Business Immigration

Many people want to acquire permanent residency status in the U.S. because permanent residents enjoy a variety of rights and privileges. One of the most widely-used methods to obtain permanent residency in U.S. under the Employment-Based immigration categories.

You are eligible to apply for permanent residency under this category if:

• You have an opportunity to work permanently in the U.S.
• You have an employer in the U.S. who wants to sponsor you for lawful permanent residency (LPR) in the U.S.

The general procedure to apply for an Employment-Based Immigrant Visa is:

• In most cases, your employer must submit a completed labor certification request (Form ETA-750) for you, to the Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration. The DOL will either grant or deny the certification request.

Note: Qualified alien physicians who will practice medicine in an area certified as 'underserved' by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services do not need a Labor Certification.

• Once the Labor Certification is granted, your employer will file an immigrant visa petition (Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker) at a designated USCIS service center on your behalf. USCIS must approve the petition. The employer acts as the sponsor (or petitioner) for you (the beneficiary).
• Once the petition is approved, the Department of State (DOS) gives you an Immigrant Visa Number (even if you are already in the U.S.), indicating that an immigrant visa will be assigned to you soon. You can check on the status of your visa number in the Visa Bulletin published by the DOS.
• After you get your visa number:
  
  • If you are already residing in the U.S., you must apply for a change to Permanent Resident status.
  • If are outside the U.S., you will be notified and must complete the process at your local U.S. Consulate office.

Find Out More:

Employment-Based Permanent Visas

• EB-1 Priority Workers
• EB-2 Professionals
• EB-3 Skilled or Professional Workers
• EB-4 Special Immigrants
• EB-5 Immigrant Investors

Temporary Work Visas

• H-1B Visa
• H1-B1 Visa
• H-2A Visa
• H-2B Visa
• H-3 Visa
• L-1 Visa
• O-1 Visa
• O-2 Visa
• P-1 Visa
• P-2 Visa
• P-3 Visa
• R-1 Visa
• TN Visa