    This category includes ministers and religious workers.

  5. Investors (10,000 visas annually)
    Must invest at least $1,000,000 ($500,000 in certain high unemployment areas) in a business and create full-time employment for at least 10 U.S. workers.

Family Sponsored Immigrants

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens - spouses, parents, unmarried children under 21 years of age and some widows and widowers. Unlimited number is eligible to immigrate each year (no quota).

Categories of family sponsored preferences (yearly quota)

  1. Unmarried sons and daughters age 21 or older of U.S. citizens
  2. A.  Spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 of permanent residents
    B.  Unmarried sons and daughters age 21 or older of permanent residents
  3. Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
  4. Brothers and sisters of any age of U.S. citizens who are at least 21 years of age

EMPLOYMENT BASED IMMIGRATION PRIORITY WORKERS

The first employment based preference category is for "priority workers." There are three groups of priority workers and none are subject to a labor certification requirement.

    The groups are: (1) individuals with extraordinary ability; (2) outstanding professors and researchers; and (3) multinational executives and managers.

EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY IN
THE SCIENCES, ARTS, EDUCATION, BUSINESS OR ATHLETICS

Extraordinary ability means a level of expertise indicating that the individual is one of a small percentage who has risen to the very top of his or her field.

The following documentation must be submitted to the CIS:

  • Evidence the individual has received a major, internationally-recognized award, OR
  • At least three of the following:
    1. Recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor. Grants or fellowships awarded to support future work are not considered to satisfy this criteria;
    2. Membership in associations in the field, which require outstanding achievement of their members as, judged by recognized national or international experts. Applicants must submit evidence of the organization's membership criteria;
    3. Published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the individual and his or her work in the field. Applicants must submit evidence of the publication's importance (such as circulation). Moreover, the material must primarily be about the applicant, and not simply mention the applicant incidentally;
    4. Participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field. This criteria is not applicable to those for whom judging the work of others is inherently a part of their job duties;
    5. Original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business related research contributions of major significance in the field. The applicant must demonstrate that his or her work has been recognized nationally and internationally by independent experts as having influed the field as a whole;
    6. Authorship of scholarly articles in the field in professional journals or other major media. Applicant must establish that his or her articles are viewed as more influential and important than those of others in the field;
    7. Display of the individual's work at artistic exhibitions or showcases. Applicant must establish the importance of the venue;
    8. Evidence the individual has had lead, starring, or critical roles for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation;
    9. Evidence the individual has commanded a high salary or other high remuneration for services in relation to others in the field;
    10. Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disc, or video sales; or

    If the above standards do not apply, the individual may submit comparable evidence to establish eligibility.

OUTSTANDING PROFESSORS OR RESEARCHERS

If the employer is a university or institution of higher education, the individual must be coming to assume a tenured or tenure track teaching position OR a permanent research position in the area of expertise.

If the employer is a department, division, or institute of a private employer, the individual must be employed in a permanent research position. The department, division or institute must employ at least three full-time researchers and have achieved documented accomplishments in an academic field.

The term "permanent" in reference to a research position means either tenured or tenure track, OR the employment is for a term of indefinite or unlimited duration and in which the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of continued employment (unless there is good cause for termination). Normally, Postdocs do not qualify since the appointment is for a limited time period.

A U.S. employer applying for an outstanding professor or researcher must file the petition with:

    Evidence that the professor or researcher has at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field. Experience in teaching or research while working on an advanced degree will only be acceptable if the person has achieved the degree and the research conducted toward the degree has been recognized as outstanding, or if the teaching duties were such that he or she had full responsibility for the class taught.

    Evidence that the professor or researcher is recognized internationally as outstanding in his or her academic field. This evidence shall consist of at least two of the following:

  1. Receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievements in the academic field;


  2. Membership in associations in the academic field, which require outstanding achievements of their members;


  3. Participation on a panel, or individually, as the judge of the work of others in the same or an allied academic field. Ph.D thesis direction demonstrates an individual's outstanding ability as a judge of the work of others;


  4. Published material in professional publications written by others about the individual's work in the academic field. A footnoted reference to the individual's work without evaluation, an unevaluated listing in a subject matter index, or a negative or neutral review of his or her work would be of little value. However, peer reviewed articles in scholarly journals, letters from other scholars on how the professor or researcher has contributed to the field and entries in a citation index citing the work as authoritative in the field are solid pieces of evidence;


  5. Authorship of scholarly books or articles, in scholarly journals with international circulation, in the academic field. Peer recommendation letters should include references to specific papers, their impact and that they appeared in pretigious journals of international circulation. Letters should note the impact of the article in subjective terms, if possible. For example, "From my travel to international meetings and professional interactions in our field, I note that Dr. XXX's article is widely discussed and has been the basis of numerous research proposals";


  6. Original scientific or scholarly research contributions to the academic field. Patents or patent applications are not very important unless they demonstrate an international reputation in the field.

EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY IN THE SCIENCES, ARTS OR BUSINESS

Employment based second preference is for individuals with advanced degrees or who are deemed to have demonstrated exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business.

Exceptional ability individuals possess a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business. They have attained a status in their field, which colleagues recognize. This category may, for example, be used by individuals who possess a bachelor's degree, or no degree, as long as it is established that their work is in the National Interest.

An individual meeting the criteria for exceptional ability does not need a labor certification or job offer if exemption from these normal requirements would be in the National Interest. Exceptional ability is not to be confused with the priority worker extraordinary ability category.

To show that the person is of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business at least three of the following must be submitted:

  1. An official academic record showing that the person has a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award form a college, university, school or other institution of learning relating to the area of exceptional ability;
  2. Evidence that the person has at least ten years of full-time experience in the occupation for which employment is sought;
  3. A license to practice the profession or certification for a particular profession or occupation;
  4. Evidence that the person has received a salary, or other remuneration for services, which demonstrates exceptional ability;
  5. Evidence of membership in professional associations;
  6. Evidence of recognition for achievements and significant contributions to the industry or field by peers, governmental entities, or business organizations;
  7. If the above standards do not apply, the person may submit comparable evidence to establish eligibility.

Diversity Visa Green Cards

The annual Diversity Visa program makes permanent residence visas ("green cards") available to persons meeting simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. Diversity Visa entries are chosen by a computer-generate random lottery drawing. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to citizens of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the past five years. Within each region, no one country may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.

To find out if you qualify and to apply, go to the U.S. State Department's Diversity Visa web site, www.dvlottery.state.gov. Keep in mind that the Diversity Visa Program is one of the easiest government programs to apply for and usually a lawyer is not necessary for the initial application. We are happy to help winners of the Diversity Visa Program complete the application process. Feel free to contact us at (866) 716-4854 and we will conduct an initial evaluation of your case free-of-charge.

Asylum/Refugee Status

Certain persons who are in the United States may be eligible to apply for political asylum. However, qualifying for political asylum is difficult. Generally, applicants must show that they either have been persecuted or reasonably fear persecution in their home country on account of their race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. To find out if you qualify for asylum, please email us at prherzog@earthlink.net or call (866) 716-4854.

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