Immigration, Residency, & Work Visas

We have experience assisting individuals in sponsoring family members for permanent residency in the United States
Our firm offers a wide range of immigration services for our clients. We have helped many clients obtain citizenship in the United States. We have assisted numerous corporations in obtaining temporary work visas for their employees and sponsor them for permanent residency in the United States. The immigration system is complicated and filing mistakes can result in huge delays in the processing of applications. We can ensure that your applications are correct, resulting in higher rates of acceptance and reduced wait times.
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Temporary Work Visas

U.S. companies can utilize temporary work visas to hire employees for set lengths of time. If the foreign worker decides they want to remain in the United States, the company has the option of sponsoring the employee for permanent residency (a green card) while the employee continues to work on a visa. There are a number of different types of temporary work visas.

H1B visas are available to specialized workers with college degrees coming to work in their field of expertise. U.S. companies with foreign affiliates have the option of sponsoring employees who have worked for the foreign affiliate for at least a year for L visas, either an L1A visa for employees with specialized knowledge or an L1B visa for managers. Foreign-owned businesses may qualify to sponsor employees for either E-1 or E-2 visas if they conduct substantial trade with their home countries or make a substantial investment in the U.S. Employers can sponsor employees with extraordinary ability in their field for work visas in the United States. TN visas are available to Canadian and Mexican professionals in designated occupations.

Other Types of Temporary Visas

There are other types of visas available for temporary stays in the United States including tourist visas, student visas and visas that are granted to individuals participating in cultural exchange programs. Temporary visas are also available for religious workers.

Green Cards or Permanent Residency

Permanent residence enables a person to live and work in the United States for the rest of his/her life. Most people obtain green cards by being sponsored by their employers or their relatives. Other people obtain permanent residence through the green card lottery, through asylum and through various other means.

Immigration Through Employment

An immigrant is a foreign national who has been authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. If you want to become an immigrant based on the fact that you have a permanent employment opportunity in the United States, or if you are an employer that wants to sponsor someone for lawful permanent residency based on permanent employment in the United States, you must go through a multi-step process.

First, foreign nationals and employers must determine if the foreign national is eligible for lawful permanent residency under one of USCIS’ paths to lawful permanent residency.

Second, most employment categories require that the U.S. employer complete a labor certification request (Form ETA 750) for the applicant, and submit it to the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. Labor must either grant or deny the certification request. Qualified alien physicians who will practice medicine in an area of the United States which has been certified as underserved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are relieved from this requirement.

Third, USCIS must approve an immigrant visa petition, Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker, for the person wishing to immigrate to the United States. The employer wishing to bring the applicant to the United States for permanent work files this petition. However, if a Department of Labor certification is needed, you can only file the application after the certification is granted. The employer acts as the sponsor (or petitioner) for the applicant (or beneficiary) who wants to live and work on a permanent basis in the United States.

Eligibility

There are four categories for granting permanent residence to foreign nationals based upon employment:

EB-1 Priority workers

  • Foreign nationals of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics
  • Foreign national that are outstanding professors or researchers
  • Foreign nationals that are managers and executives subject to international transfer to the United States

EB-2 Professionals with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional ability

  • Foreign nationals of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business
  • Foreign nationals who are advanced degree professionals
  • Qualified alien physicians who will practice an underserved area medicine in the U.S. Read more about this particular program.

EB-3 Skilled or professional workers

  • Foreign national professionals with bachelor’s degrees (not qualifying for a higher preference category)
  • Foreign national skilled workers (minimum two years training and experience)
  • Foreign national unskilled workers

EB-4 Special Immigrants

  • Foreign national religious workers
  • Employees and former employees of the U.S. Government abroad

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