Employment-Based Immigration

Employment-based immigration not only deals with temporary non-immigrant visas for immigrant employees, but also potentially obtaining lawful permanent resident status by being sponsored by a US employer through a labor certification process.  There are many options for temporary types of employment-based visas, but qualifying requires a critical review and assessment of the US employer’s standing and needs, as well as the potential immigrant employee’s experience and immigration history.  Processing times can be dictated by the country of nationality of the potential immigrant employee and the category of the immigrant’s degree and/or experience.  There are also several non immigrant classifications that allow one to work in the US without an employer having first filed a petition.  Many intricate factors come into play, including the potential employee’s qualifications, current immigration status, being in the US or outside the US, as well as the short-term (temporary work visa) and long-term (permanent status for worker) goals of both the employer and potential employee.​

A list of employment-based visas is as follows:

CNMI-Only transitional worker

Treaty traders and qualified employees

Treaty investors and qualified employees

Long-term foreign investors in the CNMI

Certain “specialty occupation” professionals from Australia

Workers in a specialty occupation and the following sub-classifications:

H-1B1 – Free Trade Agreement workers in a specialty occupation from Chile and Singapore.
H-1B2 – Specialty occupations related to Department of Defense Cooperative Research and Development projects or Co-production projects.
H-1B3 – Fashion models of distinguished merit and ability.

Registered nurses working in a health professional shortage area as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Temporary or seasonal agricultural workers.

Temporary non-agricultural workers.

Trainees other than medical or academic. This classification also applies to practical training in the education of handicapped children.

Representatives of foreign press, radio, film or other foreign information media.

Intracompany transferees in managerial or executive positions.

Intracompany transferees in positions utilizing specialized knowledge.

Persons with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics and motion picture or TV production.

Persons accompanying solely to assist an O-1 nonimmigrant.

Internationally recognized athletes.

Internationally recognized entertainers or members of internationally recognized entertainment groups.

Individual performer or part of a group entering to perform under a reciprocal exchange program.

Artists or entertainers, either an individual or group, to perform, teach, or coach under a program that is culturally unique.

Persons participating in an international cultural exchange program for the purpose of providing practical training, employment, and to share the history, culture, and traditions of the noncitizen’s home country.

Religious workers.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) temporary professionals from Mexico and Canada.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.