Family Petitions. Approximately 500,000 persons a year immigrate to the U.S. based on having a U.S. citizen or permanent resident relative. Except for immediate relatives (spouses of U.S. citizens and parents of U.S. citizens) all other categories involve a waiting period after a petition has been filed and approved. The waiting period is determined by the category under which the petitions falls. See the State Department Visa Bulletin for their monthly updates and check under the priority date (date petition was filed) and category to find the current priority dates
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Employment Based Applications. Unless you are a person of extraordinary ability, an outstanding professor or researcher, a multinational executive/manager or a person whose admission to the U.S. is in the national interest, you will require a U.S. employer to sponsor you and demonstrate that there is a shortage of U.S. workers. In March 2005, the Department of Labor (DOL) initiated the PERM Process to streamline and expedite the processing of applying for labor certification. The process of labor certification through Perm starts with obtaining a prevailing wage from the state employment offices State Workforce Agency (SWA). The employer must pay 100% of the determination by the SWA. The employer must then advertise the position in accordance with regulations promulgated by the DOL. Our law firm aids the employer through the many regulations that are formulated by the DOL and advises the employer regarding retention of documents for the audit file (five years) and all other matters relating to the process. We have been successful in obtaining PERM certification for technology professionals, structural/civil engineers, architects, educators, foreign specialty cooks and other professional and non professional categories through the PERM process.
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Religious Workers. A Religious worker must have an employer but does not have to undergo a recruitment process to prove a shortage. There are many specific regulations governing this visa category. Our firm has successfully represented religious workers from many parts of the world, including the Phillipines, Russia, Mexico, Canada, Korea and China. If the applicant cannot prove he/she has been a religious worker for the two years immediately preceding the application process, a good alternative is to first file for an R (Non-Immigrant religious worker visa), work in the U.S. for two years and then file for permanent residence.
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Diversity. Congress created a diversity program allowing 55,000 persons to immigrate to the U.S. per year. Only citizens from low-admission countries qualify (low admission countries are countries from which less than 50,000 people have immigrated within the last five years. Please see our page
Visa Lotteryfor more information. We will update this information when the State Department publishes their yearly Registration Information.
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Investors. If you have large sums of money you would like to invest in the U.S., this category permits you to immigrate by investing $1 million (or $500,000 in limited situations). To qualify for the amount of capital required, you may use cash, equipment, inventory and other tangible property. However, you must actively invest in the business; funds in a bank, for example will not qualify. One other important requirement is that the investment create full time employment for at least ten U.S. workers.
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Refugees/Political Asylum. If you have been granted refugee or political asylee status in the United States for one year, you are eligible to apply for permanent residence.
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