Sponsoring an Employee for Permanent Resident Status: Part V

Key Information

Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker	I-140
Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant	I-360

USCIS

• On the Internet at: www.uscis.gov

For more copies of this guide, or information about other citizenship and immigration services, please visit our website. You can also download forms, e-file some applications, check the status of an application, and more. It’s a great place to start!

If you don’t have Internet access at home or work, try your local library. If you cannot find what you need, please call Customer Service.

•                      Customer Service: 1-800-375-5283 or

•                      Employment-based Visa Questions: 1-800-357-2099

•                      Hearing Impaired TDD Customer Service: 1-800-767-1833

Other U.S. Government Services
General Information	www.usagov.gov	1-800-333-4636
New Immigrants	www.welcometoUSA.gov
U.S. Dept. of State	www.state.gov	1-202-647-6575
	www.travel.state.gov/ visa
U.S. Dept of Labor	www.dol.gov	1-877-872-5627

Sponsoring an Employee for Permanent Resident Status: Part III

After I file, how long will it take before the foreign  national can immigrate?

The combination of high demand and the limits set by law on how many people can immigrate each year under each category and from a particular country affects the waiting time. For some foreign nationals there may be no waiting period, while others may have a significant waiting period.

Generally speaking, if a foreign national entered the United States legally and is presently in the United States (and meets certain other requirements), he or she may be able to file an application to adjust to permanent resident status if the employment-based immigrant visa category for that foreign national is currently available.

For other foreign nationals who are on the visa waiting list, once the foreign national reaches the “front of the line,” the U.S. Department of State will contact and invite him or her to apply for an immigrant visa.

What about the foreign national’s family?

In most cases, when the foreign national’s place in line is reached and he or she applies to immigrate, the foreign national’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 can apply as dependents.

For example: You file a petition on behalf of a prospective employee. You cannot directly petition for the employee’s spouse and children. However, the employee's spouse and children can apply for immigrant visas (or adjustment of status) at the same time as your prospective employee when the prospective employee reaches the front of the line.

Sponsoring an Employee for Permanent Resident Status: Part I, What Employees Can a U.S. Citizen Employer File For?

Which employees may I file for?

A U.S. employer may sponsor a prospective or current foreign national employee who is inside or outside the United States and who may qualify under one or more of the employment-based (EB) immigrant visa categories. The EB visa categories are divided into several preference categories. These EB visa categories are organized by occupational priorities as mandated by Congress. The first four of these EB visa categories are available to otherwise eligible foreign nationals sponsored by U.S. employers:

EB-1 – Priority Workers

•                      Aliens with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics;

•                      Outstanding professors and researchers;

•                      Multinational executives and managers.

EB-2 – Professionals With Advanced Degrees or Persons With Exceptional Ability

• Aliens who, because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit the national economy, cultural, or educational interests or welfare of the United States;

• Aliens who are members of professions holding advanced degrees or the equivalent.

EB-3 – Professional or Skilled Workers

•                      Professionals with a baccalaureate degree;

•                      Aliens capable of performing skilled labor (requiring at least 2 years of training or experience) for which qualified workers are not available in the United States;

•                      Aliens capable of performing unskilled labor for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.

EB-4 – Special Immigrants

•                      Religious workers;

•                      Panama Canal Company Employees, Canal Zone Government Employees, or U.S. Government in Canal Zone Employees;

•                      Certain physicians;

•                      Certain others.

USCIS Wants to Know What YOU Think!

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seeks public comments on a proposed rule published in the Federal Register yesterday that would enable USCIS to process certain applications approved between 1995 and 1998 by immigrant investors under the fifth preference employment-based immigrant visa classification, also known as EB-5.

The proposed rule would implement provisions of the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act. These provisions apply to a group of immigrant investors who had a Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, approved between Jan. 1, 1995, and Aug. 31, 1998.

Specifically, the rule would enable USCIS to process cases for approximately 580 principal immigrant investors and their dependents whose Forms I-526 were approved during the period described above and who, prior to Nov. 2, 2002, sought to:

·         Register for permanent residence or adjust their status (using Form I-485); or

·         Remove conditions on permanent residence obtained as an alien entrepreneur (using Form I-829).

The processes outlined in the proposed rule would provide an additional two-year period for most of these immigrant investors to meet the EB-5 investment and job-creation requirements. This rule would not impact any other applications or petitions filed under the EB-5 program.

EB-5 visas are available to immigrants seeking to enter the United States to invest capital in a commercial enterprise that will create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers.

The public has 60 days—from Sept. 28 to Nov. 28, 2011—to submit comments on this proposal, which is available for review at www.regulations.gov.