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Employment Based Immigration
Working in the United States as a Foreign National
Many foreign nationals want to come to the United States to work. Below is a summary of employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications and other categories of foreign nationals who are eligible for employment authorization. Contact us to apply!
Employment Based Visas
Immigrant Classification for a Temporary Worker
E-1 Treaty traders and qualified employees.
E-2 Treaty investors and qualified employees.
E-2C Long-term foreign investors in the CNMI.
E-3 Certain "specialty occupation" professionals from Australia.
H-1B Workers in a specialty occupation and the following sub-classifications:
H-2A Temporary or seasonal agricultural workers.
H-2B Temporary non-agricultural workers.
H-3 Trainees other than medical or academic. This classification also applies to practical training in the education of handicapped children.
I Representatives of foreign press, radio, film or other foreign information media.
L-1A Intracompany transferees in managerial or executive positions.
L-1B Intracompany transferees in positions utilizing specialized knowledge.
O-1 Persons with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics and motion picture or TV production.
O-2 Persons accompanying solely to assist an O-1 nonimmigrant.
P-1A Internationally recognized athletes.
P-1B Internationally recognized entertainers or members of internationally recognized entertainment groups.
P-2 Individual performer or part of a group entering to perform under a reciprocal exchange program.
P-3 Artists or entertainers, either an individual or group, to perform, teach, or coach under a program that is culturally unique.
Q-1 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 alien's home country.
R-1 Religious workers.
TN North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) temporary professionals from Mexico and Canada.
Employment Based Visas Continued
Permanent Workers
Approximately 140,000 immigrant visas are available each fiscal year for noncitizens (and their spouses and children) who seek to immigrate based on their job skills. If you have the right combination of skills, education, and/or work experience and are otherwise eligible, you may be able to live permanently in the United States. The five employment-based immigrant visa preferences (categories) are listed below.
Permanent Worker Visa Preference Categories
This preference is reserved for persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors or researchers; and multinational executives and managers.
This preference is reserved for persons who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or for persons with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business.
This preference is reserved for professionals, skilled workers, and other workers.
This preference is reserved for “special immigrants,” which includes certain religious workers, employees of U.S. foreign service posts, retired employees of international organizations, noncitizen minors who are wards of courts in the United States, and other classes of noncitizens.
This preference is reserved for business investors who invest $1.8 million or $900,000 (if the investment is made in a targeted employment area) in a new commercial enterprise that employs at least 10 full-time U.S. workers.
Other Immigration Services
Student & Exchange Visitors
B-2 Visa Temporary Visitor for Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment
B-1 Visa Temporary Visitors for Business
If you wish to pursue full-time academic or vocational studies in the United States, you may be eligible for one of two nonimmigrant student categories. The “F” category is for academic students and the “M” is for vocational students.
If you wish to participate in an exchange program you may be eligible for the “J” category for exchange visitors. The J visa program is for educational and cultural exchange programs.
B-1 Visa Temporary Visitors for Business
B-2 Visa Temporary Visitor for Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment
B-1 Visa Temporary Visitors for Business
To visit the United States for business, you need to obtain a temporary visitors for business visa, unless you qualify for admission without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program.
B-1 Temporary Business Visitor
Temporary business visitor to conduct activities of a commercial or professional nature. For example, consult with business associates, negotiate a contract, or attend a business conference
B-2 Visa Temporary Visitor for Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment
B-2 Visa Temporary Visitor for Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment
B-2 Visa Temporary Visitor for Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment
If the purpose of the planned travel is recreational in nature, including tourism, visiting friends or relatives, rest, or is related to medical treatment, activities of a fraternal, social, or service nature, or participation by amateurs who will receive no remuneration in musical, sports and similar events or contests, then a visitor visa (B-2) would be the appropriate type of visa for the travel. Persons planning to travel to the United States for a different purpose including students, temporary workers, crew members, or journalists, must apply for a different category of visa.
Extensions of Non-Immigrant Stays
Extensions of Non-Immigrant Stays
B-2 Visa Temporary Visitor for Pleasure, Tourism, Medical Treatment
If you want to extend your stay in the United States, you must file a request with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before your authorized stay expires. If you remain in the United States longer than authorized, you may be barred from returning and/or you may be removed (deported) from the United States.
*We recommend that you apply to extend your stay at least 45 days before your authorized stay expires.
Work Authorizations
Extensions of Non-Immigrant Stays
Travel Authorizations
Certain foreign nationals who are in the United States may file for Employment Authorization, to request employment authorization and an Employment Authorizatio(EAD).
Other foreign nationals whose immigration status authorizes them to work in the United States without restrictions may also apply for an EAD that shows such authorization.
Travel Authorizations
Extensions of Non-Immigrant Stays
Travel Authorizations
If you are in the United States as a lawful permanent resident or conditional permanent resident and you wish to travel outside the U.S., you may apply for a re-entry permit, refugee travel document, or advance parole travel document (including parole into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons).
*Your green card application will be terminated if you leave the United States while that application is pending, unless you have a valid travel document at the time you leave the country.
K -Visa
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Applications
Removal of Conditions on Permanent Residence
The fiancé(e) K-1 nonimmigrant visa is for the foreign-citizen fiancé(e) of a United States (U.S.) citizen.
The K-1 visa permits the foreign-citizen fiancé(e) to travel to the United States and marry his or her U.S. citizen sponsor within 90 days of arrival.
Removal of Conditions on Permanent Residence
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Applications
Removal of Conditions on Permanent Residence
A conditional permanent resident receives a Green Card valid for two years. To remove the conditions on your permanent resident status, you must file a petition within the 90-day period before your conditional Green Card expires. You cannot renew your conditional Green Card. If your conditions are not removed, you will lose your permanent resident status and you will become removable from the United States.
Based on marriage:
Permanent resident status is conditional if it is based on a marriage that was less than two years old on the day you became a permanent resident.
Status is conditional until you prove, after a specified period of time, that you did not enter the marriage to circumvent the immigration laws of the United States.
Based on investment:
If you received your conditional permanent resident status through investing in a new commercial enterprise as a foreign investor (commonly referred to as the EB-5 program), your status is only valid for two years and cannot be renewed. You must apply to remove the conditions on your permanent resident status in the 90-day period before the second anniversary of you obtaining conditional permanent resident status (or were admitted to the United States as a conditional permanent resident), or risk losing your lawful status.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Applications
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Applications
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Applications
The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country's nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately. USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals of certain countries (or parts of countries), who are already in the United States. Eligible individuals without nationality who last resided in the designated country may also be granted TPS.
The Secretary may designate a country for TPS due to the following temporary conditions in the country:
- Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war)
- An environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic
- Other extraordinary and temporary conditions
During a designated period, individuals who are TPS beneficiaries or who are found preliminarily eligible for TPS upon initial review of their cases (prima facie eligible):
- Are not removable from the United States
- Can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD)
- May be granted travel authorization
Once granted TPS, an individual also cannot be detained by DHS on the basis of his or her immigration status in the United States.
TPS is a temporary benefit that does not lead to lawful permanent resident status or give any other immigration status. However, registration for TPS does not prevent you from:
- Applying for nonimmigrant status
- Filing for adjustment of status based on an immigrant petition
- Applying for any other immigration benefit or protection for which you may be eligible