Green Card through Employment

An Immigrant Visa (also known as a “green card” or lawful permanent residence) allows a person to reside and work in the U.S. permanently.

Green Cards may be obtained through employment in a variety of ways. The most common method is through sponsorship by an employer under a process known as Labor Certification application, or PERM. This employer driven process is highly regulated and requires that the employer conduct real world recruitment to test the labor market to ensure that there are no available, qualified, and willing U.S. workers to fill the position, and that the employment will not have an adverse effect on the wages and working conditions of similarly situated U.S. workers.

The Labor Certification process is long and tedious and requires several steps to be carefully completed until the green card is actually issued. It is impossible to predict the actual date a person will get his or her green card through this process because timing depends on the level of education and experience required for the job, the country of the person’s birth, and government backlogs at the various stages. With U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW GROUP, LLP’s extensive experience in this area, we can guide your employer through this process, avoiding major mine fields and arriving at the ultimate goal.

Alternatives to Labor Certification:

There are  several other employment-related categories  that can be used instead of the Labor Certification process.

Extraordinary Ability

Extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletic demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim and by extensive documentation. You are not required to have a prospective employer, but  must be entering to continue to work in their chosen field, and  must “substantially benefit prospectively the United States.” The government will accept a one-time receipt of a major international award (such as a Nobel Prize) or evidence to show that you are one of the few to have risen to the top of your field.

Outstanding Professors and Researchers

For those with a minimum of three years’ experience in teaching or research who are recognized internationally in an academic discipline. To qualify, you must be coming for a tenure or tenure-track position, or for a comparable position at a university, institute, or with a private employer to conduct research. While no labor certification is required, there must be an offer of ongoing employment from the sponsoring employer.

Multinational Executives or Managers

For those who have been employed abroad in a managerial or executive capacity with the firm, corporation or legal entity, affiliate, or subsidiary for one year in the last three years prior to entry and will work in a managerial or executive capacity in the United States. Even though no labor certification is required, there must be an offer of ongoing employment from the sponsoring employer.

Extraordinary Ability or Advanced Degree and National Interest

Persons with exceptional ability (expertise beyond that which is normally found in the profession) in the arts, sciences, or business who will substantially benefit the national economy or culture, who are “sought by an employer in the United States.” The “national interest waiver” may be obtained when the attorney general “deems it to be in the national interest” to waive the requirement that the individual be “sought by an employer in the United States.” While no labor certification is required, there must be an offer of ongoing employment from the sponsoring employer.

Employment Creation

Conditional green cards are available to those who invest between $500,000 and $1 million in a business which employ 10 U.S. workers. Conditions may be lifted within two years if certain requirements are met.