I. SUMMARY
II. WHAT IS EB-3 CATEGORY?
III. WHO QUALIFIES UNDER EB-3 CATEGORY?
IV. WHAT FORMS DO I USE TO APPLY?
V. FAMILY MEMBERS
VI. FEES TO INS/CONSULATE
VII. PROCEDURE
I. SUMMARY
Every year, America allows 140,000 persons to come to the U.S. on employment-based immigrant visas, which are divided into five categories. Any unused visa numbers are then used in the next visa category down. If there are more qualified applicants in a category than there are available visa numbers, the category is considered "oversubscribed" and the visas are then issued in chronological order in which the petitions were filed. The filing date of the petition becomes the priority date. Your visa cannot be issued until your priority date is current. This may mean that you will have to wait several years before your priority date is reached.
II. WHAT IS EB-3 CATEGORY?
It is an immigrant employment-based visa category allowing you to live and work permanently in the United States of America. You will need a job offer and a labor certification approved by the Department of Labor.
III. WHO QUALIFIES UNDER EB-3 CATEGORY?
- Professionals holding baccalaureate degrees.
- Skilled workers (requiring at least two years of specialized training or experience in the skill).
- Unskilled worker (requiring less than two years of specialized training or experience).
IV. WHAT FORMS DO I USE TO APPLY?
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker and supporting Documents including the following:
A. U.S. employer filing for a professional must file the petition with:
1. A permanent labor certification (PERM)*; and
2. Evidence that the alien holds a U.S. baccalaureate degree or equivalent foreign degree; and
3. Evidence that a baccalaureate degree is required for entry into the occupation.
4. Evidence of employer’s ability to pay the proffered wages.
B. U.S. employer filing for a skilled worker must file the petition with:
1. A permanent labor certification (PERM)*; and
2. Evidence that the alien meets the educational, training, or experience and any other requirements of the labor certification (the minimum requirement is two years of training or experience).
3. Evidence of employer’s ability to pay the proffered wages.
C. U.S. employer filing for an unskilled worker must file the petition with:
1. A permanent labor certification (PERM)*; and
2. Evidence that the beneficiary meets any education, training, or experience requirements required in the labor certification.
3. Evidence of employer’s ability to pay the proffered wages.
V. FAMILY MEMBERS
Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 are admitted under the same classification as you are.
VI. FEES TO INS/CONSULATE
Form I-140 (Filing Fee Click here)
Adjusting fee at consulate to be defined by consulate. There may be other fees that will be determined at the time of filing.
The procedure is a multi step process. You and your prospective employer must determine if you are eligible for lawful permanent residence
A. Obtaining A Permanent Labor Certification From The Legal Department Of Labor-- your prospective employer will need to obtain an approved PERM labor certification from the Department of labor or pre-certification under schedule A. you may be eligible for a waiver of the labor certification and job offer. The waiver would be granted in cases where the USCIS determines that an exemption would be in the national interest of the United States. If the job offer requirement is waived, but no labor certification needs to be filed.
B. Approval Of Form I-140, Immigrant Petition For Alien Worker-- your employer must then file an I-140 Immigrant Visa Petition together with the labor certification approved by the Department of Labor and supporting evidence. Detail information is provided in the instructions to Form I-140. If you are seeking a waiver from the job offer requirement, that you or anyone on your behalf may file the petition.
C. Visa Availability—Once the I-140 immigrant Visa petition is approved by the USCIS, the State Department must give the applicant an immigrant visa number. Visa numbers become available subject to the preference category and priority dates. You can check the status of the visa number in the Department Of State’s Visa Bulletin.
D. Adjustment Of Status/Consulate Processing-- if the applicant is already in the United States, he or she must apply to adjust to permanent residence status after a visa number becomes available. If the applicant is outside the United States to when an immigrant visa number becomes available, he or she will be notified by the local consulate and must complete the process at his or her local US consulate office.
Before your status is adjusted to permanent resident or your immigrant visa is issued, you'll have to undergo a medical examination conducted by a doctor designated by the local consular officer. You will have to pay the costs of these examinations as well as the visa fees.
***Permanent Labor Certification (PERM):
A permanent labor certification issued by the Department of Labor allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. In most instances, before a US employer can submit an immigration petition to the United States citizenship and immigration services, the employer must obtain an approved labor certification request from the Department of Labor's employment and training administration. The Department of Labor must certify to the USCIS that there are no qualified US workers able, willing, qualified, and available to accept the job at the prevailing wage for that occupation in the area of intended employment and bad employment of the alien will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers.
All employers filing the PERM (except for those applications involving college or university teacher selected pursuant to a competitive recruitment and selection process, schedule A. occupations, and sheepherders) must attest, in addition to a number of other conditions of employment, to having conducted recruitment prior to filing the application.
The employer must prepare a recruitment report in which the employer categorizes the lawful job-related reasons for injection of U. S. applicant's and provide the number of US applicants rejected in each category.
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