Immigrant Visa Options

• Citizenship
• Family Based Immigrants
• Employment/ Investment Based Immigrants
• Labor Certification
• Asylum
• Cancellation of Removal
• Diversity Visas (DV) Lottery
• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Nonimmigrant Visa Options

• E-1 Treaty Trader/ E-2 Treaty Investor Visa
• H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa
• L-1 Visa for Intracompany Transferees
• TN Visa
• B-1/ B-2 Visa for Visitors for Business or Pleasure
• K-1 Visa for Fiance(e)s
• K-3 Visa for Spouses
• O Visa for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability & P Visa for Athletes and Entertainers
• R-1 Visa for Religious Workers

Immigrant Visa Options

Citizenship

An individual may have a claim to US citizenship if a parent or grandparent was a US citizen.

Family Based Immigrants

• Non-Preference Petition/ Immediate Relatives
  • Spouses, parents, and unmarried children (under 21 years of age) of US citizens
  • No numerical limitation
  • Applications processed quickly
• First Preference Petition
  • Unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens
    
  • 23,400 visas issued annually
    
  • Wait time depending on country, 4-14 years
• Second Preference Petition
  
  • Spouses and children, and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents
    
  • 114,200 visas issued annually
    
  • Wait time for spouses and children from 5-7 years
    
  • Wait time for unmarried sons and daughters 9-12 years
• Third Preference Petition
  
  • Married sons and daughters of US citizens
    
  • 23,400 visas issued annually
    
  • Wait time from 6 to 20 years
• Fourth Preference Petition
  
  • Brothers and sisters of adult US citizens
    
  • 65,000 visas issued annually
    
  • Backlogged approximately 15-20 years

For exact priority dates, please see the Visa Bulletin

A conditional green card will be issued to aliens who marry a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. After two years, the alien will be given a permanent green card upon showing that the marriage was entered into in good faith and not for the sole purpose of obtaining immigration benefits.

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Employment/ Investment Based Immigrants

• First Preference Petition
  
  • Priority workers
    
  • Aliens of extraordinary ability in the science, arts, business or athletics
    
  • Outstanding professors and researchers
    
  • Managers and executives of companies with US affiliates
    
  • No labor certification required
• Second Preference Petition
  
  • Members of the professions holding an advanced degree
    
  • Persons of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business
    
  • Labor certification required, although it is possible to obtain a waiver upon a showing that the employment of the applicant will be in the "national interest"
• Third Preference Petition
  
  • Professionals with Bachelor's degrees
    
  • Individuals performing a job requiring at least two years of education, experience, or training
    
  • Other workers, including individuals performing jobs requiring less than two years education, experience, or training
    
  • Labor certification required
• Fourth Preference Petition
  
  • Religious Workers
    
• Fifth Preference Petition
  
  • Investors
    
  • $1 million investment and must create 10 full-time jobs for US workers, or
    
  • $500,000 investment if the business is located in an area of high unemployment or in a rural area
    
  • Conditional green card for 2 years

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Labor Certification

The labor certification process involves establishing to the Department of Labor that there are no qualified US workers able to fill the position being offered to the foreign worker. Currently, nurses and physical therapists are exempt from obtaining a labor certification.

Asylum

An individual is eligible for a discretionary grant of asylum if it can be established that the person is unwilling or unable to avail himself or herself of the protection of their country of nationality or if stateless, the country where that person last habitually resided, because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Cancellation of Removal

Discretionary relief from removal available to both lawful permanent residents and undocumented aliens. If granted, the alien may adjust his/her status from deportable alien to one lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

Diversity Visas (DV) Lottery

Aliens from countries with low rates of immigration in the United States may enter a lottery to receive one of 55,000 immigrant visas. A visa will also be issued to spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 of those selected in the drawing.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Allows spouses and children of abusive US citizens or permanent residents to become permanent residents without having to rely on the abusive spouse or parent.

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Nonimmigrant Visa Options

Work/ Investor Visas

E-1 Treaty Trader/ E-2 Treaty Investor Visa

Available to an alien coming to the United States, under the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of which he/she is a national, to carry on substantial trade in goods or services or to direct the operations of an enterprise in which he/she has invested or is in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital.

The alien's spouse and unmarried minor children are entitled to the same classification as the principal alien.

H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa

Allows a foreign worker to work in the US for a period of up to 6 years. Must have a Bachelor's degree or equivalent and the job offered must require the services of an individual with a degree.

Spouses and minor children may accompany the beneficiary but may not receive employment authorization.

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L-1 Visa for Intracompany Transferees

This visa is available to an alien who has been employed for at least one continuous year out of the last three by an international firm or corporation who seeks to enter the United States temporarily in order to continue to work for the same employer, or a subsidiary or affiliate, in a capacity that is primarily managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge.

An L-2 visa is available to the alien's spouse and minor unmarried children.

TN Visa

Available to qualified Mexican or Canadian professionals seeking to enter the United States to engage in one of the professions listed under NAFTA.

Spouses and unmarried minor children may apply for Trade Dependent (TD) status.

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B-1/ B-2 Visa for Visitors for Business or Pleasure

Available to aliens visiting the United States temporarily for business or pleasure who have a residence in a foreign country which they have no intent of abandoning.

K-1 Visa for Fiance(e)s

Allows a nonimmigrant alien to come to the United States to marry an American citizen within 90 days after arrival and apply for permanent residence.

A K-2 visa is available for the minor children of the fiance(e).

K-3 Visa for Spouses

Allows the spouse of an American citizen who is the beneficiary of a pending or approved I-130 to come to the US initially as a nonimmigrant and then adjust to permanent resident status.

A K-4 visa is available to the child of the K-3 principal alien.

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O Visa for Aliends of Extraordinary Ability & P Visa for Athletes
and Entertainers

The O-1 category is for aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. The O-2 category is for individuals accompanying O-1 aliens in the arts or athletics. The O-3 category is for dependents of aliens in the O-1 and O-2 categories.

The P-1 category is for internationally known athletes, individually or as part of a group, and entertainment groups (not individuals). P-2 visas are for artists and entertainers performing individually or as part of a group under the auspices of a reciprocal exchange program. P-3 visas are for culturally unique artists or entertainers, individually or as a group, coming to the US to develop, interpret, represent, coach, or teach their particular art of discipline. Dependents of aliens in the P-1, P-2, or P-3 categories may accompany the alien(s) under the P-4 category.

R-1 Visa for Religious Workers

A nonimmigrant religious worker is an alien who has been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States for the two years immediately preceding an application. The religious worker must be entering the US to work in a religious occupation or vocation. This visa is valid for a period not exceeding 5 years.

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