Sponsoring an Employee for Permanent Resident Status: Part IV

What happens after I file a petition on behalf of a current or prospective employee?

If you file by mail, we will mail you a receipt to inform you that we have received your petition. If your petition is incomplete, not signed, or filled with incorrect fees, we may have to reject it, or ask you for more evidence or information, which will delay processing.

Please send all required documents the first time to avoid delay.

We will notify you when we make a decision. Normally, when we approve the petition, we will send it to the U.S. Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC). Once the foreign national reaches the front of the line for a visa number, the NVC will notify you and the foreign national, inviting him or her and the qualifying dependents to apply for immigrant visas. You can get more information about immigrant visa processing from the State Department’s website at www.state.gov.

How long will it take USCIS to process my petition?

Processing times depend on a number of factors. You can check out current processing times on our website. Once you file a petition, we will post an updated estimate of the processing time on the USCIS website.

Where can I find more information about this process?

For information on all filing requirements and fees for a labor certification request with the Department of Labor, please visit that agency’s website at www.dol.gov.

For specific information regarding each category or qualifying occupation, please refer to our website at www.uscis.gov, or call Customer Service at 1-800-357-2099.

Sponsoring an Employee for Permanent Resident Status: Part II

What does the petition do for my employee?

Filing a petition shows that you have the intent to hire the employee upon the approval of the petition. By proving that you will have an employer-employee relationship and that the employee has the necessary qualifications for the job, you provide the employee with a place in line among others waiting to immigrate based on the same kind of EB visa category. When the foreign national employee reaches the head of the line, he or she may be eligible to apply to immigrate to the United States.

The foreign national’s place in line, known as a “priority date,” will be based on the date you file the labor certification with DOL or, if a labor certification is not required, the date your petition is filed with USCIS. For this reason, there is an advantage to filing as soon as you are certain that you wish to permanently employ the foreign national.

How do I file for a current or prospective employee?

You need to determine if the prospective or current employee meets the criteria of one of the four preference categories shown above.

Then, the process begins as follows:

•                      For category EB-1, file a Form I-140 with USCIS.

•                      For categories EB-2 and EB-3, first file a labor certification with the Department of Labor (DOL).

•                      Then with the approved labor certification, file a Form I-140 with USCIS. Note that, for category EB-2, the requirement for labor certification has been waived for foreign nationals who qualify for a national interest waiver.

•                      For category EB-4, file a Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, with USCIS.