The EB1 green card is for noncitizens who are the best in their fields. Examples of some individuals who would qualify are Pulitzer Prize winners, Olympic medalists, or Nobel Prize Winners. The EB1 Process. Typically, there are two steps to the EB1 process: 1. Show immigration officials you qualify for one of the three EB1 categories using a ...
The EB1B application process is: The first step: I-140, submit an EB1B immigration application to the Immigration Department. I-140 routine processing requires six months to one year, and an accelerated trial can also be requested, and the results of …
The USCIS reports the most current EB-1 processing times. Generally, the government processing time for the EB-1 Visa is about 8 months. Once the EB-1 has been approved, the government takes about 6 months to issue permanent residence. These times are only available if …
1. Emailing us your resume. The fastest way to answer your questions concerning your qualification of EB-1 B Outstanding Professors or Researchers is emailing North America Immigration Law Group your resume at [email protected]. 2. Receiving response from our principal attorney personally.
For all EB-1 visa applications, the first thing is for the petitioner to file an I-140 Petition for Immigrant Workers with the USCIS. If filed by an employer, it must demonstrate that employer’s continuing ability to pay you the agreed wage as of the priority date.
To be eligible for an EB-1C green card, you must have been employed by a foreign organization on a full-time basis for at least one full year in the three years leading up to your green card petition.
E-filing the application and supporting documents will allow USCIS to automatically reroute the documents to the appropriate service center based on the applicant’s intended state of employment.
The final action date moves from month to month according to how many people from each country apply for the same green card. Because there is an annual limit to each green card, the relative number of petitions will determine if the final action date goes forward, stands still, or retrogresses (moves backward).
This form will add about six months to your EB-1 processing time and premium processing is not available. If approved, your nonimmigrant status will be “adjusted” to immigrant status and your green card will be issued in the mail soon afterward.
under a qualifying nonimmigrant status and applying to adjust to permanent resident status. You will need to wait until your priority date becomes current before submitting your I-485 petition to the USCIS. It takes an average of six months to process I-485 form, but as we’ll see later on in this article, waiting for the priority date to be current can drastically change the overall processing time.
Receiving approval for your Extraordinary Ability petition via form I-140 can take up to six months from the time of filing with USCIS. Since this processing time may vary depending on the regional service center’s caseload you might want to consider premium processing.
If after our careful case study, you are qualified for the category of EB1-B Extraordinary Professor/Researcher, you are eligible to our guaranteed service package: 50% Payment is due upon you sending back the signed Retainer Agreement, and you get full refund if the petition gets denied.
The fastest way to answer your questions concerning your qualification of EB-1 B Outstanding Professors or Researchers is emailing North America Immigration Law Group your resume at [email protected].
Contacting recommenders: After deciding the list of recommenders, you may proceed to contact them. We provide model request emails and phone dialogue at your preference. Most recommenders are busy professors or scholars, you may inform them that you will draft recommendation letters for them to review and revise.
After filing your package, we will scan and email a copy of USCIS official receipt once available, which is normally around 2 weeks. You can check your case status online with USCIS website using the number. We will also monitor the progress of your case at the mean time.
After you are advised about the feasibility of your case, and you believe North America Immigration Law Group is the right professional to achieve your objectives, you may proceed to inform our attorney the service package you choose and payment arrangement you prefer.
Up to this point, the analysis of your chance of success and exchange of information concerning general picture and potential of your case do not amount to legal opinion or create an attorney-client relationship.
Adjudicating officers' discretion: Regardless of our zealous representation, I-140 approval is up to the adjudicating offer's discretion. Therefore, erroneous denials occur from time to time.
This is because knowledge of certain types of law may evince knowledge in the workings of business more generally. One difficulty of such petitions, however, is establishing both an independent extraordinary ability in business and that the alien will pursue work in the area of his or her extraordinary ability — business rather than law — in the United States.
There are many reasons why an alien lawyer would prefer EB1 classification to EB2, including the allowance of self-petitioning for EB1A aliens. See e.g., Matter of _, (AAO Dec. 18, 2007) [ PDF version] (noting that lawyer seeking EB2 classification must have a job offer if he or she does not qualify for a National Interest Waiver). For aliens seeking to enter the United States to continue in the practice of law, however, the EB2 classification may be a viable immigration option in certain cases. The General Counsel's final point addresses cases in which a foreign lawyer may be unable to meet the advanced degree requirements for EB2 classification: “The … issue concerns a lawyer who holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree, which the lawyer obtained without first obtaining a baccalaureate from a college.”
The opinion began by explaining that lawyers may qualify for the EB2 classification. The EB2 classification is available to qualified members of the professions. Section 101 (a) (32) of the INA defines “profession” as follows: “ The term 'profession' shall include by not be limited to architects, engineers, lawyers, physicians, surgeons, and teachers in elementary or secondary schools, colleges, academies, or seminaries” (emphasis added). ( See also Matter of Naufahu, 11 I&N Dec. 904 (Reg. Comm. 1966) [ PDF version] recognizing that “lawyer” is a “profession” as contemplated by section 101 (a) (32)). From this, the General Counsel drew a negative inference, finding that the practice of law is not contemplated as falling in the purview of the EB1A categories of the “sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics,” explaining that “we believe that there is no reason here not to follow the principle that 'inclusion here means exclusion there.'” Citing to Russello v. U.S., 464 U.S. 16, 23 (1983) [ PDF version] (“Where Congress includes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acts intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion” (Internal citations omitted)).
Thus, the position of former INS was that if a lawyer established extraordinary ability in business, or alternatively, in the “sciences, arts, education, or athletics,” the alien would be qualified for classification as an EB1A immigrant. The EB1A category merely excludes the field of the practice of law in and of itself. The end of the General Counsel's statement — “or a member of any of the other professions that are more properly considered EB-2 endeavors,” is worth examining as well. Recall that section 101 (a) (32) of the INA includes as “professions,” in addition to lawyers, “architects, engineers, physicians, surgeons, and teachers in elementary or secondary schools, colleges, academies, or seminaries.” The logic of the General Counsel's opinion would seem to exclude these professions and other similar professions from EB1A, except where there is overlap between one of the professions and the five categories listed in the EB1A statute, from the ambient of EB1A classification. But a member of one of these professions could qualify for EB1A classification on other grounds. For example, an architect may establish extraordinary ability in the arts through his or her practice of architecture. See e.g., Matter of D-G-L-, ID# 126489 (AAO Jan. 27, 2017) [ PDF version ].
The General Counsel explained that “ [t]he most common way to prove [the eligibility to practice law] may entail showing that the alien has taken, or is eligible to take, the bar exam in the State where the alien intends to live.” The General Counsel concluded, interestingly, that there may be cases in which an alien who is not eligible to take the bar exam where he or she intends to practice may still qualify for EB2 or EB3 classification. Citing to rules in Connecticut, Hawaii, and New York at the time of the opinion, the General Counsel explained that “ [i]n at least some States, a foreign attorney may, without taking the State bar exam, obtain a license to practice as a 'foreign legal consultant.'” While foreign legal consultants may have limitations — such as only being able to practice in matters concerning the law of the county where he or she is licensed as a foreign legal consultant — the General Counsel found that this “would still involve the practice of law.” For this reason, he found that the INS could properly find, depending on the facts of a particular case, that a foreign legal consultant would qualify as an EB2 or EB3 immigrant coming to the United States to practice law.
In order for a lawyer to qualify for EB1A classification as an alien of extraordinary ability, he or she must establish extraordinary ability on one of the five specified non-legal grounds and establish that he or she intends to work in the United States in that area of extraordinary ability. Although there is no binding precedent on the issue, DHS's position that the practice of law is not contemplated by the EB1A statute is clear agency policy.
The O1 category is available to aliens with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics, or aliens with extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry. Given the similarity between the O1 categories and the EB1A categories, the logic of the INS General Counsel opinion and current DHS practice regarding EB1A petitions strongly suggests that the practice of law in and of itself would not qualify an alien for O1 classification. We discuss the O1 category extensively in a separate article [ see article ].
Each EB-1 petition is adjudicated using a two-pronged approach. In the first phase, an evaluating officer will check to see if:
The U.S. employer is the only one who can file the petition for the applicant . Another advantage in obtaining an EB-1 Green Card is that the category is usually always current.
Your EB-1 green card priority date is the day that the USCIS obtains your I-140. You will need to check the Department of State’s monthly visa bulletin for the latest posted final action dates, which are separated according to the beneficiary’s country of origin. Once the final action date for your country matches or passes your EB-1 priority date, your priority date will be considered current and you can move onto the last phase.
The service center’s caseload and the complexity of your case will influence how long it takes to process the petition. On average, however, it takes about six months to process.
The EB-1 is a highly popular option because it does not require a PERM Labor Certification.
There are three kinds of ways to respond to an RFE for your EB-1 green card: a full response where you give all of the evidence requested, a partial response where you only give some of the evidence requested (either by choice or because the evidence is not available), and a withdrawal of your petition.
Multinational Manager or Executive: Must be filed by an employer Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker. It’s important to note that the manager or executive must have been employed outside the United States with the related foreign company for 1 year in the preceding 3 years. The employment must have been in a managerial or executive capacity.
EB-1 classification must be based on at least three types of evidence, including (but not limited to):
An outstanding professor or researcher, one who is internationally recognized for his achievements in a particular field, may qualify for EB-1 Classification. Such a professor must also meet other requirements:
If you believe you qualify for EB-1 Classification, you should file USCIS Form I-140 (Petition for Alien Worker). You should fill out and file the form at the local USCIS Regional Service Center in the area of the U.S. where you will work. Make sure to include the necessary documentation and to follow the filing guidelines.
An immigration lawyer would be able to inform you of your options if you believe you qualify for EB-1 Classification. Your lawyer would also be able to guide you through any other immigration laws that you may encounter.
This subcategory of EB1 is reserved for those with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. To qualify, the foreign national must be able to show sustained national or international acclaim. The individual’s achievements in the field generally must be evidenced by extensive documentation.
It is not unusual for a foreign national to be sponsored for an employment-based, third preference (EB3) position, and to later “upgrade” to an employment-based, second preference (EB2) position in a subsequent case, based on a higher level degree and/or additional work experience. For many, this raises the question about the prospect of upgrading to the coveted employment-based, first preference (EB1) category. While it certainly is possible for a person with an EB2 or EB3 position to then be sponsored for an EB1 position, it is important to understand that the criteria to qualify for EB1 is not simply a matter of additional schooling or experience as seen in the transition from EB3 to EB2.